Saturday 21 July 2018

29 seeds from 2 Durian Kampung


Durian prices have not dropped so drastically in Penang .
We wanted to eat some more expensive varieties but unfortunately , the seller only had Durian Kampung left , thus there really wasn't much choice as I do not fancy the Ang Hea species which he was trying to get me to purchase , either .

In the end , I picked 2 out of the pile which turned out to contain 29 seeds in total !
So many seeds were contained inside these two fruits , it felt as if I was witness to a conjuring magic trick !




Picked these two by applying the following criteria .... the tone , colour of the skin , make up of the thorns , as well as the overall weight and feel , as opposed to shaking and smelling the fruit .....a method some swear by .
If you look carefully , one is yellowish green , while the other had brown stained thorns .
At RM 8 per kilo , two of these Durian Kampungs came up to RM21 .

Suspicion did hover above me but trust the seller I did and in the end , I felt that I'd made a
good choice , as I was not disappointed .




The one thing you have to know about Durian Kampung is that the flesh will be really thin compared to grafted species .
Big seed , thin flesh , insanely gassy , supremely aromatic !
That's how Malaysian durians are . 

The thick fleshy ones that are so wildly popular today that they can command RM300 in China , are cloned varieties that have been "married " with less tasty Thai durians , so even though you may be pawning a kidney for them , in reality , grafted species are actually a watered down version of original Malaysian durians . 

It takes a Malaysian to appreciate Durian Kampungs and enjoy them , I did indeed to the max ! 
Before I proceed further , do know that the term Durian Kampung applies to a wide variety of local , thin seeded durian species that can be as different as the sun and the moon . And so super gassy that you will be belching up a nasty smell hours later , way after eating . That's the only downside if you ask me . 

Tastewise , both leaned more towards the bitter side , which is wonderful really , cos there are many of us who crave fruits with that slight tinge of bitter .

Both were different from one another ....the yellow tinged one was super sticky and very bitter , while the one with the brown stained thorns just felt like Green Skin or Black Pearl durians which can come up to double the price of what I paid for this .

Very satisfying eat if you ask any true blue Malaysian .
Hours later , the sweet aroma is still lingering on my fingers and despite the thin flesh , it was incredibly filling that I was so delighted to reconnect back to my childhood days spent enjoying some of the best Durian Kampungs from the district that is reknowned today , for the world's best Musang King .






Actually ,there were 29 seeds altogether , but one was still in his hand at the time I snapped this picture , so if you count and see only 28 , no , I didn't miscount ok ?
This is the other incredible part about our Durian Kampung ....every single compartment is packed with another surprise , no matter how small that line looks , once you open it , wham ! There's more durians inside ! Woooh ! 

Burp .

Will only recommend the Durian Kampung to a local and not a tourist , also , only if you personally know that whomever you buy this from is an honest as hell seller .
Cos I had some really bad durian kampung before this , which were either plucked from the tree ( big no , no , as the fruit needs to fall on its own ) or they were actually small Thai durians being falsely labelled as Malaysian durians ( there are many flavourless Thai durians lemme tell you , durians thrive and grow best in Malaysia ) .
With all the stars aligned , the reward you get will be magnifold , just like what we enjoyed today .

Happy feasting !

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