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Who's tried durian?
Inspired by the beetroot question: Who has tried durian, and what are your thoughts on it?
Known to some as the king of fruits and to others as something incredibly smelly.
I've become a big durian fan, but try not to eat too much of it during the season here, since it is calorie dense and very "heaty" if you follow traditional Chinese medicine.
Tried durian for the first time in my late 20s on a visit to Malaysia. We were driving back from Cameron Highlands, following a windy road along the mountainside, and came across a small pull-off with a durian vendor. The vendor cracked open the spiky fruit – I forget which variety – and we all grabbed a lobe. The smell wasn't the best, but the breezy and cool (well, cool for southeast asia) venue helped a lot. The flavor was interesting in a good way. Creamy, a bit sweet, a hint of banana. Nobody told me about the thin film around the custard-like flesh, reminded me of a thick skin that forms on a soup and was a little off-putting. The folks I was with from the region later complained how it was such a bland batch, which was probably a good thing for a first-timer. I could do without the durian-flavored burps that visited for the next few hours though.
Since then, I've grown to really like durian. There's so many different varieties with different flavor profiles. They're not the cheapest. Thankfully I don't have a picky refined palate, so practically any durian is good durian to me. I find fresh to be noticeably different than when it's used as an ingredient or frozen, so it's worth trying both even if you don't like one.
Like @pekt mentioned, there's a number of traditional beliefs around the consumption of durian. I just smile politely when cautioned and reach for another lobe.
I tried it the first time with my future in laws and thought the taste was good, but the aftertaste was awful. I would refuse to eat it while in the US since it cost so much, and would get it just for my wife to enjoy. I told her once we moved here I'd "treat it like beer" and eat it until I got used to it, which didn't take very long Now I love eating durian and would eat it a lot more if it wasn't so filled with calories.
During the season where I live in Malaysia there are usually 4-6 stands within a 5-minute drive of my house selling it fresh which is nice, and there is a delivery service that will bring fresh durian to you for ~20 RM a box.
If you ever make it up to my neck of the woods during durian season @DrStone, let me know, and we can try out one of the durian buffets. I've been meaning to go for a while.
Love durian ! Thought it smelled absolutely horrid the first time I tried it, but over time, came to love the smell as well.
Used to be hard to get here in the US (for a long time, only frozen Monthong from Thailand was available here) but nowadays, there is actually a decent selection of durians from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam - still only frozen, but much higher quality than used to be the case. Also highly recommend Year of the Durian - they ship very unique varieties of durian - it's crazy how different some of them can taste, especially some of the D. graveolens varieties.
I noticed the variety and was thankful when there was some frozen Musan King durian from Malaysia available for my wife when we lived in the US. My wife's family has let me know the best durians come from the state of Malaysia we live in, and I have not been able to eat durian widely enough to contradict it, though I do know I didn't trust the Thai durians in the US when I couldn't smell the durian smell on them since I had seen that a lot of durians shipped to the US were treated to stop them being so smelly.
I've seen year of the durian before, I think I have it bookmarked somewhere to try out more durian here in Malaysia.
I compeltely agree that it is amazing the difference in falvor between varieties. My favorite is getting the "kampong" (small town) durians which are the none named varieties that people would grow in their back yard or somewhere. The flavor profile can vary so much that it's like rolling the dice to see what you'll get, and since there isn't the "standard" flavor of getting a specific type of durian they're much cheaper.
The Thai Monthong can be pretty decent - it does smell less when fresh (but gets smellier as it ripens) and also has a pretty mild vanilla-custard-like flavor, so it can be a good first durian for someone who's never had it before. The ones imported to US are usually picked and frozen before fully ripening, to limit the smell, but sometimes at the expense of flavor. I think Thais locally do prefer less ripe durians to begin with as well.
People in Malaysia seem to prefer more ripe durians, with stronger smell, and richer flavors - which I enjoy as well now. Of course it's best enjoyed fresh from the stall during the season this way - freezing them and shipping across ocean is tricky to preserve the ideal ripeness and texture. But frozen Musang King can still be quite enjoyable, if fresh is not an option.
I personally can enjoy all kinds of durian. If I had access to some inexpensive kampong, I would be eating it all the time ! Probably for the best for my health that I don't, haha..
I'd love to try durian from other places. I found out my childhood friend growing up in the US has family in Vietnam that have a durian plantation, so I'm hoping to coordinate a trip to go to Vietnam with him one day and get to try their durian.
I initially read your comment that the durians sent to the US were pickled and not picked, and I immediately had so many questions about how that would take place.
It is great to get it opened right in front of you at the stall to ensure freshness. We bought some this last season that wasn't opened in front of us and regretted it because it had gone bad within ~12 hours of being put in the fridge. Learned our lesson and moving forward if we aren't going to eat it all right then we'll make sure that they open it in front of us.
I have to stop myself from getting more kampong when I finish what we get. I'll usually get some every couple of weeks during the season with my in-laws. My kids love durian so it goes really fast in our house.
