Durian | Micah Woods: the official site

Boxes of fruit

Sat, 22 Jun 2024 14:04:55 +0700

For such a dangerous fruit, durian sure is a big business. An article in the NY Times leads with this: “lust for durian is creating fortunes in Southeast Asia”. The value of durian exported from SE Asia into China was $6.7 billion last year.

I’ve played a small part in those fortunes by ordering and then consuming some of the best durian that money can buy.

A box full of durians.

Chantaburi province is the center of Thailand’s fruit business. Something about the soils, expertise of the growers, the precipitation, and the logistics make this the place to find some incredible fruit. We buy ours from Smile Heart Orchard, a pesticide-free farm specializing in durian and rambutan.

One box of rambutans and three boxes of durians were delivered to my front door.

I’m lucky to be able to get fruit from this orchard. They sell all of their harvest. It’s over-subscribed, shall we say, but I have the fortunate connection of having gone to graduate school with one of the owners (yes, they are real experts at producing high quality fruit).

Rambutan might look dangerous, but they aren’t. Peel them and enjoy.

Rambutan (the hedgehog of fruits) require a deft thumb to break the skin. The soft spines and red skin peels away, exposing the juicy and translucent fruit.

Durian, on the other hand, requires a large knife or machete, and is usually handled while wearing gloves. You can see why.

But the thorns on the fruit are only one danger. I’ve always been a bit scared of falling durians. These aren’t little blueberry bushes or anything like that. Durian trees are proper tropical trees, up to 50 meters (160 feet) high when fully grown. And then there is the size: a ripe durian fruit weighs up to 3 kg (7 pounds). A thorned fruit of that mass, falling from a tree of that height, would be devastating.

After cutting open the durian with a machete, the valuable fruit is exposed.

By avoiding falling durians, wearing gloves when handling the fruits, and using a machete with care when opening the fruits, one minimizes risk. But after one eats the fruit, traditional belief has it that durian can increase body heat. Overheating doesn’t sound good.

Looks dangerous. Tastes like custard.

An increase in blood pressure after eating durian is apparently another concern. In fact, there have been studies of this, and I was pleased to find that in a study of placebo, 250, or 500 g durian consumption, “a modest amount of durian intake did not affect blood pressure and heart rate in healthy individuals.”

When I read those amounts, I wondered about 1 kg consumption. Or more than 1 kg. When one has boxes of durian, someone needs to eat it. When durian season comes around every year, I do try to restrict myself to “a modest amount of durian intake” but I’d be lying if I said I’ve never exceeded that 500 g mark.

I’ve been braving the overheating risk of durian for many years now, and am pleased to report that it doesn’t seem to bother me.

Durian delivery

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 12:29:41 +0700

It’s fruit season in Thailand. One can get fruit at any time of year, but a check of orchards and markets shows that mango season starts in April; after that come durian and rambutan, and mangosteens mark the end of it.

Peak tourist season in the relatively cool and dry weather of December, January, and February doesn’t coincide with the peak fruit season. I can get all kinds of fruit at the local market, and our orchard has an abundance of bananas, papayas, pineapple, and mulberries.

The table at breakfast this morning, with durian of remarkable quality from Smile Heart Orchard in Chantaburi.

This year I’ve been fortunate to get a couple boxes of exceptional fruit from Smile Heart Orchard in Chantaburi. I’m not sure how I got on the list to purchase this fruit; they have a limited harvest, and with this quality the fruits are fully subscribed. This week we got a box of durian.

I was happy to receive this package of durian.

Last week 10 kg of rambutan arrived just as I had left for the airport.

A 10 kg package of rambutan from Smile Heart Orchard.

By the time I returned home five days later, there were only a few fruits remaining for me to eat. And they were delicious.

Durian Granola

Tue, 09 Mar 2021 17:24:20 +0700

I saw this in the grocery store today. With immediate flashbacks to the famed Durio, I had to try this new granola flavor.

It’s sweet with a pleasant durian taste. This is too sweet for my taste—I don’t want much sugar with my grains, and this granola lists caramel as the second ingredient. It doesn’t come with the fresh piece of durian in the bowl. But I know where to find some.

The Durio: an interesting cookie concept

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:17:05 +0000

The durian cream sandwich cookie is an interesting concept, but one that I will not try again. It is not that I do not appreciate the king of fruits, not that at all, but rather I find these cookies do not capture the promise of such a delightful concept. Much like the tropical coconut flavored tea from the konbini shelves of Japan (do you recall the tea that tasted like a cool drink of sunscreen?), the Durio is a product that I could not resist buying but won’t be trying again.

The Durio.

Durian & Great Expectations

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:51:00 +0000

I have suggested that falling durian fruit are indubitably lethal, tried to avoid Gradgrindery in my description of the fruit, and noted that my home without durian is a bleak house indeed. I don’t have that problem now, as durian is in season, and I have been eating a lot of it.

This spiky fruit grows high in the forest canopy and we need only refer to Newton’s second law of motion to realize that this fruit, falling on one’s head, will produce a forceful impression; in short, falling durian give a substantial blow. Precautions should be taken when cutting the fruit too, and I would wear gloves or otherwise shield my hands from the rough shell.

One of my favorite treats at this time of year is khao niaw durian, or sticky rice with durian in coconut milk. This calorie-packed dessert is sure to provide a delicious wallop of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. When I heat the durian and coconut milk before mixing it with the sticky rice (yesterday I had with two types of sticky rice), I fill my home with the delicate and glorious scent of durian, the king of fruits.