Sunday, July 26, 2009

O DURIAN,DURIAN, LET ME COUNT THE WAYS I LOVE THEE !


Durian - The Sensational
"King Of The Fruit"


“You should wash your hands using the water
poured from a durian skin. It will remove the
smell from your fingers," urged Mr. Teh, my
neighbour who accompanied me on a durian
feast at Balik Pulau.

We had a satisfying breakfast like no other
amidst the natural surrounding of a durian
orchard.
Mr Nah Gin Guan, the tenant’s son of the durian's orchard, was skillful in opening the
durian. With a sharp cleaver, every single fruit was pried open at the tail end where
the indicative slicing lines met.

Come durian season, for as far as I can remember, my father however, deploying a
stick-stump approximately eight inches long with a slightly sharp end to do the same
job.

I on the other hand, would now prefer the much safer and easier method – to get
the durian seller to open part of the fruit for me. This way, I am certain of the
quality I am paying for. In the past there were times when the inner skin merged
and did not give way at the trust of the knife – the tussle sometime drew blood.

The durian tree (Bombaceae Durio zibethius L.Murr) is native to moist equatorial
forests in Southeast Asia. It can grow to 100 feet tall and produces heavy, thick-
skinned, brownish-green, soccer-ball size fruits covered with sharp thorns.
“Durian” come from the word “duri” translates from Bahasa Malaysia as thorn.

Therefore durian, by name is the thorny fruit. Which indeed, it is.

Each individual fruit is divided into five compartments, each containing a brown seed
covered by a sac of thick, creamy pulp with an aroma that is legendary.
A popular believe is that the older the tree, the better the fruit. Durian from an older
tree will bear fruits having a wrinkled texture with smooth, thick, creamy flesh that
taste sweeter and have a stronger fragrance and flavour.
Usually, seed trees will start bearing fruit after
about five to six years. Sometimes, four to
five-year old trees can start to flower. The
mature durian tree needs at least three to
four weeks of dry weather to produce flowers
to fill its branches.

One month late, the flower will be in full
bloom. Three months after that, the durian
fruit will start to ripen and drop.

The “champion” durians which we savoured
that morning were from trees that were more
than 40 years old amounting to about 65 per
cent to the trees at the orchard.
According to Mr Nah, initial yield may be 10 to
40 fruits for the first year of “flowering” to
about 100 fruits for the sixth year. Yield of up
to 200 fruits is common after the 10th year of
fruiting.
Nets are tied over some expanse of
the ground to protect good quality
durians from damage
Each durian season, this 30 acres orchard (which combines two farms) in Balik Pulau
can produce as many at 15,000 durians.

Durian generally bear one crop a year but may “flower” twice a year if influenced by
the right conditions. Normally, durian fruits are allowed to drop when they are ripe.
However, the fruits may also be harvested from the tree, as is a common practise in
Thailand. By harvesting the shelf life could be extended from nine to 11 days
compared to three or four days when allowed to drop from the tree.

Durians are like grapes and wine, or like cheese. They are a food for gourmets, for
connoisseurs. For genuine durian lovers, differentiating taste in accordance to
variety can be a true science.
To judge the quality of the durian, there are three important criteria to remember.
The first is the appearance of the durian. The colour must be even ranging from pale
white to golden yellow, and to orange. Second is the aroma. It must have a strong
or a light smell. Thirdly, the texture – it should be creamy wet or creamy dry, sweet
or bitter sweet. The flesh must be smooth and fully cover the whole seed.

Different people crave different varieties. The sweeter type of durians are yellowish
and creamy in texture. This include high-sounding names like Hor Loh, Lipan, Green
Skin, D2, D15, D95 and Kun Poh.

The optional bitter sweet type are usually pale in colour reminding me of a blue-and-
black pinch would that is easing off. According to Mr Nah, the orange coloured
variety (e.g. "ang heh" literally means red prawn) are usually not as sweet as the
yellowish type. His orchard has as many as 20 popular varieties of "branded" durians
and more that 50 other types waiting to be gived a name.
Our buffet spread that morning included some of
the above. My preference were the yellowish
ones called D604 and D14. They had thick flesh
with rich sweet butter-like texture. Eating them
even as they fell off the trees was the best
guarantee of their freshness. It was indeed the
best way to get one’s fill.

The fruits we ate that morning were of average
size. They were not as big as that of the Thai
variety which I usually avoid. The Thai varieties
are packed with bulging fruits and the taste is
less creamy, more fibre and rather bland. More is
not better here for when it come to durians,
quality is king.
Grading the durians by quality
and size before it is transported to
the Balik Pulau market for sale
I can also remember after a hefty durian feast, my mother would insist that my
brothers, sisters, and I fill the empty shell with water, add a pinch of salt and drink
it. She would explain that by doing so, the shell which contains "anti-heat"
properties that would help cool down body heat. It is believed that durian makes the
body feel warm.

We were also warned not to consume alcohol together with durian or having it
before or after eating durian. This is because, durian is rich in protein and when
mixed with alcohol, becomes yeast. One might feel uncomfortable if one were to
consume both durian and alcohol together. Of course, my mother said that if we did
so, we would just die. She would add on giving examples of dead uncles.

In the Malay Archipelago, about 150 years ago, famed Victorian naturalist and
evolutionary theorist Alfred Russle Wallace wrote, "To eat durian is a new sensation
worth a voyage to the East to experience."

He spent eight years exploring Malaysia and Indonesia in the days before the
steamboat. He must have discovered that this fruit with the powerful smell had even
a more awesome taste.

That morning, we walked away from our buffet breakfast with a smile on our faces,
feeling very satisfied and being able to share Wallace’s experience.
We each paid Mr Nah RM15 and vowed to return next week to relish the sensation
again before this durian season draws to an end.

If you are not, and have not sampled durians before, I highly recommend that you
do. You will either love it or hate it. No two ways about it. Whatever the consensus,
one must admit there is nothing quite like the durian – "king of the fruit".
Durian is a nutritious fruit, packed with minerals, protein and fat.
Fast facts about durian: Value of per 100 gram of the edible part.
  • Water - 64.99 gram
  • Energy - 147 kcal
  • Energy - 615 kj
  • Protein - 1.47 gram
  • Total lipid (fat) - 5.33 gram
  • Carbohydrate, by difference - 27.09 gram
  • Fibre, total dietary - 3.80 gram


Minerals
  • Calcium - 6.000 mg
  • Iron - 0.460 mg
  • Magnesium - 30.000 mg
  • Phosphorus - 38.000 mg
  • Potassium - 436.000 mg
  • Sodium - 1.000 mg
  • Zinc - 0.280 mg
  • Copper - 0.207 mg
  • Manganese - 0.324 mg


Vitamins
  • Vitamin C, ascorbic acid - 19.7 mg
  • Thiamin - 0.374 mg
  • Riboflavin - 0.200 mg
  • Niacin - 1.074 mg
  • Pantothenic acid - 0.230 mg
  • Vitamin B-6 - 0.316 mg
  • Vitamin A, IU - 45.000 IU
  • Vitamin A, RE - 5.000 mcg_RE


Source: US Department of Agriculture
Written and photographed by Adrian Cheah
Courtesy of www.penang tourism.com.my © All rights reserved

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