Malaysian Post

The durian season is here again! And with it the mangosteen season. These two seasons always seem to go hand in hand. Just as well because durian is supposed to be heaty and mangosteen has a “cooling” effect on the body.The King of Fruits even feature prominently in what was dubbed “Durian Diplomacy” when Malaysian Prime Minister and his Singapore counterpart took part in a durian fiesta in Pulau Langkawi recently. Rumour has it that the best fruits were airlifted from Balik Pulau, Penang (an area famous for its boutique orchards) for the special occasion.

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Some of the more well known durian clones are listed below. Many more remain unlisted and if you are a durian connoisseur you might want to make a trip to the area to really taste the vast variety of durian here.This list of durians have appeared before in various blogs.

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D11 - This was a very popular clone in the 70’s. Its creamy yellow flesh comes with a pleasant taste and a subtle smell.

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D604 - This clone was first cultivated by the late Mr. Teh Hew Hong of Sungai Pinang, Balik Pulau. The flesh is quite sweet, and has some “body” to it as the seed is small.

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D600 - This durian originates in Sungai Pinang in Balik Pulau. The flesh has a bittersweet taste to it, with a touch of sourness.

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D700 - The flesh is darker than D600, like chrome yellow. Also slightly hard. Crispy, but the smell is not very strong.

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Ang Sim (Red Heart) - Ang Sim is a durian with flesh, which is quite soft and very sweet, and dark yellow in colour. It also has a nice aroma.

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Khun Poh - This durian takes the name of the late Mr Lau Khun Poh, who first budded it. Khun Poh has beautiful orangey flesh with a slightly bittersweet taste and a heavy aroma.

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The flesh of the Hor Loh is very soft, dry and quite bitter. It has a sharp smell to it. Hor Loh was first cultivated at the Brown Estate of Sungai Ara. It got its name from its appearance resembling a “Hor Lor” pumpkin. If the durian hits the ground hard when it falls, the flesh tends to be bitter thereafter.

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Ang Heh (Red Prawn Durian) - Ang Heh originates from Pondok Upeh, Balik Pulau, and has a round-shaped husk. The orange reddish flesh is highly aromatic, very soft with a bittersweet taste.

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Xiao Hung (Little Red Durian) - Xiao Hung, whose name means “Little Red One,” originates in Sungai Pinang, Balik Pulau. The flesh has a bittersweet taste to it, with a touch of sourness. There are only one or two seeds per section, but the flesh is thick.

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Yah Kang (Centipede Durian) - Although its flesh is whitish, the taste is superb, milky, like very sweet, melting chocolate. The name “yah kang” means centipede, and accounts for the number of centipedes found at the foot of the tree, hence giving it the rather unusual name.

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Bak Eu (Pork Fat Durian) - Bak Eu has a slightly acidic aroma. The flesh is whitish while the taste is quite bitter but nice.

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D17 - D17 is dark cream flesh. The taste is slightly dry but sweet. It is a tasty durian.

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Coupling - This durian gets its unusual name because it looks like two durians joined together, one big and one small. When split open, you almost thought the two halves belong to two different durians. Coupling has whitish flesh, which is slightly dry but tastes good.

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Ooi Kyau (Tumeric Durian) - The name Ooi Kyau (tumeric) describes the colour of the bright yellow flesh of this durian. It is very sweet and tasty.

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Chaer Phoy (Green Skin Durian) - Chaer Phoy is shaped like a small cantaloupe. The skin is bright green, giving it the name, which means, “green skin”. Chaer Phoy has creamy white flesh which is a bit dry, not too sweet but tasty.

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As the name suggests, Ang Jin Durian has deep orange flesh. It is very sweet and tasty.

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Lin Fong Jiau - This bittersweet durian is said to be named after Lin Fong Jiau, the wife of Jackie Chan.

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Another interest item on the King of Fruits in the Star dated 26th June 2007:

20,000 durians to be given away on Sunday

By MAZNI MUSTAFA

IPOH: Foreign tourists, including Europeans, will be well-informed about the Malaysian king of fruits so that the Perak Durian Festival on Sunday will be a success.

“We don’t want our Durian Festival to face the same fate as what had happened in Penang when promoting the fruit,” said Changkat Jering assemblyman Datuk Mat Isa Ismail, who is co-organiser of the event.

“We want our foreign guests to take part in the event until the end of the programme,” he told reporters here on Tuesday.

On June 18, it had been reported that 18 foreign tourists taking part in a durian-eating competition in Penang fled the scene soon after taking a whiff of the fruit as they could not stand its strong smell, resulting in the cancellation of the contest.

Mat Isa said a group of 60 foreign tourists, including Europeans, would be taking part in the durian festival.

He said event organiser, the state Tourism Council, had taken steps to brief them so that they would know what to expect during the programme to promote the fruit.

The move was to ensure the foreigners, who would be arriving in two express buses from Kuala Lumpur, would be able to bear the strong smell of the Malaysia king of fruits.

On the festival, Mat Isa said about 20,000 durians would be given out free during the event to be held at the Bukit Gantang public field in Taiping from 10am onwards.

He said the people would also be treated with all kinds of durian-flavoured foods such as gulai tempoyak, dodol, jam, ice-cream, fritters, yogurt, and juice.

“The highlight will be a gotong-royong involving 50 housewives to make cucur durian (durian fritters) using eight gunny sacks of wheat flour,” he said.

The people could also buy the fruit at bargain prices from the 15 stalls set up at the field, he said.

He added that 10,000 people were expected to attend the event to be launched by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

The following article is from the Star published on 23rd June 2007.

Times are changing so the way of doing business must change too!

Don’t leave home without it???

Pay for durians with credit card

By NG SU-ANN

PENANG: A banner saying “We accept Master and Visa” hangs outside the stall at Jalan Van Praagh here. Only, it’s not your usual touristy shop. It’s a makeshift durian stall.

And yes, you can buy the King of Fruits with credit cards.

At least three stalls in Penang have opted to extend “credit” purchases to their customers after a bank approached them.

The other two stalls are located in Relau and Mt Erskine.

Seng Durian Enterprise owner Ngang Boon Seng said: “Just like supermarkets and boutiques which accept credit cards, we want to offer such flexibility to our customers, too.”

“And business has been good as customers tend to buy more using credit cards,” he said, adding that a customer recently bought RM800 worth of durians.

“Nowadays, many shoppers don’t like to carry too much cash for fear of being robbed,” he added.

Ngang noted that most of his customers use credit cards to pay for their purchases towards the end of the month when most people were short of cash.

The 37-year-old said credit cards were accepted for purchases above RM40.

Ngang said he gets about 100 customers daily, some from as far as Indonesia, Europe, Korea, China and Singapore.

“We sell a variety including Ang Heh (Red Prawn), Tangkai Panjang (Long Stem), Ganja, D2, D11 and 604.

“Durians are more costly this year as the harvest has dropped by about 30%,” he said.

Retired driving instructor Loh Hoon Wan, 66, was among the many who used his credit card to buy durians yesterday.

“I’m buying RM100 worth of durians as presents to my relatives and friends,” he said, adding that he preferred to use his credit card as he could “buy now and worry later.”