The Durian King
latimes.com
latimes.com
Musang King costs Ringgit Malaysia(RM)48 per kg. That is around USD12/kg or (USD5.45/pound). So a single Musang King durian will cost around RM60 per fruit (USD14.50/fruit). I usually buy slightly lesser quality durian at RM38/kg. The seller will help to choose a fruit that is ripe and creamy but not overripe. You can take home the partially opened fruit or just transfer it to a styrofoam container that you put in the fridge when you get home.
Musang King has smaller seeds and is creamier than what I usually buy. But the less expensive fruit is good enough for me since I buy durian pretty often. If you had a durian orchard why would you grow fruit that does not taste good? If I were a durian farmer I certainly would not. The difference in quality between Musang King and the others is not that noticeable.
My friends from India who visit me just hate the smell because it (sorry to be so graphic!) smells like fruity poo and refuse to taste it or taste it with a cringing expression. I'm sure that other people have the same reaction. But if you do visit Malaysia (or another durian country such as Singapore or Thailand -- both remarkable countries for food as well), you should partake. It is the closest you will come to eating palkova from a tree.
I grew up with durian, and I think durian burps are fine.
In the region, there's this belief that durians shouldn't be eaten with alcohol though — you're welcome to read up on the myth behind it.
You can't cook with durian seeds like you can with jackfruit seeds (i.e. chakkakuru upperi or chakkakuru mezhukkupuratti)
There's something powerful about the fruit. It's an acquired taste and an extreme one, but people who love it really love it.
I'd recommend against taking it out because even for locals many of us can't bear the smell, and it's considered impolite.
On a side note, are you coming here for NG MY conference?
Musang King (mentioned in the article, though some unscrupulous sellers might pass D101 off as it) and D24 are favourites among the locals.
The cheapest is usually either Red Prawn, Green Bamboo, or Black Pearl, which aren't that great.
I think this article is pretty decent in describing the more common durian cultivars found in Malaysia: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/hail-the-king-of-frui...
So if you're comparing this to the European type of restaurant, much cheaper than you'd believe.
Source: Lived there when I was 7-16 years old.
EDIT: Because of Islam, a can of beer in Malaysia is more expensive, and costs the same/somewhat less than a pack of cigarettes.
P.S. I'm not belittling hawker food/budget food options, it's just when you go to restaurants I feel that you expect a certain level of hospitality, just like how you don't really call kebab joints restaurants in Europe?
Where in Europa (and I'm guessing in Northern America, too) you'd say you're going to a restaurant for dinner, you'd have to emphasize that fact in Malaysia that it would be an "uptown" joint.
I hadn't realized Durians were that expensive! Maybe I have the kilogram-price in my head, but I thought they were less than RM10...
But yeah, RM30-50 is normal, cheap I would think, for a "proper" restaurant in Malaysia. But I haven't been there since ~2013, and last lived there ~2006, and in the meantime, had the feeling that the RM lost buying power over the years...
Interestingly, they say the best durians (from Malaysia) can hardly be found in Malaysia as they are all brought to Singapore where they fetch a much higher price.
I wrote a love song to durians which I released a few weeks back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylX-HLGgI8E&list=PLB5PnPqPHu...
> The fruit came from a nearby orchard. Tan asked whether he could have a branch to graft onto one of his trees, but the woman shooed away the idea. So that evening he returned with a villager armed with a rifle. At Tan’s instructions, and for pay, the man pruned a footlong branch with a well-placed shot.
> On the cusp of the peak durian harvest, which starts each June, he often sleeps in a hammock on the family plantations, guarding ripening fruits from thieves. Durian farming is a cutthroat business. Rivals are suspected of poisoning some of his experimental durian trees. His biggest fear, however, is that someone steals a branch from one of his new hybrid trees, just like his father did so many years earlier.
We made him do it outside
It's amazing how much wealth China is generating in all of the smaller surrounding Asian countries.
Should they plant canola instead? It will require 4x the land.
Will the EU (who are some of the biggest exporters of palm oil alternatives) replant the extensive forests they tore down for agriculture in the last century or is it a kick the ladder down type situation?
I'm a big conservationist and active in SEA, the current attitude of the EU is absurdly unproductive and has gotten most of the population offside, Malaysia needs uncut tracts of rainforest and guaranteed protected regions, this is possible to do, dickheads with moustaches in Belgium aren't helping the situation.
Another alternative is avoiding monoculture plantations altogether, but that doesn't seem to work anywhere on Earth.
The problem with palm oil monoculture is that it is so easy that it makes its practitioners complacent. The value chains are established, the prices are commoditized (there is a local futures market) and there is ample government backing for international lobbying. Unfortunately, this means that the value-add (and margins) at each step of the value chain is now really thin. Unless you are vertically integrated and operate at enormous scale, you won't make much.
Short, high-value, local-farm-to-plate, gourmet-ingredient agriculture is what I dream of, sort of like what the Japanese have. It doesn't always have to devolve into mega-agribusiness.
Second time it tasted of a onion based custard that I could stomach, but live without.
Third and all subsequent times, it tasted like ice cream with a slight pungent background that I needed every night. I was hunting for the good stuff as well as any local.
You don't have to grow up on the fruit to enjoy it, but it is definitely an acquired taste that can be gained in the adult years as well.
De gustibus ...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_gustibus_non_est_disputan...
Jackfruit is another one of my favorites in the tropical fruit world.
The easiest way to get them is frozen at an Asian super market. It's already taken out of it's shell and put in an air seal bag then in a plastic box. Some Asian super market have the whole fruit frozen. There are specialized places that import just exotic fruits we have one here in Alhambra near Pasadena iirc.
My parent just bought a jackfruit awhile ago from the specialty fruit importer store. We had to wait for a few days for it to ripe before eating.
https://www.yearofthedurian.com/2013/09/durian-in-puerto-ric...
https://www.yearofthedurian.com/2016/09/mailing-fresh-durian...
You cannot eat a lot of it, since it is rather dense, though soft.
It's also one of those wonder plants, like neem, banana and coconut, with many uses.
(Pizza Hut in China, it must be said, barely resembles it’s American counterpart; in China, it’s a moderately upscale Italian family restaurant which happens to specialize in pizza and pasta.)
I wouldn't say the rest would be all downhill, there are many types of durian and each has its own unique taste (I personally like the sweet & bitter one).
After the experience, I felt that the fruit was not largely available, not local, not my cup of tea. Goodbye durian.
- Tan Eow Chong
The problem with buying it in the US is that the good ones cost $10/lb.