My Longkang

Everyone loves durians. It is not called the king of fruits for nothing. It is however an acquired taste and some people will actually avoid you after you have eaten it especially in a lift or closed environment like in a car. Because you will burp aikks!

Tips :
Use your eyes :
Stalk : Examine the stalk. See if it has signs of being brought down with the help of a knife. Durians which drop down taste better and have a clean smooth stalk.

Check for the presence of cavities. Small holes indicate presence of worms. Avoid at all costs unless you have a fetish for worms. Some camouflage the holes with leaves so inspect the fruit carefully. Be especially alert if there are leaves sticking to the fruit.

Some animals are notorious for their love of durians: squirrels.
This is an indicator it is a good durian but would you buy one that has been eaten by an animal before?

Watch out too for man-made holes. It means someone has probed this fruit and probably found it below their expectations.

Yawning durians : Past its prime. Some use strings to tie them together so that the yawn is not too obvious.

Note :

A small durian in my opinion in most cases taste better than a big durian. The shape and distribution of the thorns is another factor to be taken into consideration but I am not an expert at this.

Stunted in a particular direction or shape : could be due to the sting of a bee or other insect when the fruit was still small…not top grade.

Try to buy durians later in the day or late at night. The durian seller knows the durians will depreciate the next morning.

The ‘I am a hunk’ demonstration test.

Hold the durian with both hands and shake and try to look macho at the same time. Position your body so passers-by can appreciate what marvelous biceps you have. It will help if you are wearing athletic wear.

If no movement : probably not ripe or full of water
Hollow sound : little flesh or presence of worms

Smell : Imagine you are trying to get a whiff of expensive wine . Holding it with both hands bring it to your nose like you would a goblet of fine wine : sniff. If you bring it too close and too fast : your senses might be fooled.

fetid or over-bearing - over-ripe
no odour - just forget it
On Sunday, the price of durians was RM7.00 for three average durians here.

Happy durian eating every body. Anthony, I have fulfilled your request

If I have made any mistakes here, please correct me. This is not a science but about probabilities…..how to better the odds of getting a better fruit.

Durians and birds