For once, durian was actually not on my mind when I popped by the Asian Grocer this afternoon. I was on a seaweed mission. But when I found Malaysian Musang King durian in Australia, it was a no-brainer. Forget seaweed – durian was on the menu!
There were only four smallish durians, about 1 kg each, and two had already split wide open on the bottom. I grabbed the non-splitting ones and hustled them to the register, trying to hide them from the group of Asian tourists who had just wandered in.
At $7 a kilo, Malaysian Musang King cost about half the price of a fresh, Thai-style durian grown here in Australia. I didn’t want to increase the competition.
Rob was reading a book on the front porch when I got home. He spotted the spikes poking through the plastic bag right away. “Whatcha got there?” he asked, setting down his book.
I hauled out my prize with pride. “Musang King!”
“It looks funny,” Rob said. “Are you sure it’s a Musang King?”
I looked doubtfully at the two little durians sitting on the table. They didn’t have the characteristic wide star on the bottom that I associate with Musang King. I pointed at the tag, which had been checked “Musang King.”
“It says so right here,” I said. But I was already wondering….. was this really a Musang King?
We had to wait a few hours for the durian to thaw enough to crack open. This is what it looked like:
I KNOW, right?
Had someone at the durian packing plant spilled bleach on the durian? Was it just really under ripe? We stared at our albino surprise for a minute before I gave it a poke. It was soft. I took a bite. It was good.
I hadn’t tasted anything like it in almost a year. It was like cocoa powder mixed in tahini – thick, sticky, rich and slightly bitter. Delightful. We gobbled it down, mourning our silly idea to keep the other durian in the freezer for later.
But what was with the color? Where was that glowing gold? The strangest thing was that in between each pale seed pod the flesh was mottled with yellow. Was this a Musang King gone wrong? Was it even a Musang King, or had someone made a whoopsie when they labeled it at the factory?
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| Do you see the hints of yellow? |
Beginning to doubt that we’d really found a Musang King, I went back to my own guide for identifying Musang King just to be sure what we were dealing with. With that coloration and the lacking star on the bottom, was it possible that we’d picked up a tasty D24 instead?
The first thing I looked at was the base of the stem. See how there is a flat, raised ring around the base, with only teeny-tiny thorns close to it? A flat raised ring over tapering thorny body is classic for Musang King – but then, there are still thorns sticking up over the ring, which is more a characteristic of a D24.
Then I reassessed the overall shape, including the stem length. It looked good for Musang King. The stem is pretty darn long, while D24 usually has a short stem. The body tapers away evenly from the base of the stem, like the top of a bald mountain – another good sign. And the spikes are wide and fairly blocky, all good signs that it’s an albino Musang King.
There was one last thing to re-explore. And that’s the bottom. Where is the classic wide band of color running up each seam, making a very visible five pointed star? Even the freaking label featured a picture of that starred bottom. Instead, the bottom looked 100% like D24.
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| Starting to split |
So the jury is out, folks. I’m fairly convinced we picked up a D24 rather than a Musang King. But then, I could be wrong. The stem is long, the stem base is right, and the shape is everything a Musang King should be. But if it really is a Musang King, then that coloration is just bizarre and slightly worrying.
I’d love to hear your input on what you think this durian is. Just leave a comment in the box below with your vote for or against Musang King.
We have one more mystery durian, and I’ll let you know what it looks like on the inside.
Whatever it was, it was tasty.
Spider says
What store was this at, do you remember? Because, I live in Cairns…. very nice O Cha brand frozen durian from the “Asian Supermart” in the CBD here, so I wonder if the whole durian is from the same place
[email protected] says
It was the one nearby Rusty’s Market. I miss Cairns 🙂
Spider says
Awesome! Same shop, and now am so excited because today they said that they are waiting for the Musang King to arrive – I am thinking it will likely be fresh seasons ones frozen from Thailand. You didn’t miss anything for the durian season here this year, it’s been a famine for them for growers all round – such strange weather patterns that nobodies mangosteen fruited for example.
Pierre Christen says
Hi there, I'll be spending Christmas and New Year in Sydney and around. Does anyone know what durian I can expect to find there at this time, especially the fresh kind?
