148. | The durian

There aren’t many posts that I think should definitely be included on a site that also deals with Asia. This is probably the only one that I thought I should definitely write about this fruit.

I heard about this strange creature months ago. At the time, I noted that it is an extremely bad-smelling plant, but its taste is praised to the skies.

I haven’t taken a picture of this fruit yet, so I borrowed one from the internet that shows its exterior, interior, and size.

My own pictures capture its processed state and the details of my snacking.

On the market

I visited Fisherman’s Village Night Market six days and seven days ago. As I said, apart from the food section, there is nothing else interesting to me in this market, so I walked through the appropriate alley twice. I bought dinner, drinks, and finally bought durian from the second vendor.

They only sell the edible part of the fruit here, no garnish is available. It is wrapped in foil on a disposable tray. The different pieces are displayed at different prices, so after I managed to overcome the difficulty of choosing – should I buy a smaller one or a larger one, will it be good or inedible? -, the vendor wanted to put the wrapped tray in a nylon bag, but I politely refused, thinking that I had my backpack on my back, and I didn’t want to burden the environment with another garbage bag.

In hindsight, I realized that maybe I should have had that extra foil. I put the fruit in my bag, then went to a table to eat my dinner. Then I continued my current walk. Later I sat down somewhere else, bought a watermelon smoothie and sat for a while. Then I called my parents and we talked for a while.

These many things are important in the story so that it is noticeable that the wrapped fruit was in my bag for about an hour. To which, by the way, the seller also kindly gave me a disposable nylon glove, with the warning that I would use these gloves if I ate the food, because it was quite smelly.

The smell of durian

So I put on my gloves and bravely opened the foil. My parents asked what it was like, so based on my first impression I found myself saying that it smelled a little rotten. But I also immediately added that strangely it wasn’t repulsive. I smelled a bit of barnyard manure, especially poultry manure (ammonium), a bit of a sulfurous stench.

Well, this is no coincidence, because – as I later learned – the smell is caused by hydrogen sulfide. And yes, the smell, which is elsewhere described as a pungent rotten egg smell, was created by nature to attract animals, thereby helping the fruit to reproduce. This hydrogen sulfide is the reason why Asian countries ban the introduction of fruit into closed spaces.

I also learned that the fresher we eat the fruit, the more bearable its smell is, but if we wait to foam it up after opening, then we have to reckon with the increasingly unpleasant smell.

The one I bought had been sitting on the counter for who knows how long, so the theory is that there was already a basis for a little sniff. The end of the smelly part of the story is that although the fruit was only in my bag for about an hour, I could still smell it in my room the next morning. Luckily, it cleared up from my laptop case. That’s not a bad thing, because I’m not sure I’d be happy working with a laptop that smelled of hydrogen sulfide/durian. It might end my digital nomad career.

I’ll say it again, although the smell I smelled after tearing off the foil was strange and basically unpleasant, the experience wasn’t terribly unpleasant. I’m not drawing the conclusion from this that I can handle the bouquet of hydrogen sulfide very well, but that this was probably a fairly fresh specimen.

The taste of durian

After the first smell experience, I took a deep breath, broke off a piece of the fruit and quickly popped it into my mouth.

The first taste I felt was the taste of fried onions. I personally love this, so we could have become friends with the fruit with this.

Its texture – this is perhaps visible in the pictures – is so creamy, not really breakable, but rather grippable. Like a warm plasticine. I read somewhere that it was snot-like. Nylon gloves don’t make it easier to grip anyway.

So there I had the first bite in my mouth, which had an ammoniac, sulfurous smell, a snot-like state and fried onion characteristics, I can say that it wasn’t exactly what I was holding on my tongue, which some people say is the king of fruits.

Then the miracle happened!

 

I can’t tell you what taste I felt, because it’s unlike anything I’ve ever eaten! Perhaps the vanilla flavor was the most familiar of the feelings that emerged. As I ate and ate the piece I bought, I kept thinking that it would soon run out and I would eat more of it.

Within moments, the texture also became friendly. I almost wanted to throw away the gloves, but despite my heightened emotional state, I did not make this blunder. I still don’t know if it would be a good idea. Maybe I will try it by touching it with my bare hands someday.

Because I will definitely eat it again! If the second time is as good as the first time, then I will consider becoming an ambassador for the fruit.

Durian in Hungary

I found a site where you can order a frozen piece weighing almost half a kilo for 46 USD. The price is quite steep, maybe, but I won’t be an ambassador. Here, if I calculate correctly, it might be a fifth or a sixth of the price.

It is important to note that outside of southern and southeastern Asia, it is probably only available frozen, the reason for this is obviously the time factor, the fermentation of the fruit.

Interesting facts about fruit

I saw that the Hungarian language sites use the same sources regarding durian, so without citing the source I would be one of those who copied some content onto their site. But I couldn’t leave out the lines below.

The problem starts when the fruit is fully ripe, as it gives off a putrid stench, which can lead to serious retaliation against consumers in several countries. In Singapore, for example, in addition to smoking, eating, drinking and flammable goods, special warning signs prohibit eating durian on public transport, in some places it is not allowed to be consumed in public areas, in many places it is forbidden to take it to hotels, airports or ships, and in some cities smoking is allowed in more places than snacking on this fruit. In 2023, a Thai bus driver claimed that the fruit made him faint at work, and there was also a case when a Melbourne university was evacuated because of it, after the unknown smell was identified as a gas leak.

And two more gems from the sources I read:

A durian without its smell is like a person who has lost his soul. This A Singaporean reportedly came up with the idea that they could now produce odorless durian.

One of the greatest culinary legends of all time, Anthony Bourdain, once said that eating durian is like making out with your dead grandmother.

I am not a culinary legend, so I consider this statement a gross exaggeration. I have been convinced by durian that it is the king of fruits.