Durian Party in Malaysia, Anyone?

Malaysia is having a last harvest before 2012 comes around and the quality of the durians is pretty good. Price is also reasonable due to the rainy seasons which discourage even the most ardent of fans from visiting a stall in a torrential rainstorm.

But all is not lost, now you can have a durian party in your house with just 2 days prior arrangement. Sounds like a lot of fun and could be a good deal, although I have no idea what the quality of durians would be like. So if you want to organize a durian party, do check out the article below, and let me know how it goes…..

 

From: The Star

Thursday December 29, 2011

Durian party, anyone?

KUALA LUMPUR: Fama is promoting its “Jom Makan Durian” festival by offering its services for durian parties at people’s homes.

Chairman Datuk Badruddin Amiruldin said the “Durian Party” was a Fama initiative to encourage more Malaysians to eat local fruits.

“With a minimum 50 people, the durian party can be held at home,” he explained.

“For instance, when a family wants to invite relatives and friends over to the house for the weekend, they can have such a party.

Durian lovers: Media guests having a feast at the Pesta Jom Makan Durian 2011 at the Telekom Muzium compound in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. – Bernama

“Fama will be there at the house,” he said. “We will set up the canopy and our officers will serve the fruits at a reasonable price,” he told reporters at a “Jom Makan Durian” festival at the Telekom Museum compound here yesterday.

Badruddin said the charges were RM15 per adult and RM8 per child.

“And, they can eat as much as they want.”

He said the programme was introduced two years ago but the service was only available in certain areas.

“Since durian is a seasonal tropical fruit, we could only sell it in certain months.

However, with the improvement of technology, we can pretty much get it all year round now,” he added.

He also noted that the programme was aimed at generating income for local durian farmers.

“We are trying to help farmers sell off their durians. All fruits are fresh from the orchards and no extra charge will be added in order for us to send it to their homes,” he said.

He said those interested could contact any Fama district offices or the headquarters to enquire about the party.

“They must also inform us at least two days before the party. If the programme is successful, we will extend the programme by promoting other fruits such as rambutan and mangosteens,” he said. – Bernama

Durian Stall in Jelatek (Part 2)

Durians for a bargain

Well you didn’t think that we’d stop there did you? How could we leave any stone unturned! Of course we had to walk over to the busy durian stall, to check out both the durians and the scene itself.

In the fifteen or twenty minutes that we had spent at stall #1, it looked as though the queue at stall #2 had not abated. People of all ages were standing by the stall appearing to be busy negotiating, pointing, sniffing, poking and some were just standing around and staring. Including us for the first minute or so. The peace did not last long. The service was just too good. Within the next minute, one of the stall keepers in a striped shirt that reminded me of “Where’s Wally” sauntered up to me and opened the conversation with a greeting and

That's my durian right there

asked me what I wanted (well, its obvious what I wanted, but what he meant was what type of durian). I asked him what he had and he said the best of the shelf was the D24. Hmm. D24 is a well known species and pretty consistent in its flavors. “How much is it?” I asked him not too loudly so that I didn’t inspire the other clients to do the same. He said “Normally it is 12 RM per kilo but I’ll give it to you for 11 RM per kilo”.

Well, I reasoned that if its RM 10 per kilo for a Kampong durian then RM 11 for a D24 is probably okay. Some people have told me that Jalan Jelatek is famous for overcharging for the durians, but hey anyone who complains should check out SS2 and Jalan Imbi where it definitely isn’t cheaper. I suppose its all about property prices and location, location, location. If you’re willing to venture a bit further out, prices drop by half or more.

3 for 10 from the bin, or 2 for 10 from the shelf

“Ok” I nodded, “How many” he asked, “how about two?”. “No, just one and make it a good one”.

“How about this one” He said sniffing then expertly slicing into the durian husk at all the right points to expose the flesh in every vesicle. I was impressed. It all looked a rich delicious yellow. “Okay” I said and he popped the durian on the weigh scale and said it would be RM24. While we were arranging the right amount of change, he popped the entire durian, husk and all into a plastic bag.

“No Encik, can you please put it into one of your take away boxes?”

Without hesitation, he took the durian round into the stall away from the crowd where there was a table and started opening up the durian to put it into the boxes.

The cause of all the chaos, cheap packets of durian

It was just starting the drizzle with a light rain. “Thank you” he said handing the bag with a two boxes inside to me, “please come again”.

So polite he was, I think I’ll have to.

Note: This stall is by the main road and has no tables or sidewalk so don’t expect to sit and savor your durian. You have to take it away or eat it standing by the road, just like how everyone else was doing it that day. 

