Hello everyone! It's the durian season now. So my family and I went on our hunt and decided to go to Raub which is in Pahang, Malaysia. We watched many videos on the internet and checked multiple locations to buy durian. We finally landed on this particular place as it seems that they get the durian straight from the orchard and other sellers actually buy from them and transport them to other locations to sell to people. So basically it's like a durian hub.
The Trip to Raub
The road to Raub was full of greenery and mountains. It was a beautiful scenery we could enjoy while driving there. I also managed to spot some durian farms as the trees have a specific feature and have layered branches. This is the board marking the border of Raub as we were reaching it.
We were on the way getting there. I took these pictures when were still going on the highway. The second picture is a zoomed version but since my phone isn't so good with zooming function, there is a lack of clarity.
We reached the place and noticed that there were several durian vendors. Some parts of the space were still being offered to rend for new sellers. Meanwhile most of the space was already taken up by seasoned vendors. I looked around and while checking the stalls, I noticed two famous durian vendors who were going viral on social media currently.
Recommendation
This is the shop that I recommend. It is called Iqmal Durian. The first picture is a zoomed out image just so anyone who is reading it knows where is it located in case they want to get some good quality durians. If the highway road is on the east, then this shop is at northwest part of this area.
The seller seemed to have high turnover of fruits because he kept getting calls from people ordering the fruits so I'm assuming that the fruits are fresh. It's important to ensure that because if they are not fresh then the fruit could be gassy. He told us that it's good we got there early because the stock may finish soon especially after noon hours.
Durian fruit varieties
There are many varieties of durian fruits. They range from the regular ones, to the durian kampung (village orchard), D24 which is a certain breed of good quality durians which are second only to the best and of course the best ones, the Musang King variety. Other types are I0i, Tekha, XO and black thorn. This particular seller usually has different types of durians too but there were only two types left at the time, which are the Musang King and durian kampung.
These are all the Musang King durian. Some were arranged to be sold individually while the others were in baskets to be sold in bulk. The ones on the left were individuals where customers can pick a few fruits that you like and if the flesh looks good then they can go ahead and buy them. The ones on right were all being sold in bulk where customers can buy a whole basket and take hold of all the durians in them at a fixed price.
As you can see on the board, each basket of durian was sold at a flat rate of RM 100 (23.66 USD). There were about 5 durians in each basket and although they look small, they have very small seeds inside and hence have more edible flesh. The king of fruits is durian and the king of durian is Musang King and hence they may seem expensive but I assure you, this is the normal price for this particular type of durian due to the high quality fruit.
He also had some kampung durian which are naturally grown durian at durian orchards in villages. It seems that this type of durian almost finished in his shop and these 4 are the only ones left so we can buy from a neighbouring shop or buy the following morning. We just said it's alright and got the Musang king only.
By the way, that's my mother touching the durian. These fruits have been sanded and in fact, usually they will be sanded to a degree in stalls so we can touch them gently. However, a few sellers don't sand them first and the skin can be as sharp as razors. My father had his hand injured before due to touching one as he was trying to catch it while it was falling. So please be careful and don't touch it hard. Let it fall if it happens because the sellers know how to deal with it as they use thick gloves.
We examined the durians in the baskets and selected one to be purchased. Usually, in durian shops, they offer to open the durian and check all the flesh inside just to make sure there are no spoiled ones or any worms inside. If they don't offer then I highly recommend you to ask so you can see what you are getting before paying for them to avoid disappointment later on.
This seller also said that they will never sell a durian that doesn't have good looking flesh. It is the habit of most sellers to open up the fruits and show how the flesh looks like on the inside so we know what is the quality of the durian we are buying. In the event where there is a worm in the fruit, they will just discard the durian and select another fruit and open it to check again.
Opening the durians
The seller opened up all the durian patiently. Some tools were needed as durian will be usually in layers where after we open it once, we can open the opened parts further and split them into halves again. We can keep doing that until we have gotten all the fruits depending on the type and size of the durian. After making sure that there are no more fruits left, he will discard the thorny skin and move on to the next one.
The fruits
So this is the durian fruit we got. The seller put a little flag of his shop name on the fruits. They were so fresh with no gassy feeling at all. They tasted so yummy and had a good pang of sweetness. They had very small seeds inside and that is the indication that the fruits are indeed of the Musang King variant. These are like the king of durians as they are considered the best of the best type of durian. However the downside is that they are also very expensive.
Important concerns
While eating durian is a pleasure and fulfilling experience, there are a few matters that need close concern. Durian is a heaty fruit and can sometimes cause consequences. Hence please don't eat other heaty food the day you are consuming durian. Also please don't consume alcohol, carbonated drinks or any soda just in case. There have been cases where certain gas drinks ended up creating poisonous component after digestion and the person passed away due to that.
Furthermore, don't eat too many at once and save some for another day. Recently a news came up that someone got stroke due to that. Please research if you're taking strong medicines whether it is safe to eat durian. Also, please be aware that durian is a sweet fruit and has high sugar content. It may be highly nutritious but it is also sugary. Drink lots of water after consuming the fruits as well. This is so important to avoid getting dehydrated.
These are more pictures that I took at home later on when it was time to eat them, some with flash and some without. See how creamy it is! I ravished it and enjoyed every morsel of the yummy fruit. The seed was very small inside. As much as we wanted to eat more and finish them all, we didn't due to being cautious regarding health.
I hope you get the chance to try durian too, if you have never. Please don't listen to some people who may say that it smells bad. They probably don't know how wonderful durian is. Thank you for dropping by and have a wonderful day ahead.
