See more of these durian photos on Flickr!
When I went to my favorite Asian foods market today in Viet-town for young coconuts and bento boxes, I didn’t expect to find a whole barrel full of live, REAL, fresh durians! I’d finally come face to face with the elusive fruit I have only heard of quite favorably from my raw friends or, from what I’ve seen Andrew Zimmern almost puke over on his “Bizarre Foods” TV show on the Travel Channel. Very curious for a man who happily scarfs down on rodent nads, roaches, monkey brains, and road kill.
My husband and daughter were happy to partake in the dissection of this 4.65 lb, $6.90, spiny, alien-like object (is that a good price?). God forbid if one of these things ever dropped on your head. And this one was one of the smaller of the bunch.
I think I had prepared myself for the worst, particularly based on what I’d heard regarding the smell. It definitely released some funky aroma that if I hadn’t known better, I’d have blamed my 13-year old for farting. Mr. Tran from the market described them as being like a sweet, yet pungent (a nice way to put it), avocado. I’d say that’s the closest description you can possibly get for something that’s nearly impossible to describe. And as you see here the flesh eerily resembles the yellow wrinkly skin of raw chicken parts.
The overall verdict? Absolutely different as if this thing came from some other planet. Not initially disgusting, but not enthusiastically good. Oh, but then came the indigestion part. Just the few bites we had gave us durian burps for the next hour or so. Eventually it got kind of gross.
Would I buy it again? Not quite yet. It’s definitely a taste-acquired thing and right now my weird-food love is for sea vegetables. Question now is, what do I do with the rest of this stuff? Maybe it would add an interesting dimension to my morning shakes.
Any durian experiences, loves, likes, dislikes, and advice are welcome.
Adventures Nightmare of the Durian update (4/29): The creature (durian) took over my kitchen for 24 hours. Durians are mean and they stink. Maybe I’d have to be in Thailand someplace in the open air so that they can’t assault me if I ever try one again. Bad, bad durian! I don’t like you!
<3, JMK