I’ve tried it. It’s OK. It’s certainly not as bad as the smell might have one think. But I don’t particularly care for the flavor either. I find that I don’t care much for tropical fruit in general, with bananas being a notable exception.
Interesting that bananas make the cut! Are these the cavendish bananas or do all kinds of bananas work for you?
Any bananas.
It’s not that I dislike tropical fruit as much as I just don’t like them very much. But then again I know there are many less common ones to find in my region which I have yet to find, like breadfruit. The only tropical fruit I really hate is passionfruit.
I've lived in the tropics for a few years now and have yet to try a breadfruit. When I go to the wet market next, I'll see if I can ask the uncle I buy my fruits from if he can get any.
I also enjoy it. I think people’s aversion to it has to do with it disagreeing with their concept of how a fruit is supposed to be. It is not very stinky in my opinion. Just think of it like a cheese; something to spread on a cracker :)
I've been told that it smells like a cadaver.
Some people have a stronger reaction to it. I admittedly don't have the strongest sense of smell, the first time I smelled it I thought of a combination of farts, onions, and a hard to describe sweet "fruity" smell.
I quite like it. There are plenty of ways to try it in the SF bay area. I've had durian crepes with raw fruit inside, durian wafers, durian ice cream, etc. Always love to have it when I get the chance, but I think it tastes by far the best in ice cream.
I got to enjoy it when a Malay family hosted me for a few months a long time back. I normally have a very sensitive nose and gag reflex so could not stomach it as a fruit. But when it was prepared as an ingredient, it was pretty enjoyable. Looked forward to it as ice cream and a sticky rice desert. Didn't much like it when paired with pastry or cake since it clashed a bit too much for my taste.
I was actually surprised that i saw a lot less durian when I went to Malaysia in 2019 than previous trips. Before it was a solo work trip so maybe they are less common in the tourist areas I spent that trip in. I was really excited to show my wife and in-laws the fruit but it just didnt seem to come up and the hotel didn't even allow us to bring it in the building.
Durian availability is seasonal. The season itself depends on locality, and can vary year to year, depending on rains and such. Malaysians like to eat fresh local seasonal durian (which is the best way to enjoy durian, if you have the option), so during peak harvests there are durian stands everywhere, while other times of the year those stands are either closed or sell other fruits. You can still find some durians off season, often not local, or less popular varieties.
I tend to eat it by itself, I need to do some extra experimenting to see what I like it paired with. We had a friend cook a durian soup which was pretty good!
While you can get durian year round in Malaysia, if you come during durian season (depending on the weather it can be anywhere from May-August) you will find tons of it with stalls set up on the roadside selling it. The rest of the year I'll see a few dedicated stores selling it.
:) in the other thread about what ridiculous thing I would do with billions, mine was to own a tropical fruit garden. Durian would get its own section for sure.
I haven't had too many varieties: was just a kid when I lived in Asia, and only visited HK handful of times, Thailand once, SE Asia 0. Going to All You Can Eat fruit buffet was so worth it: got to try a bunch of varieties in small quantities, in every way imaginable and then some.
Frozen random variety isn't as good, but I still love it. It's got a wonderful texture and a delicious smell and taste. My small regret when I was in Thailand was not buying as many freeze dried as I could have.
I'm hoping to travel to Malaysia during peak season and eat a bunch of fruit one day. Can I come stay near you guys?
It's okay if folks don't like it, but some of the more colourful language feels a bit....mean. I don't like the smell of olives because I didn't grow up with them, but i am happy for folks who love olive oil and olives on their foods.
My wife and I would love to get some land on the back side of the island we live on and do exactly that. Having a couple of trees for the different fruits we enjoy would be amazing!
If you can find Musan King frozen from Malaysia that is the big name variety from here and is generally great.
If you are interested, I can send you a link to a durian farm near me that you can stay at, and they have an all-you-can-eat durian buffet as part of the package. It's a big pricey (local currency wise) but would probably be a cool experience. There's other similar all-you-can-eat buffets, or you can just set up shop at some of the stands and have them keep cracking open fresh durian until you're full. You can pair it with some cooling drinks or eat some mangosteen at the same time, which the durian stalls will also usually sell.
Durian is the king of all fruits, while mangosteen is surely the queen. They pair exquisitely and I would love to eat my fill of them both om nom nom nom nom
Funnily enough, I'm the only one in my (Taiwanese) family that enjoys it. We tried it recently again for the first time in years, and my mom, dad, sister and her boyfriend all couldn't stomach it. I think once you get past the smell it's actually pretty good! Though we're also into stinky tofu so...
I agree the smell can be off putting, but now that I'm used to it, I really enjoy it.
I don't think I've gone down the stinky tofu rabbit hole, but I love trying new foods and am always happy to eat something once. Some fermented foods have such a unique flavor profile that it's fun just to see what other people like, even if I don't enjoy it.
It's absolutely foul. I know lots of people who seem to enjoy it though.
I learned by living in a durian country that there will always be some who can never eat it.
I am one such person. My body feels repulsed at the smell of the durian.
I'm a disgrace (tongue in cheek) to my country and its people lol