Ok so what now? I heard from a good friend, Dr Roy Ong, that he has contact in Sabah Malaysia, for the 'rumoured' and elusive "RED DURIAN". The supply is very short lived and not many such trees around. I couldn't join him on this mammoth of a durian fanatic trip but have asked him to kindly include me next season.
(I don't know any name associated to this durian except that it's very native towards East Malaysia)
Here's what Dr Roy Ong has to share
For a start, pictures speaks a thousand words!
These durians are not large. As Dr Roy described briefly, it is just a large size grapefruit or a traditional malay ratan ball (sepak takraw)
Evidence of the tiny size. If you look at the thorns, it's long and sharp/spikey. I have seen similar durian, but it's deep orange in color.
Look inside RED!!!
Another variant is Orangey, and another is Yellow, in color.
In Dr Roy's words. "Got those sticky strings" (referring to the latex that comes with some fruits).
Dr Roy, "Not the whole pulp is red. There's orange and yellow underneath the redness".
Dr Roy "Seeds are dark brown" (bourbon color)
There's very little hint of sweetness, but as he described, it tasted like unsweetened nutella (hazelnut chocolate bread spread).
In My Own Limited Words
Dr Roy was kind and packed quite a lot back to share the loot with his good pals. I was lucky enough to receive some to try too.
Even though he had to check-in the luggage, the durians were not smashed beyond recognition by luggage handlers.
The loot, Yellow, Orange, and Red variant of native Sabah durians!
I'm a little unwell, cough and having taxing lungs, thus my taste test were largely limited. However, on sniffing at the durian, I immediately registered Cempedak (same genus as breadfruit and jackfruit).
I started with Yellow, follow by Orange and lastly Red. If the latter taste weaker than the former, the latter will taste bland. However, in that sequence I ate, each variant tasted a hint stronger even though all 3 has similar characteristics being :
- Texture of all variants are very thick and gluey texture.
- Taste complex, very difficult to describe except that there's very strong hint of Cempedak taste. In individual description,
~ YELLOW has hint of alcohol
~ Orange has gassy yet fruity flavour. When swirl under the tongue, there's a odd sense of bitterness un-akin to usual durian bitterness. Yet there's a odd kerosene smell in the nostril
~ Red has a mild nutty taste that Dr Roy mentioned but it is very faint. Upon confirmation with Dr Roy, he shared that the nutty flavour was stronger when he took it there (upon opening). The red variant has a mild sweet smell when exhaling from nose. It's a little more palatable and lex complex than above 2 variant.
Despite being 45 minutes after consumption, the smell of Cempedak still lingers in the nose and mouth, as well as fingers.
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Even though the durian is very complex and doesn't have the same strong aroma/pungentness of regular Malaysia durian, I still give this durian a "MUST TRY" verdict simply because, in simple words on this legend of durians....
Sinister, elusive, deceptive, indescribable! Durian Orgasm!
If you are durian fanatic, you got to try this to put the nail into the coffin on the myth or mystery. Agree?
I kept the seeds and will try to plant it just for the sake of seeing how the leaves looks like (no land to plant it into a tree). If someone has land and wants to try planting it, maybe when it turns into sapling, I could even sell it and use the funds for my flight to Sabah. HA HA HA! Interested anyone?
Credits : Most of the description and photos are compliments of Dr Roy Ong. Thank you bro. Without your kindness, I guess I won't get to try it any sooner than today!
