Folklore On the Malaysian King of Fruit - Durian

Have you heard of the stories about the fruit that stinks like gym shorts and rotten onions? The large thorny fruit that foreigners traveling throughout South-East Asia loathe; the fruit banned in many public facilities like buses, trains, and hotels. If there is a fruit that deserves not only the folklore, but also the name “King of Fruits”, it is indeed the Durian. Durian belongs to the family Malvaceae, a rather large family containing such diverse plants as okra and hibiscus. Durian is a tropical tree, native to Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, and potentially the Philippines. It is open-pollinated, which means the fruit can vary greatly in appearance and taste. The flowers are most often pollinated by either birds or bats and sometimes even large bees.



This unique fruit has gained widespread fame for its distinctive characteristics–a highly flavorful taste, large size, thorn covered husk, and of course, a distinguishing odor, although some enjoy the scent and regard it as highly fragrant. Even with its questionable taste and odor, the fruit is extremely popular and can be quite lucrative for its seller, as the fruit can fetch prices ranging from eight to twenty American dollars. In some places, there are rumors of even higher prices for the more rare varieties.

Bamboo Leg (Chook竹脚Keok) first but personally I did not fancy even though it is considered second only to the Raja Kunyit. The pulp’s texture is just too dry for my liking and durian is supposed to be creamy, no? Next we went for the XO Durian but found it to be half dry. But being a “Sure Eat Guarantee” stall, you could always request a new one as replacement.

Penang is still the durian darling of Malaysia, and this summer more than 800 Hong Kong durian fanatics sojourned to Penang exclusively to eat durian. They purchased tour packages offered by the Malaysian Tourism Board. Called "Durian Deluxe," the tour packages offer a 4 day, 3 night, all-you-can-eat tour of Penang's durian orchards and stalls. Altogether, the groups paid more than $400,000 USD for their tours. It's a pretty sweet way to cash in on the durian frenzy.