Goreng Bunga Durian

Considering almost RM1000 for 3 fruit nowdsays, gadaikan sarung for makan durian dah tak boleh pakailah.

Ever tried Durian’s flower ?  it’s still affordable, at least for now.

In Sarawak, Bunga durian is a delicacy, to be enjoyed months before durian matured.

Durian flower can be prepared in many ways : goreng belacan, asam pedas, or just simply goreng with shallot and garlic !

Glutinous Rice with Durian Jam

Last week, my colleagues shared with me an unique recie of durian jam.  Then, last night YeeMeng gave me 2 durians.  What a great timing !

Today, when I cracked open both durians, I found some Plagideicta magniplaga larvaes feasting in some compartments of the fruits.  The aril I salvaged from the larvaes’ party can still be made into tempoyak, a fermented durian dish.   

For tonight’s dinner, I will have steamed glutinous rice with durian jam.

Out of the remaining edible durians, I removed some of the aril, mashed with a spoon and heated over a pan with some water.  Then,  with the speed of lighting, add to the durian a watery mixture of 1 teaspoon of flour + 1 teaspoon of coconut milk powder + 1 spoon of sugar.    Bring to boil and serve with glutinous rice.

Its creamy, sweet and rich with durian flavour.

Must try !

Nasi Durian

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Having rice with durian is an awesome experience !

A plate of hot rice, with a generous portion of durians, plus a cucumber soup….. yum yum !

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How to choose A Good DURIAN

Durian is an expensive fruit, if not the most expensive.
Thus buying durian is a very risky transaction.
Unless you are enhanced with x-ray vision, then, some basic knowledge and skill are needed while selecting and buying durians.

Here are few simple tips I picked up over the years :

Follow your nose
The overpowering, repugnant odor is most essential in durian as the King of tropical fruits .
Durian without the pungent smell, or anything less should be out of consideration .

Some varieties are good, but with less smell . But there are not many of that out there.
A good durian can be smell miles away, or should I say, as long as the durian has nice smell, it’s a good durian !
Safest way is of cause don’t try your luck ! Anyway, luck has nothing to do with it.
It is always better safe than sorry !

The pungent odoriferous flavour of the durian can be categorized into 4 main flavour profiles :
1.Pungency due to sulphur compounds, eg n-propyl mercaptan, dimethyl disulphide ,
2.Fruitiness due to aromatic esters, eg n-butyl acetate, ethyl butyrate ,
3.Creaminess, eg diacetyl, gamma- & delta-lactones ,
4.Green notes due to aldehydes and alcohols, eg cis-3-hexenol, trans-2-hexenol
( Lim TK, 1993, DURIAN Diseases and Disorders, Tropical Press Sdn Bhd, KL )



Look hard

# Avoid de-formed fruit – deformed means less edible pulp, more husk.

# Look for fruit with nice sharp tip – blunt or damaged tip may indicate the fruit had been handled numerous time, why can’t sell? Don’t pay for the answer.  

# Don’t buy fruit with cracked skin – cracked skin means over-ripe !  besides, the cracks may may cause bacteria contamination, which in turn cause food poisoning.

# Don’t share with insect borer – some say the insect knows a good durian, I think insect mana tahu pilih ?

# Reject diseased fruit – fungi and bacteria infested fruit, buat apa beli ?



Shake it !
Hold the fruit close to you ear, shake it, listen for a shaky sound . ( don't be too gentle with it.  shake harder )

( don't be a sissy ! off the gloves ! )

The sound indicate that the fruit is nicely ripen.
Both under-ripe and over-ripe fruit will not have the shaky sound.  Unripe fruit will have its pulp firmly attached to the inner husk, while the over-ripe pulp will be too soft to have the shaky effect .

Durian fruit exhibits a characteristic climacteric pattern in respiration and ethylene production. The ripening of durian indicated by they pulp becoming soft, creamy and sweet, with the presence of the strong odour and flavour typical of the fruit ( Tongdee, et al, 1988, Effects of harvest maturity on respiration, ethylene, production and the composition of internal atmospheres of durian, In Proceeding of Seminar on Durian, Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, Bangkok )