Durian feast

Dear Diary,

Gee...After the sentosa trip I woke up suffering from sun burnt...and worst..my right wrist was swollen and bruised due to the serving of volley..ha..too long never play le..ha..it's ok..I had fun..wat's the little bruise man if I had fun..lolz..

*sniff sniff* wat's the smell....
I know.. DURIAN!!!

Wah...didn't know it was the durian season le..ha...My uncle brought a whole basket of durian from my Grandpa's plantation for us..ha...O yes...For those who still don't know, my parents are Malaysian and my grandpa own a fruit plantation rather mainly Durian la...ha...Ya..so..we got free durians..lolz..

I don't eat those we get outside..cuz..yucks..ha...not good quality one..ha...Ya..I used to love Durian Soooo much when I was much younger...till now I eat fewer of it le cuz it can e Fatterning!!! Heheh....

Durian the King of all fruits...and of course the Queen will have to go to Mangosteen. U know why? Well, cuz Durian is king for obvious reason...it's EXCELLENT if u know how to appreciate it that is...but it's 'Heaty' so it wld need a queen that reduces the 'heat', and that goes to Mangosteen of course. That's why usually after eating durian, pple will eat some Mangosteen to avoid having sore throat.

Let me tell u something amazing that my grandpa told me when I was still a little girl. There was once he brought me to th plantation and spend a night there to harvest the durians.

Being the young and innocent gal, I asked him then, "Gong gong, The durian will drop? or do we climb up to collect it?"

Gong gong : "Hahha...no..we'll wait for it to drop, then we go collect."

Me: "What if it drop on my head?"

Gong gong:"No dear, Let me tell u a secret, Durians has magical power, it has got 'ren qi', which means when it sense pple walking by, it wont drop on them so don't worry! and it usually falls in the night that's why we have to stay here tonight and collect them if case there are durian theives"

Gee...Can u imagining that...Ha...Durian wont fall on people's head! Yes, it's true. I had not heard of any case where durian falls on their head. I'm serious!!!! Isn't magical....

Ya...Tell u another tips abt durian, if u cant get mangosteen to reduce the heatiness, well take a durian shell, fll the hollow space where the flesh was earlier with salt water, and drink from there...ya..it helps.

And after eating durian, don't drink too much water otherwise u'll feel bloaed and uncomfortable.

Have u ever felt that ur fingers smells horrible after eating durian and washing with detergent doesn't help? Wanna know a tip to remove the smell?

EASY!!!

Take the Durian shell again, wash ur hand under the shell using the water that comes from the shell..and I mean the back of the shell where the thorns are. Yes yes...Wash ur hand under the water that runs over the thorns. Try it, it works!!! U know why? Cuz at the thorns of the durian shell, there are some light fragrance that neutralises the strong durian smell.
Yupz..go try it u'll be amazed!!

Ok now let's come to something alot of pple wnna know, how to chose a durian, so let me...the durian king's grand daughter teach u guys a tip or two...hhaha..ok kidding...I shan't be so arrogant..ha...but yupz let me share some tips with u peeps...

The first step in choosing a good durian is to grasp the durian that takes your fancy by its stalk and hold it in front of your eyes for close scrutiny. It is advisable while doing this to stand with your legs apart or "kang-kang" as the durian and its stalk may decide, at this very moment, to part company, with disastrous consequences to your foot. If you do not wish to stand in this manner then I would advise you to have safety boots on.

An age old adage says that you cannot judge a book by its cover. But some 'so-called' durian experts claim that they can judge a durian by its thorns. This is all "bull-shit", So why must you look at a durian if you cannot judge a durian by its thorns. It is to look for holes or 'lubangs'.

Durian holes generally fall into four categories:

1. Squirrel holesDurians with squirrel holes are generally ripe and quite tasty as the squirrel who has been at it would gladly testify. However, these durians are considered 'second paw' (second hand) and being minus a few seeds should be purchased only after a generous discount.

2. Worm holesDurians with worm holes have worms and other creepy crawlies in them and should be rejected unless, of course, you are one of those lovers of Swiss Cheese.

3. Man-made holesThese are small triangular openings cut into the durian so that the customer could have a sneak preview of the fleshy quality of the durian. Obviously if the durian is still there, it has been rejected. Would you take someone's reject?

4. Open backside typeDurians with their bottoms with are gaping or beginning to gape have seen better days - 2 or 3 to be precise - where they have been paraded, manhandled and put back on the shelf, rejected by all and sundry. Leave them in place.

