Drink a durian milkshake at City Super in Times Square, Causeway Bay

My friend JC and I frequent the City Super food court every week. We’re there at least once a week, having a meal or a drink, catching up while the toddlers are in playgroup. 

The two stalls that took over the one juice stall was a great makeover. One stall does juices and is charmingly called the Juicery (owned by Honeymoon Dessert next door), while the other sells fresh fruit lollies. Mind you I have yet to see anyone buying a fruit lolly. 

I ordered a peach and lemon juice on the recommendation of the staff, he told me that it had way more “zing” than the peach with soda water. It certainly came with bits of lemon zest which added a nice texture to the drink.

Along the mock lineup of drinks, I noticed that they had durian milkshake. How could they not. 

Retailing at 36 HKD per cup, it is certainly one of the pricier drinks on offer. 

I haven’t asked the staff for more information on it yet.., such as what sort of durian they use, whether it’s fresh or pulped or the essence of, and how much of it is really durian. 

I’ll update this post once I’ve ascertained it but if you have tried it, let me know.

First proper Mao Shan Wang this August 2016

Hooray!!! Oh how I’ve missed eating good durian.

After what seemed to be an eternal time waiting for the right time to purchase a good Mao Shan Wang durian, we finally took the plunge last Sunday. 

I’ve been scoping out the market daily and the supermarkets too. City Super sells the pricier stuff (labelled Cat Mountain King) for between 400-900 HKD per fruit (smaller cheaper ones weigh around 1.3Kg), that started about two weeks ago. 

August 1st, Causeway Bay City Super. Durians on sale

When Malaysian durians finally hit the shelves at the Taste supermarket, it was a clear indication that the season had really begun. 

August 12th, durian on sale at Taste

The packets in the supermarket are nothing great though, often slightly too ripe and already a little molested in the packaging stages. 

In the Wan Chai indoor fresh fruit market, the stall blaring pop hits (on your left as you enter the doors from Queens Road East) had two on display in their refrigerated shelf. 

“The smaller one is 390, the larger one 500” came the response to my inquiry. We decided to take the larger one hoping to satisfy the cravings of three people. Mind you, large isn’t very large, the durian weighed less than 2.3 Kg for sure. 

Here we go….

I asked the fruit sellers to cut the durian for me for easy opening, we wanted to take it with its shell on to avoid damage and keep the aromas in. 

The durian flesh was a delightfully bright yet rich yellow, reminds me of the intense shade of sunflower petals. The whiff I had confirmed that it was worth paying for. 

As we opened the entire durian fruit, I was pleased to see that there were no signs of dry edges or fruit that was also too wet. It was a durian in more or less perfect condition. 

There were some stringy textures but that’s quite normal. Overall the flesh was smooth and silky though there were some interesting taste variations from pellicle to pellicle… One particular pellicle was a bit more bitter than the others… But not in a bad way.

I was also pleased to see that the flesh was well filled out in the pellicle and that every segment was equally inviting. No disappointments on fruit opening. 

The misshapened seeds characteristic of the Mao Shan Wang were larger than I had hoped  but that’s not something that I can complain about. 
FYI, also in season at City Super are the insanely large and inordinately expensive watermelons… Which also come in cube shapes!

Durian flavoured condoms

Well this article was certainly enlightening. I had no idea there would be a market for a durian flavoured condom. 

Apparently a company in Bangkok is commencing production of these. Whether their market survey showed that it would be profitable as a promo gimmick or a staple product, would be interesting to know… 

And, they’re not the first to produce durian flavoured condoms

either, an Indonesian company was the pioneer in this area.. I wonder whether sales of this product has been good. You can see on their website (Sutra Fiesta) that they package the condom with other sex toys…
There is a prevailing idea that durian inspires kinkiness and perhaps sex.. But the point is that the fruit itself is a huge source of energy to power a night of passion… I’m just not sure the scent or flavour of it is enough to do the same. 

“Agrotainment”, KenDurian: Durian fiesta in Dataran Merdeka

Malaysians are generally very good at coining new terms, and the ministers of state transmit these through mainstream media. So now, apart from “sportstainment”, “edutainment”, we now have “agrotainment“.

 Pretty silly as my toddler would say. 

Anyway, this article reports that the durian fest held at Dataran Merdeka was such a huge success that it might be held every last weekend of July. From the video, it looked like a very civilised affair, with a tent, tables with table cloths, chairs and plates. People are seen selecting their durians and packing them into plastic containers. I’m not sure whether it was mostly kampung durians and those of less popular breeds… Most of the best durians are often exported to the highest bidders around the region.

Of course, this could also be the situation in the VIP tent where the minister was given the tasting tour… Perhaps everyone else was shunted outside.

If you were there, please let me know what you thought of it since this is now thought of and promoted as a national event…!