July 31, 2006 : Part 1
I had abstained myself from the internet for the past week and two days. So I haven't been updating. That doesn't mean I stopped writing. So to make it all up, I'm posting something which I've written during my week and two days absence. I can't believe it, just a week and two days I got like 108 e-mails. Not junk but legit mails. Sigh. So this is blog 1/4 from my past week.
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Durian season is here. Yup. The absolute "King of Fruits" hits the streets of Malaysia once more and customers flock to buy them in several up to dozens. I know a family that buys two dozens (or more) at one time. Not mine of course. My family is somewhat a tasting type. We neither buy a few nor lots but somewhat a modest amount. My family is a family of five and so if we do buy durians, we would have a total of not more than six and not less than three. The whole purpose of purchasing is not to eat till we choke but to eat for taste. Yes, gentle Malaysian readers, I love durians but I eat for taste (unless it's durian ice-cream of course).
I still remember the times I had durians when I was in Canada. Yup. You can find durians in Canada. Hard to find though but you could. In Winnipeg, you can’t buy fresh ones like the ones in Malaysia but you do get fresh ones (rarely) at a shop in China Town. Almost no smell (what is a durian without the smell) and a bit over ripe for my taste (you could see the durian husk already split opened).
So to get my dose of durians, I had to go to another part of town. Behind the back of the University of Winnipeg, I would find a small street that would lead me to a restaurant that serves the “King of Fruits”. Fortunately for me (probably the only Malaysian guy who knows the place as I never took any of my Malaysian juniors there), the fruit still holds the smell and the taste of a true durian. Unfortunately, it’s not in its true form. It’s in the form of a shake. Yup. I had my very first durian shake in Canada.
During some of the days that were longer than most, I often find myself shuffling my feet towards the restaurant. I would sit down and order the beef noodle soup. Trust me. It's awesome. Thin, flat translucent noodles, with large chunks of tender beef mixed with several slices of beef of different parts. Beef tripe, floating beef balls and a generous helping of bean sprouts to accompany the already good-enough-meal. The size of the bowl is equivalent to a small basin. Peppermint leaves and hot pepper at the side; in case you do not like them. It would normally take me fifteen to twenty minutes to wolf down the noodles and would order my dessert. Wonderful meal that one is. Simply wonderful. The only thing is, the cost of the dessert is nearly ¾ of the beef noodle soup. Who cares.
Durians in Malaysia are abundant. I mean abundant of species and places to buy. Malaysians (generally speaking of course) love durians. It is a well-known fact that if you do eat a good durian, you will feel very satisfied. The only catch here is that you must be able to get a good durian. Getting a good durian requires a bit of skill and a lot of luck. This is me, but most durian-eaters say otherwise. However, majority of the great durian-eaters do not know how to choose durians and would then require help from the seller (not very honest they are) or friends or relatives who knows the tricks (they declared it as skill) of choosing good, satisfying durians. Unfortunately friends and relatives are often not around when you developed the craving for durians.
So it would then falls into a bit of luck and a small bit of trust in the seller/trader. After the durians have been selected, price haggling and finagling comes next. The pricing issue is often the problem. I still remember those days when the durians were priced according to its size. Today the price of a durian is in the weight of the fruit. Both are not fair in my opinion.
If I could find a durian that is based on the size then you have a problem as different species would bear the quantity of the durian flesh differently. So today they solve that problem by judging size AND species. Then again, each durian may not have the same quantity of edible flesh.
If I were to base it on the weight of the fruit, it wouldn’t be fair either. I mean, there are some trees that bear fruits that have little edible flesh and have thick and heavy husks. I mean, come on, there must be a fairer and better way to determine the price of a durian. I guess we’ll just have to use the metric which ever trader is using. “It’s not a perfect system but it’s all we’ve got” (I got it down from a movie I watched last time but can’t remember which movie was it though).
One thing I learned from past experiences never put durians in the fridge if you are planning to keep it long. Even if you are to put the durians in the freezer, it would be wise to finish the durians as fast as possible. If anything, any Malaysian would know, the awesome scent of the “King of Fruits”. No matter how hard you try to seal or how many types of air-tight containers you try to put the durians in it, the distinct and potent aroma would permeate through the containers and contaminate everything in your fridge/freezer.
A friend of mine tried that once. She, after carefully seal the durians with air-tight containers and with other coverings, put the containers in the freezer. The freezer was set to 22 degrees Celsius below zero. The following day, she took her frozen cheese cake (chocolate) from the same freezer and serve to her friends. Unfortunately, the cheese cake has lost its taste and aroma as the durian smell had seeped through the protective layers of its container and contaminated the dessert. There are many stories evolving durians but I’ll save them for the next time we meet.
