D88 Slippery, Shiny Seeds

D88 Durian Seeds

Have you ever counted how many seeds a durian normally has? As the majority of us like to eat many fruits at the same time, we never end up remembering which seed came from which fruit.

I didn’t get round to doing it this time but we’ll give it a shot next time we go for our durian feast.

If we collect all the seeds and the husks and re-weigh it, I wonder how much the actual flesh which is eaten really weighs…

Check out how beautifully egg-shaped the durian seeds are and compare them to anyones you eat.

D88 instead of Elvis Durians

Durian D88

If my memory serves me right, last Friday was the first time  that I’ve tried the D88 variety of durian. This one was kind of cute and looked like it had a nice shape.

The D88 does not have a name (unlike mau sang wang, Elvis, Bamboo etc) and another foodblog from Singapore also confirms that D88 doesn’t have a funky name.

Following from the last entry, our Jalan Imbi Stall had already run out of mau sang wang and were closing up the stall when we appeared. The owner’s wife said that they specialize in selling mau sang wangs and when those run out, its pretty much time to close up until tomorrow’s shipment.

Anyway, since we had already planned for our durian night out, we promptly sat down and were served with the D88. One thing that we noticed about the D88 was that the flesh was a lot fleshier and the seeds a lot larger and rounder.

D88 Interior of Durian

The fruit pits were deep and roundish and the flesh was quite creamy but had a drier and slightly more fibrous texture. It was just ripe and quite pungent, the aroma had a woody taste to it, sort of like a whisky matured in an oak barrel. The color of the durian flesh is a very light yellow like an unripe papaya but with the translucent depth of Chinese skin.

Each pit had between 2 to 3 seeds but the seeds were fairly large and you don’t get the satisfaction of sinking your teeth deep into the flesh without encountering the smooth and slippery seed surface.

We had 3 D88 in total and finished it off with 2 netbags of mangosteens to cool off the heatiness of the durians.

Sorry darling, No “Mau Sang Wang Durians” tonight

Sharp knife, Swift hands and a Wooden surface

As it was TW’s official last night in town tonight, we celebrated it with crabs at New Ocean Restaurant in Jalan Imbi. I haven’t been there for quite a while, but the food was relatively decent and the service attentive due to the unusually quiet night for a Friday. After crabs, we caught our durian seller at Jalan Imbi just in time, it was five minutes past ten and he and his wife were cleaning and packing up for the night.

We raced down from the car and exclaimed loudly in cantonese that we were here for durians and did he have any left? He seemed a little surprised that we turned up and startled enough not to know exactly how to respond. His wife (who is the one with the finger on the button) quickly showed up, with grateful recognition and acknowledgement of her regular customers, ushered us to the table and proceeded to wipe down the stools for us (great service as mentioned previously).

“No mau sang wang tonight!” she chirped brightly as we sat down but before our faces could take on a pallor of disappointment, she quickly added “but we have D88”.

So D88 it was. I’ll show you the photos in the next post and tell you the rest of the story.

Another Kind of Stinky Spike

For our readers who are not regular durian consumers or find themselves in unfamiliar durian territory, you should know that durian sellers can tell the type and species of the durian by pretty much looking at it. What are the markers of differentiation in durian identification?

In no definitive order:

Different Spikes

1.   Colour

2.   Shape

3.   Size

4.   Spikes

5.   Smell

6.   The orchard they bought it from 🙂

If you examine this photo closely, you’ll begin to get a vague idea of the above descriptions. Some of the durian thorns are narrow and sharp, while others are wide based and appear multi-faceted, while others are wide based and seem almost blunt to touch. The thorny spikes can range from a rust colored brown to a bright military green. Some are kidney shaped, while others are more similar to a bowling ball.

Their taste can vary widely too, CL tells me that the flattish spiked durian in the photo doesn’t taste as good at the Elvis so perhaps I’ll try it next time round.

