It is Durian season in Thailand (around April – June). I have seen a lot of Durian everywhere at the markets and street vendors now. Durian is widely known in southeast Asia as the “king of fruits” (ราชาผลไม้). It is a fruit like no other. We usually think of fruit as light and fresh, but durian is very rich. I think if you never had it before, you might not believe it is a fruit. It is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk.
It stinks, you say? Of course not for me. To durian lovers, its aroma is heavenly and cannot be separated from its divine taste; durian haters think it is has the stench of garlic and onions, and worse yet, of sewer or rotten meat.
The fruit itself looks like small golden pillows, and it has the sweet custardy taste to them. I think perhaps the smell and taste of durian is an “Asian thing” saturated in our genes from generations of exposure to the fruit. My mom is the biggest fan of Durian, I always had to stop her from having too much of it.
Durian is available in many forms. If you don’t like fresh Durian, you might like to try durian chips (ทุเรียนทอดกรอบ), durian paste (ทุเรียนกวน), durian ice cream (ไอศครีมทุเรียน) or durian with sweet sticky rice and coconut milk (ข้าวเหนียวทุเรียน). Personally, I only eat fresh durian, I don’t know why I am not a big fan of other durian produces.
Durain in Thai is called ทุเรียน [Tú Rian]
Fun Fact: Durian is the only fruit that tigers will eat.
Are you a durian lover or hater?
😀
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HI Khru Mod,
Any advice on how to pick durian at the market?
Sawatdee ka Emily, Usually the seller use their finger to flick the durian shell and listen to the sound, if it sounds like there is a hollow inside that means it is ripe. I don’t know how to do that actually, I usually ask the seller to pick it for me.
In case you want to buy a already peeled package from street vendors or supermarket, some people like their durian under-ripe (a crisp texture and less of a scent), some like it really ripe (soft and creamy) then you can see the colour. If the colour is deep yellow, it is really ripe. The pale yellow is under ripe. 🙂
sawaddee krup kru Mod,
awesome blog you have here, congrats and please keep up the great work!
I have only been living in Thailand for a couple of months but already feel at home and love durian too 🙂
I started learning Thai and although I have some problem with pronouncing some words (especially when ng are together) I find it a fascinating language and want to learn asap.
for now Rien ngoo ngoo, plah, plah.
Duu lae duaeng duai na krup
smiles
kay
Hi there are using WordPress for your blog platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create my own. Do you need any html coding knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi there, Yes I am using WordPress. I don’t need any html knowledge to create my blog. I got a little help from a friend at the beginning to set it up though. Sorry I can’t help much.
Hi Kru Mod. The message you replied to was really an automatic spam message to try to sell you some “low price red bottom shoes”. 🙂
I got a lot of these spam messages on my blog http://imperialdeltronics.wordpress.com/ until I installed some anti-spam measures and now they have all disappeared.
In one month I will come to Thailand. I hope there will still be some durian left!
Oh! I didn’t know that. Thank you for letting me know. Also thank you for visiting my website. Welcome to Thailand in advance. 🙂
Your blog is awesome. Me and my husband really like the hard work you’ve put into this blog post. In fact, my son and I have also been creating a site on exotic fruits such as the acai berry. Your site’s theme is a great resource for our own website. Please keep up uploading the amazing content! Looking forward to seeing more pages on this amazing website! We just added your site to my bookmarks. 🙂
I would like to try it one day 🙂
I am a durian lover. The last time I was in Thailand I tried durian and sticky rice – very good!
kru mod must try Malaysia durian , more tasty !!
I really would love to try it:)
In the Philippines, Davao City is the Durian capital . You can smell the fruit as soon as you get off the plane. And speikang of planes, I believe durian is not allowed to be hand-carried. Some people can’t dig the smell. Not me though.