Durian Stall at Jalan Jelatek (Part 1)

It was a public holiday on Monday (Awal Muharram if you must know), SW had been out biking in the hills behind the Zoo Negara in the morning while I was resting my back muscles, which I had pulled the day before lifting pots. The food in the fridge had been demolished the day before and we were getting hungry at around 4pm. SW wanted a coffee and a croissant, but being a public holiday we weren’t sure which cafes would be open and serving food nearby. We drove aimlessly down Ampang and decided to pop into EarthFood to see what their new place is like. For those who aren’t from around the city, EarthFood is an organic shop and restaurant. The owner and manager Charles is a nice guy who is friendly and chatty. He showed us the wood fired pizza oven which was still under construction (expected end Dec or mid Jan) and told us of the spa above the cafe which was also to come. Charles indicated that they had tea sets, but unfortunately had run out of tea cakes, so it was only scones remaining. “Ok, we’ll have scones and a coffee and a red berries tea please”. The scones are served with a dollop of jam but I highly recommend a thin spread of butter over each bit… delicious.

But, how big is a scone anyway. My tummy was still sending signals to my brain to search for more satiation. “Where to now?” asked my driver-for-the-day. “Oh, how about we go check out some durian stalls…” My DFTD’s eyes opened wide and he said “Oohhh”.

“Turn left and get onto Jalan Ampang, we’ll head towards Jelatek” said the Commander in Chief.

He did as he was bid and from a relatively traffic free road, we turned onto a busy thoroughfare where we had to keep right to turn towards Setiawangsa. Jalan Jelatek just a mere hundred meters down the road was also exceedingly busy for a late afternoon, the barbers and little shops were definitely making money for the holiday.

Jom Durian Stall beneath the Signboard

There was nowhere to stop at the first durian stall that we came to, which was similarly thriving on the holiday season, so I asked SW to go round the bend to try and find somewhere to park. It was good we did because that’s when we noticed another durian stall that was quiet, sleepy and completely unpatronized, and the boy who manned it was leaning against the table listening to music and swatting the flies away. “Let’s go check it out” and SW said ” Well, we should have some durian here”, tilting his head like a little bird at me to indicate that it was my job to go negotiate and get the durian.

The boy told me that all his durians were kampong durians and assured me that they were very good. How much was it? 10 RM per kilo. Hard to argue with that when you were paying RM 40 per kilo in the peak months. “Okay” I said, “Choose me a goooood one please”.

Giving it a sniff before giving it to us

We sat down and awaited our feast.

So he sniffed……..

Cutting the Kampong Durian open

and he cut it open…

Kampung Durian yummy

and put it on our table….

It was thick rich aromatic flesh that greeted our eyes. Not the same tenderness and softness of a Mau Sang Wang but certainly quite fulfilling all the same. In the background of this photo, you can see that they are also selling them in packets of 3 for 10 RM but I think that a freshly opened ripe durian can’t really be beat.

Here’s  better look at the flesh, you can see that it’s a nice color and quite firm, but bite into it and it just yields and melts.

Rich and Creamy Kampong Durian

Yummy it was and we ate what we saw and asked to pack the rest for the freezer. We paid RM 19 for this one.

We’re so lucky to get another bumper crop of durians from Pahang in December and January, before the dry spell of Chinese New Year, this would be the time to stock up the freezer. Prices have also come down a lot due to bad weather, apparently most people don’t bother going out for durian during the rainy season. Well, all the more for us!

Note: If you intend to head over to Jelatek for durians, I would advise you to go with someone who speaks a bit of Malay, you’re more likely to get ripped off a bit if you don’t.

Durian Stall in Sri Hartamas

Durian Stall in Sri Hartamas

I’m usually in the city center but my gym teacher now teaches my favorite exercise class out at Sri Hartamas. It’s a long way to go for me but the class is so enjoyable that its worth it. So after sweating up a stink, it was time to get in the car and head home for a hot shower. As we drove along the main road to leave Sri Hartmas (Jalan 23/70a), I spied a durian stall which I had never known was there.

The signs on the stall clearly state that the durians are from Pahang and is pretty hilarious because it says “SPECIAL. GUARANTI BOLEH MAKAN” which translates as “GUARANTEED EDIBLE”. The menu lists the Mau Sang Wang or Musang King, the D101, the D24 and D2. All famous breeds of durian.

It didn’t look particularly busy but then again most people prefer to head out for their durians when it gets a little cooler, later in the day. I didn’t stop to try this time around (this photo was taken from a moving vehicle) but probably will have to check it out the next time I’m there.

If you want to give it a try and let me know what the durians are like there, here is the map which will help you find it. 

A cartoon about Durians

Here’s a cartoon about durians from the local Malaysian newspaper. It illustrates how serious the durian industry is about this precious fruit… many animals consider finding a ripe durian a real prize, but usually they would wait until the durian falls to the ground and ripens. That’s usually when it is at its most aromatic.