Durian Purchase from Pudu

TW has never eaten so much durian in his life of 35 years. Sadly, he returns to NYC this coming weekend and his time in Malaysia will come to a close.. but not without happy memories I suspect. Last Friday -after a good, hot fishball soup lunch (TW are you missing this yet?)- we stopped enroute back to the office at Pudu and could feel the magnetic pull of the durian. We were actually hunting for the “chinese doughnut” seller, whose stall was across the street. After we made a rapid purchase of the doughnuts for the office, we just had to take a look at the famously spikey goods.

Balancing durians on a scale

The durian seller was a proud man; proud of his durians, proud of his pricing, proud of his premium stall location. We did not doubt his claims that he had chosen these durians himself from the plantations, nor the fact that he was certainly less expensive than other sellers around town. At RM 18 per Kg for our favourite mau sang wang, and a demonstration of the goods with an enthusiastic flourish, we certainly had no reason to complain. After a rather loud and boisterous bargaining session, he very artistically piled on about 5 durians onto the weighing machine and knew that he had won our bellies.
I know that you must be thinking that we are such typical conservative durian eaters, always ordering the most expensive “mau sang wang” variety as we have done so in the last few purchases that we made. But, I have to tell you that every mau sang wang tastes different to the next. One can be nutty, another slightly bitter and some give you the feeling that you might soon find out what durian wine tastes like if you leave it a little longer in the husk.

All these durians on sale now are from Pahang mostly, plantations in Raub, Bentong and others along the Karak Highway supply KL’s durian addicts with their favorite feast. I haven’t been to any plantations yet but have suggested the idea to SW to see if my durian kaki would at least be up to a small adventure a little further out from town.

Coming back to our proud durian seller, he was so chuffed to see that I had whipped out my camera that he decided to pose for me, sh

owing me who was the boss. All this while his 2 lovely assistants (one male and one female) were slicing and dicing the durian husks to empty the golden segments into takeaway polystyrene containers for us.

If you are in the area and fancy having some durians, he’s there before lunch and shuts his stall at 8pm. So, Pudu durians are available only in the daytime, after that, you’ll have to go to the other night haunts

Durian Boss of Pudu

and be prepared to pay a little more.

Durian Spikes Up Close

Spikes

I’ve been surfing around and haven’t yet found a site that links the spikes to the species and its flavor. SW has offered to help me construct a table for the various names of each type of fruit and the various languages, but it’ll be ready when its ready.

SW did take this very nice photo of the Elvis we ate at Imbi and emailed it to me so that I could put it up for all to admire.

You’ll notice that these spikes have 4 facets and a wide square base like a pyramid. The tips are sharp and pointy and roughly of even height.

Not all durian spikes are the same and I shall endeavour to compare the species when I get a few more close up photos.

Jalan Imbi Durians at 9:30pm

As it was a holiday on Monday, Sunday night felt a bit like Saturday. After a bright clear day of blue skies and sunshine, SW was fed up of studying, called me up and asked me to come home from wherever I was. JK was also free and up for joining us to do something out of the ordinary.

We had a number of options; walk around a part of town we’ve not explored before (but I felt it was really too hot for that), take a drive to Malacca (too far away for me) or go back to where we visited about 2 years ago, the dramatic lookout point at Hulu Langat.

I chose to go with option 3. JK said that he hadn’t been down Jalan Ampang for years and was most surprised at all the development that had taken place. We found that the lookout point had majorly developed into a popular hangout for the chinese-speaking fashionable Gucci shoes and LV handbag crowd, all touting fancy long lensed nikon or canon cameras with at least 2 children and husband in tow.

We ordered a pizza and falafel to share and sat back to enjoy the marvellous sunset over the Klang Valley. After we settled the bill but before we headed for dessert, SW and JK headed up to the lookout tower for some photos while I (exhausted from my exercise in the morning and early afternoon) waited patiently below. I was remarking to myself on the noise and light pollution caused by the lookout’s 2 busy eateries when suddenly, the lights blacked out and we were plunged into pleasant darkness, illuminated only by the moon. I am rather surprised that my tiny handheld nikon (not remotely comparable with the SLR monsters I mentioned earlier) was able to capture this remarkably serene and beautiful night scene.

