Durian

[Domestic Goddess]

Here's how you open a durian. Hold the fruit from the stack, turn it upside down. You should see a crack on the shell (most ripe shells would have a 2-3 inch crack on the shell).

Put the upside-down durian on a towel/rag to prevent from slipping. Put both your thums in the crack and start to pull open. A fully ripe durian withh break in two portions. Take one of the half portion, put the edge of your palms at the edge of middle of the fruit and push down. This will break the half portion into more segments. You will see that about 4-5 segments in the whole durian.

Sit in a nice airy place, hold a durian segment and scoop the custardly wedges/chunks into your mouth. There is a large pit/stone in the middle of the fruit.

Don't throw away the empty sections of the durian. Take one and rinse it with running water. Now fill up the section with water, mix the water a little with your fingers (to make it cloudy a little) and pour water in your mouth to gargle. Swirl and spit. Turn the segment over and do the same thing. Only this time, swirl your fingers in the water and then wash your fingers with soap and water. This will deodorize your fingers and mouth from the durian smell. Trust me, it works!

For durian burps, now that I don't have any tip for you.

[Tepee]

Wish I knew if to cut longitudingly or on the horizon.

←

Neither. Do like DG said. There may not be cracks, but there will be lines ('path'). Stick a sturdy knife at the bottom...meeting point of the lines. The skin should crack along the lines. Forget about the chopping board. You need the rag to stop the durian from moving around.

Domestic Goddess said:

Don't throw away the empty sections of the durian. Take one and rinse it with running water. Now fill up the section with water, mix the water a little with your fingers (to make it cloudy a little) and pour water in your mouth to gargle. Swirl and spit. Turn the segment over and do the same thing. Only this time, swirl your fingers in the water and then wash your fingers with soap and water. This will deodorize your fingers and mouth from the durian smell. Trust me, it works!

We add a little salt to the water in the segment and actually drink from the segment. This is to cool down our systems after consuming the heaty durian....a neutralizing act. Believe it or not.

Edited November 2, 2007 by Tepee (log)

[Jamie Lee]

Thanks for all the info... do you think I might not have a durian? The smell continues to be super-sweet, not obnoxious at all, and while incredibly "prickly", I don't see any signs of the segments you-all (ya'll) mention.

Is mine just super unripe?

(I can't believe I'm spending so much of my time and your time on a piece of potentially smelly fruit! )

[Tepee]

Thai durians are usually plucked off the tree before they are ripe, so, you won't have our advantage of having fissures in our drop-from-the-tree durians. As for the lack of smell, it's common for Thai species...which is a major flaw where M'sians are concerned. We love the complex flavours and tastes in our durians. Real connoisseurs don't really go for a sweet taste.

I've edited my latest entry to describe the lines as more of a path (may or may not be clear...duh?) along the thorns. If you still can't see them, you could snap a pix, and I'll see if I can draw you the paths. But they are not as important as locating the 'point' or thereabouts, where you're supposed to stick your knife. If you're right-handed, you may want to protect your left hand with some towel/rags as you hold the durian steady on a bunched up pile of cloth.

LOL, it's always a pleasure to introduce someone to the king of fruits...not time wasted.

[muichoi]

One of the greatest foods in the world, certainly. Is there any truth in the suggestion that it's very high in cholesterol?

[Tepee]

Apparently not, according to this analysis.

Extract.

This food is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Thiamin, Vitamin B6 and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin C.

[mizducky]

Man, this is inspiring. I need to lose my durian virginity one of these days real soon, sez the confirmed lover of stinks-so-good foods.

It's the logistics that are holding me back. Finding a nice open airy space for my first experiment might be a bit of a challenge where I live.

I suppose I could always take it on a drive out to the desert. Pick up a date shake on the way back. Fruit fantasmagoria.

[Domestic Goddess]

Jamie - are you sure you have durian?

Because you might have Jackfruit or called Langka in my language. Jackfruit featured on Marketmanila.com

Or another cousin of the breadfruit, the Marang Fruit. See here.

Or maybe you like the durian smell already. I find it deliciously fragrant and heady.

[Jamie Lee]

Goddess...

Did you see my photo on my first post? The tag says "Mornthong" Durian, a product of Thailand.

Do you think I have something other than the revered durian?

(Wouldn't that be an anti-climax!)

I keep smelling it, and it just seems to get sweeter, not nastier!

[Jamie Lee]

OMG... Could I be a premature durian virgin? Oh, the shame of it all....

J

[Tepee]

Well, well, well.....looks like you're a caucasian (a wild guess) minority in not finding the durian smell offensive.

Don't you sleep?? LOL, with the whole night's preoccupation over durian, you'll probably be having torrid dreams.

[Jamie Lee]

I have to keep getting up and smelling that damn fruit!

(No, I don't sleep well. What's your excuse? )

J

[Bueno]

Just eat the friggin' thing already. We know you're scared.

[Beebs]

I've only had durian once, and I didn't see it being opened. It certainly didn't taste as foul as it smelled. Anyways, I Googled how to open durians. Most searches say that if the durian is ripe, it will crack and one should be able to pull it apart along the seams with relative ease. I'm thinking protective gloves might be in order??

Question on frozen durians: Are these frozen in their ripened state? And if not, would they continue to ripen after they've been thawed? How does the taste of a frozen durian compare to fresh ones?

Jamie Lee, you are inspiring me to get one of my own and having another go at it!

[HVRobinson]

OMG... Could I be a premature durian virgin?  Oh, the shame of it all....

J

←

Humming "Jeopardy" theme and examining fingernails....

