Durian day at Durian Man
Date of visit: 11 August 2024
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It's durian season.....!!!
I was thrilled when my friend Vanessa suggested checking out the durian stalls in a neighbourhood called SS2. Firstly because I hadn't had a durian fix in years, and secondly because SS2 was at the top of my list of foodie havens to explore. I was also pleased that American friends Sophie and Roger could join us - they were leaving Malaysia soon, and hadn't yet tasted fresh durian.
SS2 is part of Petaling Jaya, a city in the metro KL area which locals simply call 'PJ'. Durian is one of many foods SS2 is famous for - so it's impossible to resist throwing in breakfast or lunch before you even get to the durians.
But it isn't just SS2 that's dangerous to waistlines; you can hardly touch a map of PJ without hitting a foodie destination. In our case, it was nearby Kota Damansara, where we had a hearty meal of bah kut teh - pork on the bone, slow-cooked in an rich herbal broth - before hitting SS2.
Let's just say elasticised waistbands are a must!
As soon as we got to SS2, Vanessa pointed out these long white tents - run by an outfit called Brother Durian - specially set up for durian season. I was gobsmacked by the sheer size of them.
The next place - just around the block and and even more massive - was Durian Man. Vanessa had heard it was good so we decided to try it out. Unlike the tents, this was a permanent establishment, selling different fruits year-round.
If we had any doubts about Durian Man's popularity, the row of enormous skips outside, piled high with durian husks, laid them to rest.
Inside, we were greeted by a sea of newly delivered durians. A glorious sight indeed!
There were two sections for dining, plus another floor upstairs, but I don't know if that was for customers.
There were also stacks of durian-related souvenirs. I'd only ever heard of durian-flavoured ice cream, mochi and dodol (a sweet, sticky confection made of glutinous rice flour, palm sugar and coconut milk). But there was also durian-flavoured chocolate, mooncake (a Chinese pastry eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival) and teh tarik (a hot, sweet, milky tea) among other things. I think even I would draw the line at durian-flavoured tea!
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| Clockwise from top right: durian-flavoured dodol, chocolate, teh tarik and mooncake |
Finally, we got around to inspecting the durians themselves, which were displayed on racks - with injury warnings! (Although, really, they wouldn't look out of place in a medieval armoury.)
Above the racks were signs listing the different types of durian and their prices. Altogether, I counted 27 varieties for sale - but that's just a fraction of the 200-odd durian varieties registered with the Department of Agriculture.
What really caught my eye, however, were the prices. Musang King - probably the best-known variety - was selling for an unbelievable RM68 (£12) per kg. And Black Thorn - another well-known variety - was going for an eyewatering RM88 (£15.50) per kg.
According to the New York Times, durian has become one of the priciest fruits on the planet.
When did all this craziness begin?? When I visited Malaysia as a child, I remember my relatives buying delicious durians at the side of the road for next to nothing.
Vanessa explained that the durians I remembered do indeed exist. Simply called kampung durians ('village durians'), they were what everybody ate. Then the Marketing Machine swung into action, and suddenly there were a gazillion varieties, with exorbitant price tags. Demand from China has also been insatiable - accounting for 95% of worldwide durian consumption, according to one source - but I don't know what impact that's had on local prices.
I can now see why all-you-can-eat durian buffets might be a good idea. For as little as RM60 or RM70 a person (£10.57 or £12.33), you can sample different varieties without going bankrupt - but I don't know what type of durians would be on offer. UPDATE: Durian Man does offer buffets, like a 60-minute all-you-can-eat Musang King offer for RM88 back in June, but they seem to be on an ad hoc basis, with limited slots.
The Musang King had the quintessential look and taste I associate with durian. Plump pillows of deep-yellow flesh, with relatively large seeds. Moderately sweet. Rich, creamy and custardy, yet still quite firm.
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| Musang King durian variety, Durian Man |
Sophie and Roger, meanwhile, thought it had a nutty flavour. I felt like we were exchanging tasting notes for cheese! While I wouldn't describe this, or any other, durian I've had as tasting nutty, there's a savoury element to durian that I've never been able to pinpoint. Not umami - that's too meaty - but something else...
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| Musang King durian variety, Durian Man |
I've read that there are up to five seed-bearing 'compartments' for a Musang King, depending on the grade. I can't remember how many sections our fruit had, but it was a decent yield.
We all enjoyed it, but to be honest, it didn't taste any different to me than a kampung durian, which made the RM110.50 (£19.46) price tag a bit surreal.
For our second durian, Vanessa suggested a variety she liked, called XO, selling for a more reasonable RM42 (£7.40) per kg. It's called XO, unsurprisingly, because it's supposed to taste like brandy.
I could tell right away from its pale colour that it wasn't going to be rich and creamy like the Musang King.
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| XO durian variety, Durian Man |
A sign in the restaurant described XO as "soft and velvety" but I wouldn't agree. It also described the fruit as tasting like a bitter wine. It did taste like alcohol to me, though not too bitter at all. The seeds were medium-sized, yielding a decent amount of flesh, but there were few 'compartments'.
Roger thought the XO tasted "onion-y", and Sophie got a bit of that too. I couldn't taste any onion for the life of me.
Overall, we all thought that the XO didn't quite measure up to the Musang King. This is why you're supposed to start with something less good and progress to something better!
As we pondered what to get for our third and final durian, I looked over at the next table and spied the most gorgeous-looking durian I'd ever seen. It looked very fleshy, with a dark orange-yellow hue like the egg yolk from a free-range hen. Our waiter told us it was the famous Black Thorn. We were tempted, but balked at the price.
Ironically, we ended up with another variety that was just as expensive as Black Thorn: Kunyit Emas, a type of Musang King, according to the sign above it. Vanessa and I had asked one of the staff what it tasted like, and he said it was bittersweet. Then we asked which was better, Kunyit Emas or Black Thorn, and he said Kunyit Emas. And somehow that convinced us to part with RM141 (£24.83).
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| Kunyit Emas durian variety, Durian Man |
Happily, the Kunyit Emas was my favourite. The pulp was a rich, dark colour, with a very soft, creamy texture and an intense flavour. The seeds were small and flat - which is apparently the best kind, as it means a lot of flesh that's also easy to get off - and there were a fair number of them. When I first tasted the Kunyit Emas, it was quite sweet, but the closer I got to the seed, the more of a bitter aftertaste I got, which was the only downside for me.
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| Kunyit Emas durian variety, Durian Man |
The wonders of Kunyit Emas were wasted on Roger. The best he could manage was that it was "less onion-y" than XO. We were in stitches. But Sophie got a bit of an onion taste as well, though she agreed this was the best of the lot.
When I was doing research for this post, I discovered that an onion-like smell is a characteristic of durian, caused by the presence of sulphur! So Roger, if you're reading this, I apologise for teasing you; you've got a pretty good palate after all!
The total damage for the three durians: RM301.60 (£51.11). I'm sure we could have polished off double that amount if we hadn't already eaten lunch. Vanessa reckoned the owner of Durian Man must be a millionaire. No wonder durian production has soared in recent years!
Cost notwithstanding, it was a really fun experience, and I'm glad we tried one of the big names in the business as a baseline for comparison. Next time, I'll share our experience at a small, independent outfit called Raub Musang King Orchard. Stay tuned!
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