JK and SW eventually joined me and we headed back down to our carriage, we already knew our next destination.

ARRIVAL AT JALAN IMBI

We found our durian stall owners relaxing in the usual corner, the sprightly mandarin chinese speaking wife sprung into action when we drew close. A table neatly prepared with just-wiped stools, equipped with tissue box and individually sealed water cups and straws were at the ready. SW and I never knew that JK was a bit of a durian connoisseur and had no qualms ordering our dessert in mandarin. As we weren’t going to have a feast, we felt that we ought to just shoot straight for the mau san wang again.

Now, if you’ve not had durians before, you might think that one species should reflect a consistency in taste and texture. This is not true. One mau san wang may and will taste very different to the next one, depending on the tree, its moisture, age etc. The ones SW and I like best are the ones with a taut superficial skin but a full bodied creamy interior which is almost like yoghurt that you can lick off your fingers.

Texture of durian

Some people may involve their entire hands in the consumption of one durian seed which I personally find rather untidy. I much prefer using just 3 fingers which confines the sticky and stinky fingers and makes it easier for washing when I’m done.

Part of the experience of consuming durian is the sensation of the softness of the fruit against your skin. Its almost like a moisturizer on your hands but not too oily. I suppose we could compare the texture of it to a very ripe avocado with a similar colour.

While we were enjoying the privacy of our small durian party, a very large tour group from China suddenly appeared and practically mobbed the stall. Loud cries of “liu lian aaaahhh” and “zhe ge shi she me dong xi” filled the air and we were peering at the numerous backsides of chinese durian eaters who had to stand as there weren’t sufficient places to sit.

They reached over to grab tissue paper from our table and did not hesitate to toss their eaten seeds into our basket, but most of the ladies were more fixated on the mangosteens- which sold out very quickly.

As soon as they appeared, they also cleared out with surprising speed once their tour bus appeared, leaving us to eat our next mau san wang in peace.

We didn’t know that JK was a durian fan and both SW and I are delighted to have found another durian kaki.  🙂

If the First Durian isn’t good, you won’t have another

In the Mood

We (as in my durian crazy colleagues and I) usually end up in Jalan Imbi or just outside Greenview for durians (if you’re wondering where these places are, fear not, I shall go into further detail in other entries). But last Friday, after what was a rather short but much anticipated board meeting (lots of energy spent in preparation), we decided that we really needed a break from the corporate scene at the office.

Durian is rather sinful, but given that we don’t have many other vices, we’ve allowed ourselves this particular treat.

Getting There

First thing you should know is that KL traffic is not to be trifled with. We left the office at about 7.30pm to pick up my other half round the corner and got on the road heading towards PJ by 8pm. It was the Federal Highway usual killer congestion all the way to PJ Hilton and we finally got to Rothman’s roundabout at 9:30pm.

If you drive round the corner and up the hill, you end up at the traffic light which encourages all drivers to stop and look to the left towards the amazing models of wedding dresses on the left. On the right is  a row of shophouses by an overhead bridge where the original Ah Tuan Ee’s Nyona restaurant is (plug for you here, Ed!).

Take a right at that light and immediately take the first left, which takes you past the police station and round a bend. There are 2 durian stalls completely lit by white fluorescent lighting and zinc roofs overhead. The first one that you come to has lots of photos indicating the types of durians, and the second one shortly after on the right is Donald’s Durian – which is what we came to try.

My colleague AC had heard of Donald’s Durian through a friend of hers, and rumour has it- or truth as it may be- that the top MCA officials love coming here to eat and hold charity auctions of the durians for one foundation or another. Hence, Donald’s was known to be a popular spot.

Donalds Durian

Parking along the side of the road posed no problems at all, if you park on the opposite side of the durian stalls, you just have to watch out not to get your car into the large drains along that side of the road.

