Durians

A Durian TreeDurian Fruits On The Branches

Durian Flowers

The Malaysia durian is definately the best durian in the world. Any of the tour guides who can give good commentary about durian is for sure to amaze the tourists about the durian. This is because all the while the tourists will know more about Thailand durian than the Malaysia durian.

Difference Between Malaysia Durian And Thailand Durian

1. Size : The Thailand durian is definately much bigger than the Malaysia durian.
2. Availability : The Thailand durians can be exported because the Thai durian can be plucked before they are riped. The Malaysia durian can never be plucked because once the Malaysia durian is plucked, it will never ripe.
3. Flesh: The Thai durian usually looked drier than the Malaysia durian. Because the Malaysia durian is ripe on top of the tree, hence the Malaysia durian is much more jucier. When you eat the Thai durian, you will find that it is very fleshy but the Malaysia durian is thinner. However, the flavour is totally different.
4. Aroma : Once the Thailand durian is eaten, one will know that it has very mild flavour. The Malaysia durian aroma is so much more stronger. Hence, the Malaysian usually commented that when eating Thailand durian, its like eating the potatoes. Malaysia durian also gives some bitter taste to it. But very unfortunate that because most tourists tasted the Thailand durian, so they prefer the sweet taste durian.

How To Choose Durian?

1. Shake the fruit gently. When shaking the fruit, you will feel the internal fruit will move. This shows that the durian is just ripe. If it is not ripe, it will stick to the skin of the fruit. If it is too ripe, it will be too juicy that it will stick to the skin as well. So the best durian is those which you can feel that the internal fruit is moving when you give it a gentle shake.
2. Look at the 3 circles on the stem of the durian fruit. The first circle which is the inner most represents the seed of the durian. So, of course the smaller the circle the smaller the seed is. The distance between the second and the inner most circle should be large because this represents the thick flesh of the durian. The outer most circle should be closer to the second circle because this represent the thickness of the durian skin.
3. Smell. By smelling and practising it regularly, one will be expert in choosing a good durian.

Please remember that the Malaysians appreciate the durian just like any Chinese appreciates Chinese tea or the French appreciates the red wine. Hence, sometimes a small durian could fetch the price of RM100 per fruit. So, eating durian is a matter of appreciation the aroma just like tea or wine.

When eating durian, always use the hand to eat the durian. Some tourists are afraid to use the hand to eat because they are afraid that the aroma will stick on to the hand. There are 3 traditional techniques where one can choose to wash away the aroma on the hand. The first method is let the water flow through the thorny skin. Then use the water which flow through was the hand. The second method is to rub your fingers through the middle part of the skin and the third part is by holding on to a seed of the durian and wash hand. Any one of these method will definately was away the smell on the hand.

When eating durian, a lot of people do not eat much because it is believed that it will produced heat to the body. So, most of the people will eat mangosteen or herbal tea to cool the body. Actually, the traditional method that the Malaysians do to reduce the body heat after eating durian is by using the skin of the durian to contain pipe water. Then drink the water.

The price of the durian will depend on the species of the durian. So, the normal price of the durian is about RM10 per kilo, the average is about RM20 per kilo and the best is usually above RM30 per kilo.

Because of the uniqueness of the Malaysia durian, I will always tell the tourists if you never eat durian in Malaysia, I will presume that you have never visited Malaysia. It is definately a MUST for tourists to try out the Malaysia durian when they are here.

Bon Appetite...