Durian Petit Pot Dessert

At lunch in Koi’s in Kemang (round the corner of Faris Durians mobile stall), I looked over the dessert menu to see if anything caught my eye.

Koi’s dessert menu

And there it was… “Durian Cooked in a Jar”. I simply had to try it.

Durian Petit Pot

It was indeed served in a glass jar, with a serving of vanilla ice-cream on the side.

Durian Petit Pot 2

And it was delicious. Light, fluffy and creamy. With a slight honey-ish syrup at the bottom. SW shared it with me and said it was like a flan. Dips of durian with vanilla. I’m not usually into derivatives but this was nicely done and neither extremely hot nor cold. I think it might be Monthong though.

Fresh Shipment of Durians from Johor and Pahang

We went to buy fruits at Ah Tong’s the other day. His shop is  discreetly tucked away in the back alley behind the Farrer Road Market. He’s been selling fruit since he took over his father’s stall in Cuppage market. i remember going there with my mother as a small kid, bringing my own shopping basket (no plastic bags back then – we used carton boxes and our own marketing baskets), it was funny because Ah Tong would humour me by putting a total of 4 apples into my little basket which would fill it to the brim. Anyway, Ah Tong was a young man then but now has grown up kids of his own. It remains unclear whether they will stay in their father’s trade.

My dad loves to buy the exotic fruit he imports from certain countries and dealers. Weird shaped passion fruit, a sunshine yellow dragon fruit from Ecuador, expensive overly ripened persimmons from Japan and all sorts of interesting fruits to see, depending on the season.

One day when we were there to buy our usual fruit supplies for the week, Ah Tong said he had some spectacularly good Mau Sang Wang Durians from Malaysia. There is no better way, in my opinion, to ply the food trade then to allow people to sample a taste of great quality fruit. If you’re a fruit fanatic like we are of durian, it is impossible to resist. Ah Tong offered to open a durian on the spot for us to try. Would or could we say no? No way!!

Bright and Buttery Mao San Wangs

Yummy, ate almost half a durian

The durian was delicious and I think each of us ate 3-4 seeds just standing there. We polished off the entire durian. Sale guaranteed. My dad bought all 6 in the basket and asked him to put them all in plastic containers so that we can freeze them at home for later consumption.

These Mau Sang Wangs don’t come cheap, they’re about SGD 15 -20 per kilo, but that’s probably the going rate in Singapore.

 

 

Durian Beancurd Wins Stinky Spikes vote for weirdest combination

In Asia, we have a dessert that is called “dou hua”, literally translated as bean flower. Typically its the juice of the soyabean which is extracted and curdled to form a smooth, light substance resembling a wobbly mix between jello and custard. Eaten with a bit of sugary syrup, this dessert is popular for breakfast and throughout the day and all hours of the night (there are 24 hour joints selling this too).

Now comes the wacky part. For years I have only known this dessert to have one flavor, but now to get ahead, new varieties are being offered as novelty for diners. I found this dessert sign in Singapore off Sixth Avenue along Anamalai Avenue at the food stalls. I went there to buy some noodles and popiah for home and spotted this very strange dessert above the advertisement for a steamboat.

I don’t think I’m a big fan of durian dou hua, not that interested to try it because it’s probably just using the essence and flavoring which always tastes pretty fake to me. But if you’d like to try it while in Singapore (it’s not far from Durian Lingers), then I’ve included a little map here for you to find it.

Durian beancurd at the Sixth Avenue Stalls

Location of Durian Dou Hua Stall on Sixth Avenue

Durian Frostbites available beside the Singapore Merlion

SW and I had about 90 minutes and decided to use it to walk around the Marina Bay. We started off by meandering from the Esplanade (the Big Durian roof) round to the DNA bridge and down onto the board walk by MBS. It was a cloudy day and after a quick purchase of soda water at the 7-eleven, proceeded with our onward stroll towards Collyer Quay and round to the Fullerton waterside restaurants.

As we negotiated the very designer and tricky staircase downwards toward the pavement leading to the connector back to the Esplanade (sorry if this sounds convoluted but if you’ve been there, you’ll know exactly what I mean), I turned and a very bright and cheerful signboard caught my eye.

Cool ice cream stand facing the Merlion

Aha blinking lights which remind me of a fairground and a very colorfully designed logo which I guess appeals to women and children alike. I had to take a closer look to see what sort of product range they were offering.

