Guide To Durian

Singapore lies South-East of Asia, at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. An illustrious list of judges like K F Seetoh, founder of the World Street Food Congress , Lindsay Gasik, author of two durian books and Julie Wong, former senior editor at The Star and Flavours magazine, tried every single durian entered into the competition, judging based on a range of factors like taste, appearance, texture and colour, before making their final decision.
Every year in May, the sweet scent of durians begins to waft around Malaysia as harvest begins to hit its peak period. King of Kings Durians are often described as the creme de la durian tekka creme of Durians. And as local durian sellers prepare to welcome a bumper crop of the thorny delicacy in 2015 due to good weather, we sniff out 10 types of durians from Malaysia.

I visited Jimmy's Durian Orchard last week and was blown away by the best durians I have ever tasted. If you share the same sentiments as I do, then I am pleased to share with you 11 of my most favourite curry puffs ever. But we don't sell the fruits commercially, we give them to customers who come to our farm to enjoy, because we are selling the land, not the fruits,” says Mohamad Jalani, head of business unit 3 at Sime Darby Property.
Not a very attractive fruit, but I wouldn't pass the opportunity to give it a try if you like your Durian sweet and watery. They are much sought after because of the sticky creamy flesh to accompany the sweet taste. Photo Caption - For those who prefer a lightly bittersweet taste, Tekka should be their ideal choice.

Durians picked under ripe may not ripen properly and can have no flavor at all, or a an unpleasant undertone that tastes like metallic scrambled eggs. Odd-shaped fruit are likely to have fewer chambers inside and so fewer flesh-covered seeds. Aside from the fact that it's fake (historic) news, Princess Qajar is very much like the King of Fruits, durian.
Zarir intends to continue to keep a low profile despite having one of the best durians in the country, as he says he entered the competition simply to see where his durians stood. Yellow chile peppers may have earthy, sweet, fruity, floral, or smoky flavors, and the spice levels will vary dramatically between cultivars ranging from mild, moderate, to scorching.
A perfectly round durian may have sub-standard fruit because it is usually less aromatic and the seeds are usually bigger and the meat less fleshy and creamy. Taste notes: Bitter and extremely soft, fleshy meat with an almost alcoholic taste. As the trees have now reached their second decade, Jalani says the fruits are simply going to get better.

Durians with fungus spots or mold on the shell will taste watery and - you guessed it - moldy. The Tekka, meanwhile, is often referred to as the Musang Queen and has a pleasant bitter quality. JQueen is the name of the breed and according to the owner, the durian tree will bear this fruit once every three years and per harvest will be less than 20 fruits.
Other than the ‘normal' curry puff flavours like curry chicken puff and sardine puff, Richie's Crispy Puffs offers customers with localised treats like their Durian Puffs. Durian connoisseurs love its bittersweet taste and sticky, creamy texture. If my mother approves, well, their curry puffs must be incredible.

The Tekka variety from Pahang carries hints of floral notes with sweet flesh that's occasionally bitter. From Penang, Malaysia's largest producer of Black Thorn durians Durian Republic will be setting up shop with crates of Red Prawn, Tekka and Black Thorn durian varieties.
The durian at Bao Sheng's was so amazing we were a bit spoiled, and even Donald's best just wasn't hitting our sweet (or bitter) spot. What I liked about the Rainbow durian, even more than it's glowing sunrise coloration, was that it's texture was far denser and thicker than a normal durian but had a similar level of sweetness and flavor.