So… side tracking for a bit today.
A while back, some friends and I were casually discussion different types of tropical fruit… and the durian fruit came up. After a round of curious chit chat, I decided that we should just make an experiment out of it. I, personally, have not bought and served durian before. I remember seeing it for sale in the frozen section of the local Asian grocer, so we then proceeded to make purchase of this mysterious fruit.
The durian fruit is native to South Asian, shaped like a acorn/pine cone cross while growing on trees. It can weigh between 2 to 7 lbs and as big as the size of one’s head. The outside is hard and spikey and the inside is soft and mushy. The durian is most commonly banned from public tight compartments like trains and elevators due to a very strong odor emitted by its flesh.
Over with the brief intro, let’s begin tracing my steps on handling this fruit. It is quite a task to even break it open!
How to open the durian.
1) Take hold of spikey fruit with both hands
2) Locate hard concrete floor
3) Lift up and smash down, HARD
6) Grab hold of the split and proceed with caution
7) Wear hand protection if available
Pull the shell apart to expose the flesh sections
9) Keep peeling until all of the shell is off
TIP: The shell actually grows in a pattern, so as long as you find the seams, you can get an easy tear between them.
Now for the taste test… Hmmm… I’ve never had it before in it’s original form and all I’m going to say is that I’ll never have it again. It is definitely one of those acquired tastes… one that I never got. The flesh is slimy and wraps around a big pit, much like the avocado. There is a tough fibrous skin surrounding the outside of the flesh, which resembled latex to me. The taste is a cross between leek dumplings and a dash of sugar. I mean, it is sweet, but carries a WHOA aftertaste. I have friends who love this stuff, but granted, they have been eating it since they were young. I am not trying to diss the durian, but its not definitely not a introductory course to South Asian cuisine.
If the description was hard to understand, let me just say that it tastes just like it smells.
