It always amused me, the variety of products Asian supermarkets always have to offer. That particular day however, what caught my eye was a Durian. Sometimes, I wonder if Durian is just an Asian think, but after too many hours of watching Hong Kong television drama, I decided that I'll just categorize it as such in my head. I somehow convinced my dad to pick one out. He then taught me how to pick a Durian.
First of all, look at the shape of the fruit. If it is completely round, choose another one, as the "lumpy" ones, or as he says Chinese people called it, "monkey head" shaped ones had more meat. And obviously, decide how much you would like to consume. It is advised to choose a smaller one for first time tasters, as the taste of the fruit does not appeal to everyone.
Next, look at the spikes of the fruit. The longer they are, the more moist the Durian is going to be, and vice versa.
Finally, (I cannot believe I asked this question last) is: "How do you know when the fruit is ripe?" The answer is to look at its colouring. Durians are know to turn yellow when they are ripe.
The one we bought that day was a frozen one, to prevent the fruit from being over-ripe and spoiled during its transportation. Many would either be drawn to this very section of the supermarket having smelled the Durian, or be repelled.
The opening process:
I was told that once the Durian is ripe, there is soft spot at the center bottom of the fruit. You are then able, from this point, the puncture a hole to its tough exterior and it will just pop open. However, when we bought the fruit, it was frozen, and it did no such thing. This caused me quite a bit of anxiety, as I was desperately anticipating the consumption of the fruit.
However, later on that night, we did manage to thaw it, and open that sucker up. It was a tasty mean indeed.
This is my dad opening the fruit up while I waited patiently.
This is how it looks like opened.