WELL?

hvr

[Jamie Lee]

HVR:

I've come to the conclusion that it not ripe, so I yet to delve into it. I'm also concerned because it really does not have a strong smell - could it be I have one of the newly developed cultivars without the aroma?

I also need some heavy duty gloves, which will have to wait until my next shopping trip.

As soon as I crack, eG will be the first to know!

J

[Tepee]

I have to keep getting up and smelling that damn fruit!

(No, I don't sleep well. What's your excuse?  )

J

←

Your night's my day.

I don't know whether to be glad or sad for you. You've got yourself a fragranceless Thai durian. Without any smell, you won't know if you really 'like' the durian,. On the other hand, if you fall under the category of people who find the smell of a durian offensive, then you've got yourself the right kind.

Here's an amusing read on opening a durian. However, we don't wait for a crack to appear. Or sometimes, we'll bring containers to fill the durian seeds to pack home after we get the stall-people to open it. That way, we're guaranteed quality stuff, as we have the option to reject unripe hard-fleshed durians.

Protective gloves? Nah....just fold a towel thick enough. Have fun! Remember to take pix!

[hummingbirdkiss]

Last time I went up to Vancouver ..while my husband was off working ...I scored a fresh durian for so cheap I had to have it!!!...came back to the hotel ..cracked it open ...ate some of this wonderful fruit ..then went and took a shower ...leaving the rest of it on the table ..my husband came in and when I came out of the shower and it was triple wrapped in plastic bags and on the balcony..

his comment "way to seduce a man Heidi!!!"

he says it smells like methane I think it smells like durian!!!

[sazji]

I don't know whether to be glad or sad for you. You've got yourself a fragranceless Thai durian. Without any smell, you won't know if you really 'like' the durian,. On the other hand, if you fall under the category of people who find the smell of a durian offensive, then you've got yourself the right kind.

Jamie I looked back through the posts but didn't find where you were. If you are in the US, the durian has likely been frozen first; all the ones I used to get at Uwajimaya in Seattle were previously frozen. Only in Vancouver did I ever find truly fresh ones. The frozen ones don't have much fragrance, especially from the peels, you have to open them to get it. Of course if it is not ripe, it won't ripen after freezing.

(Another poster mentions freezing as one of the "tricks" people use to take them on planes.)

A fresh durian's peel should be really fresh "live" green. A frozen will be sort of gray-green.

Actually the sulphurous part of the smell comes from the pulp. The peel all alone has a very sweet, almost pineapple-like smell. In Cambodia they put the peels in the house because they like the fragrance.

I had heard of durian when I was in around 3rd grade, in a Weekly Reader article. I was determined right then that one day I had to try it. My first chance came when I was in real poverty for a year. And there I saw it, 10 dollars (in 1985) for a pound of frozen durian. I shelled it out without even thinking. The first smell was shocking ..."oh shit, no way..." I said. The next day, sobered by economic realities, I said "Dammit, I paid ten dollars for that stuff, I'm going to eat it if it kills me!" So I took a bite, sort of tried to get my head around it...and suddenly it just clicked. Custard and rotten onions *do* go well together! I ate the rest of it within about 4 minutes...

[Jamie Lee]

Sazji:

I think you've solved it!!!

It does smell like pineapple or some other very sweet tropical fruit, I did buy it in the US (Pacific Northwest), the peel is gray-green and now I'm convinced a park picnic table will be the right place to move forward.

I had no idea they freeze them whole, so when someone asked if it was frozen or not, I said no, thinking frozen would come in bags or boxes like frozen peas. (DUH)

Today is the day! I've got a few errands to run, then I'm up for a trip to my closest park with newspapers, towels, gloves, a chef's knife I don't mind sacrificing, and, of course, my camera!

[Laksa]

Last time I went up to Vancouver ..while my husband was off working ...I scored a fresh durian for so cheap I had to have it!!!

←

Where can you buy fresh durian in Vancouver? I need names, addresses, please.

Where are they from?

[Beebs]

Last time I went up to Vancouver ..while my husband was off working ...I scored a fresh durian for so cheap I had to have it!!!

←

Where can you buy fresh durian in Vancouver? I need names, addresses, please.

Where are they from?

←

I've seen them at T&T supermarket (http://www.tnt-supermarket.com/), and I'm sure you can get them in Chinatown. A number of the Asian supermarkets in Richmond and Burnaby also carry durians. Frozen ones are almost always available, and fresh ones from time to time.

Anyone know when durians in season? Or are they year round?

[Laksa]

I've seen them at T&T supermarket (http://www.tnt-supermarket.com/), and I'm sure you can get them in Chinatown.  A number of the Asian supermarkets in Richmond and Burnaby also carry durians.  Frozen ones are almost always available, and fresh ones from time to time. 

Anyone know when durians in season?  Or are they year round?

←

Thanks Beebs. I wonder where those fresh ones are improted from. I've been told by a store here in the Northeast that they've gotten some from Hawaii, but even those were frozen.

I have seen "defrosted" durian in Manhattan Chinatown, but never fresh.

Thai durians are available year round.

When I visited Malaysia in September of this year, the durian season was coming to a close. I seem to recall that there's a second season that starts around December. I think the seasons are stretching and seem to be more flexible nowadays.

Maybe the Malaysian farmers have been talking to the Thais.

[Bueno]

So what happened with the durian, Jamie Lee? You've been promoting it's opening for weeks.

[Jamie Lee]

You've been promoting it's opening for weeks.

←

Bueno: I don't know what calendar you use, but I bought the beast on November 1st and according to my silly calendar, today is the 6th. Hardly "weeks" - in fact, not even a "week".

Will post on outcome shortly.

Edited November 6, 2007 by Jamie Lee (log)