Lindsay Gasik says
Hi Pierre,
You can buy durian from Darwin around Christmas. In Sydney they send their fruits to Exotic Fruits Traders: +61 (0)2 9746 8311. Give them a ring in late November and December and see what they say!
Happy Hunting!
George Low says
I have not seen a Musang King w/o the tell-tale star at its bottom. So it is the clearest indication that this is an inferior durian in disguise – deliberately or otherwise. Raja Kunyit, Musang King or Mao Shan Wang (MSW) are one and the same durian cultivar. But in any salesmanship, enterprising sellers abound who try to convince us to part with paying exorbitant prices for "superior" quality by giving it a twist. In Singapore for example, there is a 'superior grade' to the Musang King, which the locals here and in Johore call the "King of Kings". These are generally just bigger sized Musang Kings from older trees at certain plantation areas, most likely Pahang or Kelantan. Musang King is so popular now that they are cultivated in the whole of Peninsular Malaysia. So, like all other durian cultivars there are definitely some difference in taste between plantations.
Lindsay Gasik says
I've never seen a true Musang King without the star either. I did receive an email from the company and they claim that this is simply a Musang King that has reached it's expiry date, hence the lack of color. They didn't try to explain the lack of a star though.
Anonymous says
It's Musang King you can see those lines on the flesh that you don't get with a D24. Not all Musang have yellow flesh I've had some that are slightly grey. It doesn't look like a rather good musang king though possibly due to a bad season in Malaysia.
Lindsay Gasik says
I agree that it doesn't look like a D24 – but it also doesn't look much like a Musang King to me. I've emailed the company and am waiting to see what they say.
Anonymous says
It might be what we call end of season durian. At the end of every season the remaining fruit tend to be lesser quality plus there are technically 2 types of Musang king 1st being the superior Raja Kunyit and 2nd the Musang King. As the saying goes a Raja Kunyit is a Musang king but a Musang king is not a Raja Kunyit.. Most top quality Musang king/ Raja Kunyit goes to Singapore so what ever is left over gets frozen and sent to us 🙁
Lindsay Gasik says
It's true that end of season durian can be lower quality than mid- or beginning season durian, but a Raja Kunyit is in fact a Musang King. They are registered under the same number with the Malaysian Agricultural Department. It's a common myth that Raja Kunyit and Musang King are different durians – although it's true that Grade A durians go to SIngapore and Grade B to Malaysian markets. As far as we could tell, Grade A durians were simply larger and more perfectly formed, but the Grade B tasted just as good 🙂
Anonymous says
Both are D197 but I have tasted both Raja Kunyit and Musang King they definitely have a difference. Same with Red prawn, the Penang red prawn looks and tastes better than the Raub Red prawn. I remember a durian farmer telling me its to do with what seedling they use to graft with to create that clone.
Lindsay Gasik says
I've had the same experience with Red Prawn. A Red Prawn grown anywhere but Penang is not the same thing. I think it has more to do with soil profile and environment (rainfall, wind, etc) than that they are using a different cultivar. It's the same for D24 – it seems to need specific climatic conditions to be very good.
Jason Kwek says
Guys, last weekend, I found one of the Asian Grocery Stores in Sydney sells Frozen Seedlses Durian King 400gm for $16.99.
Lindsay Gasik says
Good to know 🙂 Which store?
Jay Ho says
Hm, whereabouts are you guys in Australia? I've seen some supposedly musang king in Victoria's asian grocery shop as a whole fruit for aud$15.95 a kilogram. Ouchie!!! If you want to share, my email is [email protected]. =)
Lindsay Gasik says
We're in Cairns 🙂 If we ever make it down to Victoria we'd love to share some durian.
Anonymous says
No tumeric yellow, no Musang King.
Lindsay Gasik says
Do you think it's possible that the deep freezing process could change the color?
S.Y. "Ricky" Tan says
If they plant from seed, it will become a ‘bastard’, not pure Musang King.
The instant freeze or super deep-freeze does not discolor at molecular texture level. To enjoy in a normal home setting, let the de-thaw or defrost in your refrigerator for 9 hours before taking out to “open”. It should be AS FRESH just as the moment it was collected the morning it dropped, straigh and direct taste farm fresh, in fact, more tasty when it is in chilled or refrigerated form.