Precious durian - No squirrels allowed

Dr. Oz: Durian for lowering fevers?!

Stinky Spikes Fans:

You never knew that you were eating medicinal hydrotryptophan all this time did you? I highly recommend you watch this Dr. Oz Top 5 All Time Herbal Cures

…..then tell me about the heaty-cooling concepts…

Thanks to Happy Yen for this tip off

Durians in a healthy freeze dried packet

When I was walking around a shopping mall in Singapore a few weekends ago, I came across a shop that was small but very brightly lit. It had an attractive interior with lots of different colored packages and a very eye-catching advertisement out in the front of the shop with a shelf full of tidbits for tasting. Usually, I’m not one to stop for tasting but my mother was curious and we ended up pausing momentarily at the shelf while she inspected their merchandise.

Durian crisps? Baked and Healthy?

That was certainly enough time for the bubbly sales executive to bounce over to us and proceed to start opening the jars for us to try the samples, each piece about the size of a small fingernail. The samples turned out to be freeze dried fruit and a mixture of vegetables. Mangosteen, Lychee, Longan, Apple, Banana (usual flavors) and Durian. The vegetables included potatoes, tapioca, yam, bittergourd and broccoli (?!). So mum had to ask about each different flavor in turn.

After she tried the mangosteen, “How does the Lychee taste? Is it as sweet as the mangosteen?”

“Yes madam, but it’s quite different, here try a piece… it isn’t the same level of sweetness but we don’t add any sugar” she said cheerfully.

Patiently, she opened up each jar as mother pointed to this one, then that one. I was standing there observing this rather skeptically when I decided to join in, since I wasn’t doing anything else anyway. “Ok, how about the durian? Does it taste good?”

Durian Nutritional Value

Bubbly sales executive couldn’t really tell me much about the product, except that it was known as a health food (well, it is all relative I suppose) and that the brand was local. She didn’t know exactly where the durians came from. Fortunately, it states its origin on the back of the packet. Not surprisingly it came from the enterprising agricultural nation of Thailand, but that in itself disappointed me slightly as I’ve never thought Thai Durian particularly inspiring for its aroma, textures or flavors.

Having sampled the sample, I have to tell you that my verdict was “not bad”. It certainly isn’t greasy like some other ones and if you have a craving, this might satisfy you for a while.

Mother ended up purchasing 3 packets, broccoli, taro and durian.

Various dehydrated snacks from Xndo

At around $5 SGD, this little packet of 50grams of chips doesn’t come cheap (mangosteen goes for even more at $10 SGD). Try strolling by the XNDO store (I don’t know how to pronounce it either) in the basement of Centerpoint Shopping Center next to the supermarket and get the bubbly sales executive to let you sample some freeze dried Durian, Broccoli, Taro, Mangosteen and Lychee too.

 

Durian Chocolate Anyone?

Well, I do like chocolate. Yes, I do like durian. I suppose it wouldn’t have been too much of a stretch to combine two of your favorite desserts into one… is it?

Imagine: strawberry chendol…., guava barley…., pomelo cheng tng…, rambutan and cheese? There is no end to strange and wonderful possible combinations- as weird as they may sound- so maybe durian chocolate isn’t so strange after all. Durian is already used in a whole host of other dessert varieties, for example durian pancake (many featured on this blog), durian ice-cream (I just had it on Monday at Scoop Singapore, devilly delicious) and durian sweets and fluffy cake.

I haven’t seen durian jam, durian coffee, durian tea or durian massge oil yet though… maybe we have to accept that some things are just not commercially marketable.

If you’d like to try the durian chocolate (desperate for a fun gift or just desperate for that aroma de durian), you can buy this at the airport. I spotted this at the LCC terminal, international departure zone, but they probably have it at the main KLIA terminal too (I’ll have to keep you posted on that).

Chocolate Durian Booth

This is the large chocolate and alcohol shop at the base of the escalator in the international departure waiting area.

I was initially looking at the Hershey’s when I spied something further back…

And here’s a close up… apparently comes with a free gift too. I didn’t see too many people walking out with a box, so its a bit hard to gauge whether this product has been a hit.

Durian Chocolate - A Malaysian Original

Spiky Durian Feature in Indonesian Politics?

When I was walking around FX Sudirman with an hour to pass, I walked up the mall via the escalators. In this mall, they permit vendors to have tables throughout the mall to display their wares, which were often creative knick knacks, drawings or items of clothing and accessories.

I came across this little booth that caught my attention.

Gus Durian Books and T-Shirts for sale in FX

Gusdurian?

This is a play on the former Indoneisan PM’s name.

I can’t read what it says in bahasa (local language) but it must be pretty stinky, spikey or funny.