Durians are on top of the menu

Well lo and behold, fancy seeing the special flavor featured on top of the menu – DURIAN!!

At more than twice the price of the standard fruity sorbets, the Mao Shan Wang gets premium position. Even the D24 standard variety of durian costs 20% less but still twice that of the sorbets.

Above the display counter there was this promo leaflet. Looking at it, you can tell their intended tourist target (it’s not in Dutch, French of German).

Claim to fame for Durian ice lolly

Durian Ice Lollies, kept separately

Looking at the freezer display, I asked where the durian flavored lollies were located (none in sight). The attendant told me: ” Oh, we keep the durian lollies separately in the freezer back here because the smell is so strong!”

I said “show me” just to test that they really had it in stock. He pulled out a box containing the durian lollies and I didn’t want them to defrost so I indicated that I believed him and he could return them to their freezing chamber. But I forgot to ask him if it was the MSW or the D24. Well, benefit of the doubt, I suppose they should have both.

 

Stinky Spikes investigates Total Fruit Shop in Jalan Walter Monginsidi

One evening as we were planning on our usual Korean haunt for excellent barbeque cuisine, we got the taxi to drop us off at the fruit mart so that we could have a look around prior to dinner (may I say to everyone that this is not a good idea because if you’re hungry you’ll want to buy everything in sight).

CG had told us that this mart was a durian seller in the neighborhood, stocking durians usually of any varieties from all over so of course, Stinky Spikes had to go do some research on where this was a myth or truth. So we went.

First thing you see when you enter the store is the large poster hailing durian lovers to enter and expect.

Big Durian Poster upon entry

Of course, by looking at the poster the durians from Malaysia are indeed the best (or maybe anything that is imported is better?). And they are advertising the “Musang King” which is the mau sang wang…. wow.

So I wandered around the shop looking for it but all I found in the back cool section was this:

Not very many – only 4 left and all wrapped up in cling film

Hmm. Not a lot and quite disappointing. I looked to the left – Iranian dates in huge 5Kg boxes. To the right, cut fruit. Hmm. Ok fine, what type is it and how much does it cost?

XO clearly stated

Well, it’s definitely NOT a mau sang wang or a Musang King. But hey XO’s are sometimes pretty good too. A taste of slightly fermented fine wine with a bitter tinge. Ok fine, how much does it cost?

That’s a total of about USD 12 per durian (and they were kind of small)

So for these durians under a kilo in weight, you would expect to be setback by around USD 12+. Is it worth it? I guess if you have a craving XO’s are much cheaper in Malaysia and not forgetting that once you remove the husk and extract the fruit, there’s probably not much in there which can be seriously disappointing.

On my next slow and winding path around to explore the rest of the shop, I found this:

Durian Potong Sticks at the Jalan Walter Monginsidi shop

Halal durian potong sticks for Rs 6,000 (that’s less than USD 1). Of course they come in all sorts of flavors but how are the durian ones faring in sales?

Durian Potong Sticks are popular!

Looks like it’s doing well and I think this would be the cheaper alternative to buying the durian if you just need to get rid of the flavor craving.

When I asked the guys at the counter why there was no Musang King, the response was a big smile saying “but we have XO”. “Durian Musang arrives by flight shipment next week, you can come back then”.

So I guess similar to my arrangements in Malaysia, you just have to have contacts with the fruit men to tell you when those fruits will arrive.

The main question is, will they arrive ripened or unripened? And what would you pay for it?

End of primary investigation by Stinky Spikes 

 

 

 

 

Organic durian

Mum was off to Europe and told me that she left some “organic durian” in the freezer and that I should eat eat when next home. It was most exciting, I was very curious as to what this organic durian might mean to its taste and texture. Upon defrosting (ideally leave it for around 4 hours at room temperature), it smelled pungent and distinctly durian. The color was not too intense yellow (so not a musang king) but had the same creamy texture. It looked like it was probably a small-ish durian judging from the size of each piece of delicious fruit. Not too bitter, not too sweet, the smell definitely won hands down but the taste was (in my opinion) fairly standard. Not bad but also not the best I’ve had.