Donald already had some clients he was serving, a very nice couple who were sitting there clearly digesting their recently consumed protein-laden dessert.

For us though, this was dinner, and it had to be taken very seriously.

Donald’s welcoming presentation was excellent, expect him to charm you the first instance you step in, by proferring you some durian to try first. he laughingly says that once you try (which we did, of course) you then have to buy. The first one was indeed fantastic in flavour, it was the Mau Sang Wang, otherwise known by its English moniker: ELVIS.

We polished off the Elvis (which was from the state of Pahang) and swiftly requested for the next one. He offered us one from Penang which had a slight peachy hue but it was too dry for our liking. We subsequently had an XO durian, but that too we found a tad dry for our taste. It was back to the Elvis species but we found that we already had the best one at the start.

As four of us sat there contemplating our courses of durians, I wondered out loud why the first one was the best. My wise other half promptly said that it stood to reason, because if you have a crappy durian first, its highly unlikely that your tastebuds will activate the will to have another.

Donald thought that our comments were slightly frivolous and supplied his own wisdom. He said that we common folk liked the workhorse of the industry – the Elvis- and didn’t know how to appreciate the refinements that the Bentley (XO and Penang durians) had to offer.

Not entirely true, as I’ve had many Penang durians but the fruit has to be in season, or it just doesn’t taste ready for the table.

Meaty, fleshy durians

All in all, we had about 5 durians between the 4 of us, but we packed some of them which we felt were too dry and didn’t feel like consuming.

Overall, we were of unanimous opinion that the experience was good. Here are the reasons in summary.

Facilities:

Excellent lighting and reasonably spacious seating areas (6 tables), good car parking availability. Water is served from a distilled dispenser in clean plastic cups and tissue in the form of toilet rolls are supplied on each table. Proper sink with a durian sacrificed for the tap so that you can wash your hands and rid yourself of the “smell”.

Service:

Donald was jovial and friendly, albeit exuding a rather commercial attitude towards the clientele. But he was most attentive and wasted no time in procuring you another species on request. He had his wife helping him out to direct him on customer orders, which was great as he could be distracted with other clientele. Furthermore, Donald speaks really good English, which helps when you have a range of clientele. (A Japanese group turned up, whereupon the the girls screwed up their noses at the durian scent but Donald still convinced them to take a seat and try one)

Price:

Reasonable we thought, we spent a total of RM 180 for the 5 and were satisfied with the overall feel and service offered.

Clientele:

All sorts, we encountered a well spoken chinese couple, a family of 7 who came in an MPV with their small kids and a baby, a single lady who was dressed as though she was from another decade, a young couple, a muslim cleric with his friend who came by taxi to purchase durians for takeaway and the Japanese group.

AC and I decided that we might try the stall next door the next time around, but Donald’s proved a satisfying place for a durian meal. (TW gave up on the penultimate one, better practice if you want to keep up next time!)

Durian Preferences By Age

The NST carried an article today about the preferences of durians by age. The article stated that the younger generation (<50 yrs old)  are no longer keen on durians, based on a survey conducted by the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA). As a result of this, the FAMA Director General Datuk Mohamed Shariff Abdul Aziz said that they will be conducting campaigns to promote the spiky fruit.

He did note that the enthusiasm for durian among the 50+ age group remain unchanged.

Its going to be interesting to see how FAMA intends to promote durians to the younger crowd, perhaps there is another fruit (jackfruit, mangosteen) that provides a model to follow?

The Start of Stinky Spikes

Mau sang wang

Pinch it… Poke it… Give it a sniff…

I wonder whether anyone has the same cravings as I do. Durians are notoriously addictive, but it all starts with the first experience and whether you have the right nose and tastebuds to handle the overwhelming flavors that overrun the senses.

My colleague and I had a craving the other day and I was searching the web to find out an alternative durian stall to try in KL. But my search was very tedious and many sites and food blogs were often too brief or just provided local directions.

This blog is dedicated to all the durian fans out there and enhance the appreciation for these unique fruits of South East Asia.