Good luck Fillmore! Attempting a mini durian plantation

Fillmore wrote to me some time ago asking if I could send him some durian seeds for his garden. It took a while due to my own dry spell of good durians. Either the seeds had been frozen before (and therefore no longer reliable), or they just didn’t look like good seeds to grow (see this previous post if you need to know what this means).

Anyway on a recent trip back to durian motherland, I managed nothing short of a heist to bring this back for personal enjoyment. It was only one box but soooo delightful. It was a Mao Shan Wang (Musang king), which had large and little seeds. I selected six of the largest, packaged them and sent them off to Fillmore in the Philippines by registered parcel post.

The durians. MSW’s from Malaysia.

Here’s what Fillmore had to say…..

Hi Stinky Spikes!. . . . I am so happy to let you know that just received yesterday afternoon September 9, 2014 all six (6) durian seeds you sent me via Hong Kong. At that time i just recovered from a fever and colds, but upon seeing the durian seeds, the fever just disappeared. I now planted it in some pots filled with top soil to grow. Are those seeds of the precious Musang King variety? Again, a million thanks to you for those seeds, I will pray that you will always have good health and more blessings to come. Again, thank you.

He got them on the day of the mid Autumn festival, how auspicious! I hope that you’ll invite me for fruit if they grow into trees 🙂

Mid-Autumn Festival: Durian Mooncake in Hong Kong

It was the mid-Autumn festival last weekend. Quite drizzly in parts but it did clear up to a full moon on the day itself.

The day before, that is on the 8th of September, I was in Tsing Yi and in the Maritime mall waiting to meet up with a friend. In the concourse area was a typical exhibition booth space where many bakeries, restaurants and candy shops were hawking their wares. Of course, most of it was festival related and moon cakes were the main feature.

As I strolled around the booths, I was hunting for something very specific. Guess what…? It wasn’t durian moon cakes. I really like the piggy in the basket moon cake biscuit. It’s essentially the dough skin of the baked moon cakes which is crafted into the shape of a piglet. Most of the time, it’s the dough all the way through but sometimes they include the lotus seed filling which is super delicious. Anyway, it’s getting harder and harder to find a good one. I used to love the ones that the Shangri La in Singapore made, shaped in lions or goldfish (they no longer do this).

Would I have more luck in Hong Kong, I wondered….

Well, quite suddenly, I halted in my tracks. I spotted a stall selling moon cakes with durian. It was the only stall I had seen in the entire exhibition. Just to make sure that this was the case, I walked around twice more and confirmed that this was indeed the only stall.

Durian moon cake price list

This was certainly the most attractively designed price list among all the stalls (to me anyway). You can see how the price escalates to almost double between the D24 and the Mao Shan Wang fillings. All these are snow skin chilled durian moon cakes only, no baked ones. The price on the left indicates the per box cost, while the price on the right indicates how much it costs per cake, if you wish to buy them individually. Interesting that the most expensive one is a durian which I think is called the golden phoenix (last on the list).

Only 2 boxes of D24 mooncakes left

Now, a peep into the fridge to see the goods. The fridge looked empty except for 2 boxes of D24. These boxes came in a yellowy green hue. Not looking that festive to me, but I guess business was brisk.

See before you buy

A check on the other side of the booth revealed similarly good business for the more expensive varieties. A lady had just purchased a box, which you can see the sales person closing the box. I think it’s great that you need to see and check that you’re getting the right ones, and that they let you. It appeared that some of these boxes had been booked and bagged already, awaiting collection.

Durian mooncakes in Hong Kong

Clearly these durians are from Malaysia. It says 100% Malaysian Durians on the of the brochure. But WAIT. On the bottom of this brochure, it says “Product of Singapore”. Quite creative, sneaky and probably at a good profit… but that’s food globalization for you.

Did anyone have durian moon cakes this year? Please share your experience.

Ps. If you’re wondering if I managed to buy that piglet, I did, but it was the very last one, retailed at 22 HKD. It was from another booth but I wasn’t that impressed with the flavor. Sigh.

The Rich and Good Cake Shop: Durian Swiss Roll

Durian Swiss Roll anyone?

If you’re craving some fresh durian dessert during a durian drought (or happen to be in the Arab Street ‘hood), you can buy a nice durian swiss roll from the Rich and Good Cake Shop. I bought one for my TW who was visiting from Chicago and he was very excited about it.

Overheard while in the queue.

Rrring RRiiing RRRrriinnggg…. (telephone call)

“hello, ya ya I am here”

other person speaks

“yes they sell swiss roll, what flavor you want”

other person speaks

“yes they sell swiss roll, got all kinds of flavor, carrot, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, durian what flavor you want?”

other person speaks

“no no carrot and strawberry not ready yet, another hour plus, you want durian or vanilla?”

other person speaks

“so you want or noooottt”

“ok ok I order a few now.”

This cake shop clearly has their slew of loyal customers. Judging by those in the queue, this was neither their first time here nor the first time they were queuing. At first I wasn’t sure how long it would take, every process in the shop seemed to still be non-automated and seriously pre-IBM. They don’t even have a POS, so you get a rather scrappy looking receipt. From the orders taken either at the door or by phone, everything was scribbled down by hand. It definitely retained the old-school feel and pumped out free delicious smells while you wait your turn to order. During this waiting time in the queue, there was plenty of time to browse the swiss rolls all neatly stacked in the fridge and to examine the flat cake that was exiting the oven on their trays in the tray trolleys. These were cooling and awaiting their turn to be “rolled” into a swiss roll with the requisite filling. They were definitely made on site.

Please note that this shop is a shop. Not a cafe, not a restaurant, nowhere to perch or sip an espresso. You get there (if you drive, put on a coupon for at least half an hour, park on Kandahar Street), get in the queue, wait your turn and get out. If you want the frills, check out the Japanese inspired cafe down the block, but beware the prices. If you’re price sensitive, there’s a little local modern kopitiam type of joint down the Southern end of the block.

As for my experience, I left after about half an hour with the swiss rolls for TW but unfortunately didn’t get to try them myself. That’ll be for my next trip.

Here’s their facebook page with very mixed reviews (although if you take into account what I mentioned above about the working conditions, you might sympathize with the staff), the various experiences posted should prepare you for yours. Notwithstanding, it feels nice to support an old Singapore business, there are so few of these cottage industries left: https://www.facebook.com/richandgoodcakeshop