If you look closely at the seeds, some are full and round, while some are odd shaped and sort of reminiscent of a baroque pearl. This is quite unusual as most seeds in a musang king tend to be somewhat odd shaped, while the D24s and the kampong durian variety tend to yield very evenly shaped egg-like seeds.

Hmm. There’s another pack in the freezer for next time and I wonder if I’ll feel differently about it when I next try it. I’ll also find out when mum gets back, where the source of the organic durian is from and what makes it more “organic” than others…(supposedly the pesticide sprays but who knows…)

photo 1

photo 2

Durians for sale in Kemang, Jakarta

Durian Stall in Kemang, Jakarta

While walking around hot and dusty Kemang, I spied a little mobile truck stall parked on a the corner of a petrol station selling durians. I  had to pause to peruse the wares.

Charmingly named  Faris Durians, it was clear upon closer inspection that they were undeniably from Thailand.

Then I asked about the Medan durians and whether there was a difference? The seller smiled and said it depends on taste (polite way of maybe saying yes, the Medan ones are not very good…). It was clear that the Medan ones were smaller than the Thai ones, and for sure he’d want to sell the imported stuff first.

Faris Durians: Monthong and Medan

Durian Goods for Sale at Jakarta International Airport Terminal 2

While seeing AR off at Terminal 2, I spied this little shop selling some durian based confectionary and products. The shopkeepers permitted me to take some photos to share on this blog.

Durian and Jackfruit products

I am not very sure what these are exactly, maybe dodol? Anyway if anyone has tried them please tell me what it is like.

Durian dodol

Here’s the durian dodol long sticks (sticky durian cooked cake).

The stall can be found at the Departure Hall E3.

Local confectionary stall at airport

Terminal 2, CGK at Gate E3

Durian in Beijing Supermarket

When I was reading SW’s Weekend FT, there was an article in the Life section (13th May 2012) about a fund manager who left the UK and went to Hong Kong to start a new fund investing in small and medium enterprises in China. There were some great descriptions about the difficulty of doing business there and some information which help to flavor the article for European readers. Surprisingly, there was mention of durians in the Beijing Supermarket, the equivalent of Carrefour or Tesco’s called “Wumart”, which stocked the stinky spiky fruit. No idea whether the durians are from Thailand or Malaysia but they are definitely fresh ones if they are stinking up the place!

(Funnily enough, the article says that Wumart is not Tesco or Walmart, but they haven’t been to Tesco’s or Carrefour in Malaysia! Here, we do have all sorts of chicken parts on ice and in fact all kinds of seafood too, it’s almost like a wet market in many of the hypermarts here….)

durians in beijing

Durian Gargle? Durian Handwash?

Please don’t ask me why I found this article but I did. I have a slight obsession with teeth at the moment and it was interesting to read that the husk of the durian has some antiseptic properties which some very entrepreneurial scientists are proposing to make a mouthwash with.

(The bit about toxicity and death in the research aspect of the article is particularly amusing)

Already we know that there is something in the durian pellicle that people believe can make the smell from your hands go away, as long as the water is run through it (see this post). Maybe in addition to considering the mouthwash to combat halitosis, they can make a handwash to combat the trapped aromas on skin surfaces too. Now there’s a new business idea….

From: Dental Tribune

A Durian a day keeps caries away, research from Asia suggests

by Dental Tribune Asia Pacific

LAS VEGAS, Nev., USA: A sugary gel found on the thorn-covered husks of the Durian fruit is currently under observation by researchers for its potential to work as a mouth disinfectant. Students from the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Chulalongkorn in Bangkok, Thailand, recently presented their intitial findings at the Annual Meeting of the American Dental Association in Las Vegas, the online portal drbiscus.com reports.

They found that the substance made of polysaccharides was able to reduce the number of Streptococcus mutans in lab rats hours after use which would make it as effective as 0.2% chlorhexidine, a common formula used in mouth rinses. Studies on human subjects also showed a reduction of hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, and dimethyl sulphide, compounds responsible for halitosis or bad breath. No evidence of treatment-related gross toxicity or deaths caused by exposure to mouth rinse with durian polysaccharide gel (DPG) was observed, the researchers stated.

Durian is popular in many Southeast Asian countries including Thailand and Malaysia which are the world’s largest importers of the fruit. It’s root and leaves are often used in traditional medicine.

Earlier research conducted with durian polysaccharide gel have confirmed the antibacterial properties of the gel.