How to Devour Durian fruit!

Interesting ways of DEVOURING Durian! :joy:

de·vour /dəˈvou(ə)r

verb: eat (food or prey) hungrily or quickly.

“he devoured a whole durian in less than a minute”

synonyms: eat hungrily, eat quickly, eat greedily, eat heartily, eat up, swallow, gobble (up/down), guzzle (down), gulp (down), bolt (down), cram down, gorge oneself on, wolf (down), feast on, consume; informalscoff (down), pack away, demolish, dispose of, make short work of, polish off, shovel down, stuff one’s face with, stuff oneself with, stuff (down), pig oneself on, pig out on, sink, put away, tuck away, get outside of, get one’s laughing gear round; informalgollop, shift; informalgorb; informalscarf (down/up), snarf (down/up), inhale; rareingurgitate

2 Likes

Ugh…not my thing.

I did make durian liqueur once for asian friends but i am not a fan

It sounds like ingurgitating Durian might cause some with a sense of smell to regurgitate said fruit!

My mom never drank in part because she couldn’t stand the smell, and her nose is just too close to her mouth.

That sounds like a reason I may give if I had a chance at stinky fruit.

Interesting read though!

The first couple times I had to really force myself to eat durian. I knew I wouldn’t like it, and I was right. My third experience was different. I loved it and I’ve been addicted ever since. In fact, I love it so much I’m moving to Hawaii to grow acres of durian!

I have seen other people like it on their first tasting simply because they encountered it in the right context. If you take a bite before the smell hits you, you’ll love it. Once you realize that it tastes like butterscotch cake frosting (if you find the right varieties, that is) you won’t care what it smells like.

5 Likes

same exact ‘phenomenon’ happened to me. It was a ‘hate-love’ relationship, meaning i hated it on first few tries-- then i loved it on subsequent ones— forever!

hands down the most decadent of all fruits, imo

2 Likes

That was also my experience. I hated it at first and then, I can’t have enough!

3 Likes

Intriguing reports!
You all have certainly made me curious. I did say I may use my mom’s excuse…then again mom being afraid of heights didn’t stop me from solo flying a powered para glider!
I might just seize the opportunity! :smile:

2 Likes

overpowering aroma aside, durian is pure butter-y goodness. Suave is the word to describe it(whether in english, french, or spanish). Smooth, sweet, and soft.

avocado and durian are the two unique fruits enjoyed not for juiciness-- but for their rich, creamy/fatty pulp. Durian evidently has added dimensions due to the aroma, symphony of flavors, and high brix, relative to fat-content. Practically all other fruits are water and sugar, but hardly any fat.

anyone who’d like to try them for the first time would best do it by buying frozen(yes, durian is now also sold in usa as fresh fruit). Frozen durian is almost scentless. Eating it half-thawed, when the texture and firmness approximates a ripe but still firm avocado is probably best for beginners.

if you actually end up liking it, you’d soon realize that the strong aroma will no longer be in issue, and will be eating it fresh or totally thawed, filling your entire house with the one-of-a-kind perfume.

durian pulp is comonly sold in transparent plastic bags/containers, and the best quality ones are shaped like a diamond/trapezoid/parallelogram. The largest of those sizes are prime because those have thicker and sweeter pulp , compared to tubular/elongated pulp, which are actually several small squarish-shaped arils that developed in crowded conditions inside the durian pod.

4 Likes

forgot to add this re: avocado. As most everybody knows, it is creamy and has a nutty/pleasant bitter taste to it. Which happens to be the same desirable qualities of processed cacao. And as we know of cocoa, you add sugar you get chocolate. Whenever i get a craving for chocolate but don’t have any, i sometimes use avocado as a not-inferior substitute. Slicing a chilled avocado lengthwise, removing the pit exposes a convenient cavity where i can generously pour with maple syrup. Simply scoop up the flesh around the lake of syrup, it is at least as good as a chocolate sundae!
am sure there will be violent naysayers, but i’d still recommend this to anyone even if it costs me my life :grin:

3 Likes

Sometimes, I think durian fruit gets bad rap, more than it deserves. Most Americans have never tried a durian but have already formed a very negative opinion about it. It is not called the King of the fruit for nothing :smile: Not all durians have strong pungent smell. Some smell rather mild. However, the riper the fruit, the stronger the smell. One thing for sure, not all the Thais can stand the smell of durian, either.

In Thailand, the durian season is May- July. Even when in season, it’s the most expensive fruit on market. In season, it can cost anywhere from $3-10 a lbs depending on a variety and where you buy it (street vendor vs fancy supermarket). Out of season, it could cost as much as $10-30+ a lb.

After all these years, a variety called Mon-Tong (some spelled Monthong) and Kan Yao are still the most popular varieties.

3 Likes

Durians on display.

6 Likes

More ready to eat product are made with durians these days ranging from a traditional coconut-sticky rice durian dessert (the same concept as mango with sticky rice) to more creative products.

5 Likes

some of the red or orange-pulped ones don’t have as strong aromas as mornthong, etc. Actually like the smellier ones though, lol

1 Like

thought i’d cherry-pick the sweetest/best-flavored aril(or likely to be) of the bunch. Photoshopped a white arrow at the pointy-tipped aril at the lower left side of @mamuang 's photo. That one has more pulp vs pit ratio. The bigger the pulp relative to pit, the more intensely flavored. This especially applies to durian that were harvested too soon/prior to full-ripeness.

4 Likes

Can you eat it from a distance?? :grin:

4 Likes

Raf,
I agree that durian with tapered ends have a better pulp to seed ratio. I do not think it has more intense flavor. Sometimes, tapered ends taste less sweet.

Most people buy a whole fruit since it is cheaper than the ready- to -eat ones (cost more due to labor). It needs some experience to buy a durian with a good pulp to seed ratio since we don’t have xray eyes :smile:

1 Like

maybe it is just me. It could also be because it has a larger volume, so i end up stuffing a larger blob into my mouth. A bigger chunk will likely be more ‘flavorful’ and sweeter than a smaller one.

durian fruits that have any concavity generally have less pulp to overall weight ratio. The best durians should be fully convex around its girth.

as for pulp to seed, better to buy them that have already been peeled, as one could cherry pick since often wrapped in transparent plastic. Durian as actual fruit is seldom available in usa anyway, apart from being more expensive

1 Like

Durian around here are sold as a whole fruit only, both frozen and fresh.

1 Like

lol! Wearing a backstroke swimmer’s nose clip might be more feasible option :smile:. If you have to breathe, inhale only through the mouth, haha

2 Likes

Indeed, plus Durian is unique for its combination of high fat AND sugar (which avocados lack). That is why it’s worth getting over the smell.

I can’t think of too many sweet fruits that are also rich in fat. Perhaps also Mamey Sapote but it’s not as fatty as durian.

2 Likes