SW thinks the design is kind of cute.

They were selling books and t-shirts with the logo on it. Seems like a fun way to appeal to a younger audience, but then again, not everyone likes durian…

Durian Search in Jakarta (September 2011)

It was a balmy weekend in Jakarta, the sun was out and the streets were dusty. We spend an hour in a taxi to take us to the hotel which was barely 15 minutes walk from where we were, but the air conditioning in the taxi was a welcome escape from the noise and pollution.

We barely had 20 minutes to shower and change before our friend AR came to pick us up from our hotel, the FX Harris Suites Sudirman (you can read more about it on Tripadvisor if you are planning to head over to Jakarta). Once we got back into the car, AR asked us what we’d like to do. Museums? Been there, done that. Art galleries? Nah, it might be too late anyway as it was almost 5pm. He said, “Well, its either a mall or my place”.

SW had a flash of brilliance and suggested we go buy some durian and eat it at AR’s house. AR thought it was a fantastic idea (I suspect he doesn’t get durian very often) and immediately thought of 2 shops where we could procure this stinky fruit. SW struck off the first place without much hesitation, it was too far away and in the Jakarta evening traffic would have been a voyage of at least 2 hours. “Let’s go to the second place, hey isn’t it sort of on the way to your house?”

Destination agreed and driver instructed, we settled in for the half an hour ride to the fruit shop.

We pulled in at the “All Fresh” Fruit Store on Jalan Panglima (Kebayoran Baru branch) which AR and SW said was renown for its variety of fresh fruit. If any place had durian, this was it. My expectations were running so high. Here was the first advertisement I saw:

Advertising their durian goods in Jakarta

So I thought… “OKay.. hmm, durian pancakes make sense because hey there has to be something that can be made so that the leftover durians don’t go to waste.”

But hang on. There was a “NEW” sign on it, so either its a recent thing or maybe the sign has been up there for ages.

Anyway, no better way to know then to go on in and check out the shop.

AR was all excited and led the way in.

“Here are the durians!” he exclaimed pointing excitedly to the durian corner.

Durian Stall in the All Fresh Supermarket

Well… I hate to say it, but I really wasn’t impressed. A durian stall with barely any durians on it? I could count them, there were probably no more than ten of them and they looked miserable. They were all definitely Thai imports, as it was the Monthong variety. There wasn’t even a fruit seller standing there to sell any of them to us. Hmm.

AR was undeterred. “How about these here S-one, they look pretty good. I’m sure some of these are ripe”

Durian packed for sale

In the usual fashion, I poked and prodded them (carefully and gently, so as not to leave fingerprints in the flesh of the fruit). Well, they certainly looked good, but when I brushed my fingers over them, they felt solid and unyielding. Packet after packet I brushed, hoping and waiting to chance upon the right and exact one which would make it home with us.

“None of these are good AR” I said firmly,”all of them are unripe and too hard. It’s because they are Monthong and Thais like to eat them before they truly ripen, but that’s not how we like it.”

AR was yet again reluctant to give up. “How about this one?” he said, lifting up a packet  (see photo), “It smells pretty good and ripe too”.

I’m also generally an optimist and gamely took a whiff through the plastic wrap (tip: you should always be able to smell the durian through the plastic wrap if its ripe).

Nope, no real pungent aromas there. I just caught a faint aroma, but not enough to tantalize the taste buds. SW had wisely stayed out of the selection process and stood by just asking if all the packets were the same and whether we should buy a whole durian off the shelf if that was preferable.

My reply was swift and firm. “None of these durians are good and if we were to buy them, we might be disappointed and be frustrated with ourselves and the waste of money”.

“Oh” SW replied,”Well we can’t have that then. Maybe let’s buy some other fruits in that case.” Very practical.

So I sent AR and SW off to select a variety of fruit, mangoes, mangosteen, papaya, duku etc.

Meanwhile, I continued to browse the fruit selection near the durian, when I came across the durian pancake they advertised at the main entrance.

So here is the durian pancake.

Durian Pancake in Jakarta Fruit Shop

How weird is that? The sign at the top said “PANCAKE, DURIAN MONTONG” and all I could see initially were packets of cut papaya and pineapple.

Well, look a little further down. Do you see it now?

If you look on the 3rd shelf (bottom of photo), you’ll see these 2 small packets… yes! They were the durian pancakes.. or that was all that was left of them I suppose.

The durian pancakes for takeaway

The pancakes were made in a square, like the way a lump of tofu is made. The skin of it looked convincing enough but I couldn’t tell if it was soft and tender or chewy and starchy. I also had no idea whether it was freshly made or whether these were the leftovers from a previous bake.

In the end, I wasn’t going to find out, the decision had already been made. It was quality over quantity and we had to save the durian feast for another time.