Now, having given the durian the visual test, you can now proceed to the next important step. Take the durian into your hands, with your fingers gripping the spaces between thorns, approximate it next to your ear at the side of your head and shake. No, not your head, you silly!

Stop and listen intently. If you hear some movement inside, examine the durian again as you may have missed out some small worm holes and there may be creepy crawlies moving inside the durian. If there are no worm holes and no creepy crawlies and you still hear something moving, then I suggest you go to the nearest E.N.T. specialist or Chinese barber to have your ear examined for creepy crawlies.

Now why shake the durian, you ask. Good question! Remember the other old adage - 'empty vessels make the most noise'. This holds true for the durian. If you hear vigorous hollow movements of seeds when you shake the durian - the fruit is all seed and no flesh - reject it. If there is no movement at all on shaking, and the durian feels heavy for its size, the fruit is unripe or if ripe, waterlogged. Reject also. If you detect some faint movement and the fruit feels relatively light for its size - go on to the next step - the ultimate olfactory test which separates the men from the boys.

For this step, hold the durian gently in your hands as you would your loved one and place in front of your nose and inhale deeply. If you find dirt, dust and dried leaves in your nostrils, stop at once, and send the durian back to the vendor for a thorough cleaning.

Having ensured that the durian is clean and that there is no impediment in your nasal passages repeat the inhalation process, with both thumbs and thenar eminence cupped to exclude any extraneous smell. If you detect an over rich, strong, fetid odour, it indicates that the durian is overripe. Reject, especially if the stalk looks somewhat dry.

If you detect no smell at all also reject as the fruit is unripe. But if you detect a faint aroma of bitter sweet butter scotch and almonds with a bouquet of wild honey and a hint of smoked oak then you have hit the jackpot and found yourlself a durian with a thick, creamy, treacle like, bitter sweet tasting flesh for you to savour and enjoy.

BINGO! There U go, U have your Durian Chosen man... ha...

For ur information, the best Durian are those that taste Bitter sweet with thick flesh...not those sweet ones. I understand more layman will chose those 'watery' & 'Sweet' one....WRONG WRONG!!! Pls learn how to appreciate DURIAN!

After so much description and talk on durian and u still have no idea wat i'm talking abt...or u still dunno what's a durian (U Fool!!!!)... okok..I'm in a nice mood...I'll tell u wat's a durian. In short it's a big, green thorny fruit.

Hey it's not just another exotic and expensive fruit from South East Asia. In fact, it is like i mentioned earlier "King of the Fruits" throughout the region. Personally, I think that is an understatement of the millenium since we Asian are humble people. In fact, the actual status of Durian is "THE GOD OF ALL FRUIT!". No kidding! Yeah, yeah, I know, some (unadventurous) people would rather die than to smell the STINK of a durian. For goodness sake, it's just like till u taste "Chou tou fu" did u realised it's Superb!!!

of course there are lot's of other facts on durians like the tree, it's requirements etc..but i shant go into it...i'll end this post with some different variety of durian u can find in the market, so dun get cheated by those minority black sheeps ya...

D24

Source is mainly from Perak. It is oval in shape, of average size, weighing between 1 - 2.8kg. per fruit. The skin is green to brownish green and the thorns are sharp and thin. The flesh is yellow, thick and sweet.

D99


Source is usually from Thailand. The fruit is round and of average size weighing between 1 - 2kg. per fruit. The skin is green to brownish green and the thorns are short and sharp. The flesh is fairly thick yellow, soft and sweet.

D123

The fruit is oval in shape and big weighing between 2 - 4kg. per fruit. The skin is green to rust colour and the thorns are big. The flesh is golden yellow, thick, soft and sweet.

D145

Average size weighing between 1 - 2kg. per fruit. It is round and nippled at the end. The thorns are long and closely packed and the skin is green. The flesh is golden yellow, soft and sweet.

D158

Average size weighing between 2 - 4kg. per fruit. The skin is brownish green and the fruit is oval in shape and can be as long as 15 - 17cm. The flesh is golden yellow and sweet.

D159

The fruit is large and can reach a weight of 4 - 6kg. per fruit. The fruit is long and oval in shape and curves at the end. The thorns are brownish while the flesh is golden yellow, thick and sweet.

D169

Average size fruit between 1 - 2kg. each. Longish oval shape with yellowish green skin and sharp thorns. The flesh is yellow, thick and soft with a bitter sweet taste.

That's all folks, i'll try to see if i can demo how to open durians..ha..but no one to take shots for me..ha...geee...lolz...Nway..ENJOY the durian..the seasons are going over soon...after the season, the durian quality wld not be as good!

Trust me!
Cheers!