As I was perusing the aisles at the fancy Park’n’Shop in Hopewell Center, I happened across this durian product.
At first I thought it was freeze dried durian which is usually sold in this type of packaging. So I was a little surprised to find that it was actually a durian flavoured sandwich cookie.
Hmm. With a “recloseable” ziplock seal. Yes, I suppose that might be the attractive feature….. Can’t complain about the price though. It’s less than RM2.
ZI, SW and I are now in the midst of our HK Sojourn. As I was scoping out Wan Chai market for its fresh produce, the poshest fruit stalls at the Queen’s Road end of the site yielded some interesting durian photos.
I came across a fruit vendor who was exerting much effort and energy into opening a small durian. She was wearing thick gloves that looked like they were for handling hot iron ore. I decided to hang around and watch.
It took her about 5 minutes. She did finally manage to open it, and I think I should ask my durian sifu’s in Malaysia to record the exact way method to open it for her. They make it look super easy and usually take only 1 minute with bare hands (but their main fruit is durian).
On the signboard, I noted the red stickers proclaiming that it was Malaysian durian (not the common Thai variety), and a see through glass fridge paraded the products for visual inspection. The durians were individually wrapped in plastic bags and each fruit had its own pedestal. I suppose that on an individual fruit basis, durians do come out tops in terms of price and require the royal treatment.
Disappointingly, despite the sticker on the fridge promoting the Mau Shan Wang, they only had D24’s in there. From the various stickers on the fridge, it looks like they use it to display whatever specials of the season, whether it be coconuts or durians. The plastic wrapping must be to prevent the smell from getting into the fridge filters, although with the husks still on, the vendors needn’t worry about this.
After a few more heave-ho’s, the ripe durian revealed its pellicles.
I asked for a quick look and noted that it looked over moist and texture wise was quite mediocre. The stall ladies by the names Connie, Winnie and Ah Hong were rather camera shy and insisted on me not taking photos of them, although copious photos of their booth and the fruit were permitted.
These are some of the fruits which they opened before I got there and packaged it ready for sale. They were trying to convince me to buy the durian for several hundred and told me that the Thai version was 1/10th the price of the Malaysian one.
What I wanted to explain to them but couldn’t was that I rarely buy durian upon sight. It has to be by smell. If I can’t smell it, even through it’s plastic packaging, then it can’t be great durian.
BoBo fruit stall in Wan Chai Market has other great fruits though, beautifully packaged for gifts or personal consumption. Check out their Japanese apples and persimmons. Candy and Gary are the owners.
Dedicated to Durians 