Durian has a hard outer husk which is covered with sharp, prickly thorns. The colour of the husk is green to brown. Its shape ranges from oval to round. The size of the fruit can be as large as 30 centimetres and weighs one to three kilo’s. Durian is native to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Its flesh is pale-yellow, which tastes as a mixture of banana, butterscotch, vanilla, peach, pineapple, strawberry and almond with a surprising twist of garlic. The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact.
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Durian is available from Vietnam.
Calcium, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Protein, Phosphorus and Vitamin E.
Durian has a hard outer husk which is covered with sharp, prickly thorns. The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact.View Durian
The first step is to open it. Open the fruit with a knife at the middle of the brown base. Once the knife has penetrated the durian, twist the knife left and right a few times. The lines of the different segments should open up. Cut through the durian along these lines. Now you can open the durian with your hands by pulling the segments apart. The durian is now ready to be eaten or cooked.Consumption
The flesh is mostly eaten fresh or dried, often out-of-hand. It is best after being well chilled in a refrigerator. Sometimes it is boiled or cooked in coconut water. It is also popular as a sauce and flavouring for ice-cream. Unripe fruit is also often boiled whole and eaten as a vegetable. The seeds are also eaten, commonly after roasting, boiling, drying or frying it.When to eat
Durian is ripe when the husk has a golden colour and begins to crack. The spines are elastic and have dark points. If you shake a ripe fruit, you will hear the seeds moving inside. Keep ripe durians refrigerated, and consume within a few days.
Did you know?
- Durian is commonly known as “King of fruits”.
- Durian’s name comes from the Malaysian word “duri”, meaning “thorn”.
- A Malaysian saying is: “When the durian comes down, the sarongs come off”.
- Durian has a reputation in South East Asia as having aphrodisiac properties.
- In combination with alcohol durian is believed to have a narcotic working.
- Durian is prohibited in most public places in Thailand.