Malaysia - Day 6

So this is Durian. A fruit that grows in this region of the world. Ever since arriving, a colleague of mine, Trevor, has been suggesting (or should I say "demanding"?) that we try this. Like myself, Trevor is up for trying new things all the time. While he had already had Durian in the States and once since being here in Malaysia, he wanted to share the experience with us. When pressed for an explanation to the question of why he was so insistent that we try it, his answer was "because it's an experience", which was quickly followed by a smirk.

Facial indicators aside, it doesn't take much arm twisting to get me to try anything new ... especially if it is labeled as an "experience" ... and I'm egged on. So we set out to find some of the fruit. The cab drivers laughed when we approached them about taking us to some. But after one stand was already out, we found a stand with plenty.

We (there were three of us, Trevor, Jake, and I) stepped out of the cab and our nostrils were filled with the stench of dirty gym socks. This is the only other characteristic of Durian that I knew about - its atrocious smell. Keep in mind that the fruit hadn't even been cut open yet! It took only a matter of moments for the fruit stand owner to select our Durian and crack the spiky shell open.


Inside there is this white, coconut looking flesh inside but then there is beige slug-looking thing, which is the part that you eat. It consists of a mucus casing, filled with mushy stuff (more on this in a second), and a seed or pit in the center. The idea is pop the whole thing in your mouth and then suck the "meat" off of the pit.



Not knowing what I was in for, I tried to separate it all and ended up with a big mess on my hands. So with a bit of a panic from the idea of it hitting the ground, I popped some in my mouth.


Before I go on, let me just say that the locals told me that once I got past the smell, the rest was easy. Well that is like saying once you got past the first level of Super Mario Brothers, you beat the game. Not. Even. Close.

The mush has the consistency of baby food and it flows through your mouth without any control. Initially the taste is not too bad, but when it hits the taste buds in the rear of your mouth, your natural instinct is to gag; as if your body is in self-preservation mode saying "oh that can't possibly be good for you". I've been struggling with how to describe the taste and I come up blank every time. It might be it's own standard - something to use as a future reference where I can say "that tastes like Durian". So for the future, I could say "that rotten egg tastes bad, BUT not as bad as Durian." Yeah, something like that. But if I HAD to describe the taste, I would say baby food blended with sour milk.

You can judge the harshness of the fruit from my reaction in this video:

Once the gag reflex is quelled it goes down pretty smooth. The next seed is easier to handle and then the next is easier still. After three seeds, I thought it was done but then the owner of the fruit stand came over and cracked the remaining shell in another quarter to expose 5 or 6 more seeds. At this point, Trevor was nice enough to help me out. And the cab driver was nice enough to shoot video of us using his cell phone. So keep a lookout for a video on youtube labeled "stupid Americans eating Durian - hilarious".


All that said, it honestly was one of the most unique experiences regarding food I've had in a while. But Jake hit it on the head when he said "it was an experience I don't regret but never want to have again." Everything from the fruit stand on the side of the road to the fruit itself was something I'm glad I did. However, I won't be rushing out for another one ... unless I can convince somebody else to try it. I could see it being OK in a highly sweetened product, like candy or ice cream. I think we should all write in to the Food Network and demand that it be the secret ingredient on Iron Chef.


Everyone we've talked to doesn't think it tastes especially good, even the locals. So we had to wonder if it is sold purely on the demand from people like us. People who say "oh this stinks! here smell this!" to our friends.

One final note (an important one at that), if you are a fan of "Bizarre Foods" with Andrew Zimmern, then you know Durian is one of the few foods he wasn't able to eat. You can see his reaction in the video below. Eat that Zimmern!