Ah yes, the great “King of Fruits” is in season once again. The hunters in the West would talk about the size of the buck that was captured (or shot) or the prized fish that was caught but in Malaysia the bragging rights goes to whoever picked the right durians. Stay well and eat heartily.
----------------
Durian season is here. Yup. The absolute "King of Fruits" hits the streets of Malaysia once more and customers flock to buy them in several up to dozens. I know a family that buys two dozens (or more) at one time. Not mine of course. My family is somewhat a tasting type. We neither buy a few nor lots but somewhat a modest amount. My family is a family of five and so if we do buy durians, we would have a total of not more than six and not less than three. The whole purpose of purchasing is not to eat till we choke but to eat for taste. Yes, gentle Malaysian readers, I love durians but I eat for taste (unless it's durian ice-cream of course).
I still remember the times I had durians when I was in Canada. Yup. You can find durians in Canada. Hard to find though but you could. In Winnipeg, you can’t buy fresh ones like the ones in Malaysia but you do get fresh ones (rarely) at a shop in China Town. Almost no smell (what is a durian without the smell) and a bit over ripe for my taste (you could see the durian husk already split opened).
So to get my dose of durians, I had to go to another part of town. Behind the back of the University of Winnipeg, I would find a small street that would lead me to a restaurant that serves the “King of Fruits”. Fortunately for me (probably the only Malaysian guy who knows the place as I never took any of my Malaysian juniors there), the fruit still holds the smell and the taste of a true durian. Unfortunately, it’s not in its true form. It’s in the form of a shake. Yup. I had my very first durian shake in Canada.
During some of the days that were longer than most, I often find myself shuffling my feet towards the restaurant. I would sit down and order the beef noodle soup. Trust me. It's awesome. Thin, flat translucent noodles, with large chunks of tender beef mixed with several slices of beef of different parts. Beef tripe, floating beef balls and a generous helping of bean sprouts to accompany the already good-enough-meal. The size of the bowl is equivalent to a small basin. Peppermint leaves and hot pepper at the side; in case you do not like them. It would normally take me fifteen to twenty minutes to wolf down the noodles and would order my dessert. Wonderful meal that one is. Simply wonderful. The only thing is, the cost of the dessert is nearly ¾ of the beef noodle soup. Who cares.
Durians in Malaysia are abundant. I mean abundant of species and places to buy. Malaysians (generally speaking of course) love durians. It is a well-known fact that if you do eat a good durian, you will feel very satisfied. The only catch here is that you must be able to get a good durian. Getting a good durian requires a bit of skill and a lot of luck. This is me, but most durian-eaters say otherwise. However, majority of the great durian-eaters do not know how to choose durians and would then require help from the seller (not very honest they are) or friends or relatives who knows the tricks (they declared it as skill) of choosing good, satisfying durians. Unfortunately friends and relatives are often not around when you developed the craving for durians.
So it would then falls into a bit of luck and a small bit of trust in the seller/trader. After the durians have been selected, price haggling and finagling comes next. The pricing issue is often the problem. I still remember those days when the durians were priced according to its size. Today the price of a durian is in the weight of the fruit. Both are not fair in my opinion.
If I could find a durian that is based on the size then you have a problem as different species would bear the quantity of the durian flesh differently. So today they solve that problem by judging size AND species. Then again, each durian may not have the same quantity of edible flesh.
If I were to base it on the weight of the fruit, it wouldn’t be fair either. I mean, there are some trees that bear fruits that have little edible flesh and have thick and heavy husks. I mean, come on, there must be a fairer and better way to determine the price of a durian. I guess we’ll just have to use the metric which ever trader is using. “It’s not a perfect system but it’s all we’ve got” (I got it down from a movie I watched last time but can’t remember which movie was it though).
One thing I learned from past experiences never put durians in the fridge if you are planning to keep it long. Even if you are to put the durians in the freezer, it would be wise to finish the durians as fast as possible. If anything, any Malaysian would know, the awesome scent of the “King of Fruits”. No matter how hard you try to seal or how many types of air-tight containers you try to put the durians in it, the distinct and potent aroma would permeate through the containers and contaminate everything in your fridge/freezer.
A friend of mine tried that once. She, after carefully seal the durians with air-tight containers and with other coverings, put the containers in the freezer. The freezer was set to 22 degrees Celsius below zero. The following day, she took her frozen cheese cake (chocolate) from the same freezer and serve to her friends. Unfortunately, the cheese cake has lost its taste and aroma as the durian smell had seeped through the protective layers of its container and contaminated the dessert. There are many stories evolving durians but I’ll save them for the next time we meet.
Ah yes, the great “King of Fruits” is in season once again. The hunters in the West would talk about the size of the buck that was captured (or shot) or the prized fish that was caught but in Malaysia the bragging rights goes to whoever picked the right durians. Stay well and eat heartily.
posted by Brian at
Monday, July 31, 2006
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