Recently (this season), a lot of stalls are claiming they are selling PENANG DURIAN! What Black Thorns, Green Skin, Lin Feng Jiao, Horlor, etc etc. All the variants from Penang.
I will use logic to reason my doubts. It's up to you, to believe sellers, or reason with logic!
1. In The News!
It was reported, this season's supply will face a shortfall by up to 40%. The Malaysia news (which I did blog about not long back) was talking about Penang durian plantation owners' plight due to the extreme hot and dry spell.
If there are such huge short fall, not 4% but 40%, is there even enough durians to supply to Singapore??
2. Traditionally, Penang Durian Supply!
All these decades of durian supplies to Singapore all came from Johor or Pahang. Since when did Penang Durians cross the causeway?
From what I learnt from some people in the trade, Penang's consumer base is so huge, they barely have enough to supply outside, and it probably never really made it past KL.
3. Distance
From Pahang to Singapore, the transport takes about 8 to 10 hours. And sometimes we see to condensation in the inside of the shell.
Penang is another 300km away, or 4 hours lorry trip. Why is it the durians arrived rather dry?
4. Texture
The long trip, lots of bumps, would made the durian flesh super soft or even nearly smashed. Why are these durians still so nice?
5. Price
For the super long journey and the huge shortfall in supply, those who understands the first basic fundamentals of economics, will know Demand and Supply never resulted in low supply equals low price.
Going back to Point 1, if supply is in short fall, plus the long transport journey (cost), how is it possible for prices to be low, at S$12/kg?
Cost of Penang durian cannot have come down so much that sellers in Singapore can sell at $12/kg. In Penang itself, you may be able to get it at RM20/kg currently but I cannot believe authentic grown in Penang durians can be at $12/kg in Singapore currently,very very unlikely even when supply is at its peak... bumper harvest is a different story.
Of course.... it is possible when the durian IS NOT Penang durian.
Conclusion.
Given just there mere 5 points raised above, do you still believe what you are sold?
I believe some sellers are going to tell you, Penang Durian grown in Pahang or elsewhere. Well, this, I can believe, over sellers who made claims that it is authentic from Penang. I am not going to say they lie, but I would suggest , rarher than being gullible, why dont consumers use logic reasoning.
The same good durian from one place won't be the same quality grown in another place! There are more to durian growing than just think you can get the same quality growing it elsewhere. The simple science is, the minerals in the soil is different between different regions.
Chinese has a saying 'mai liulian zhan liulian xiang'. Durian sellers will claim their durian is the best. It's up to you to trust them.
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Last Night's Scandal With Malaysian and Thai Babe (durian la... )
Having tried some 'PENANG Durian' last week, and also a small Mao Shan Wang on Sunday, I was gravely disappointed. I knew durians are not so nice yet.
Last night (23/05/16), I was 'dragged' out at midnight with some friends. We ordered 3 x D24 and 1 x Thai durian (Cheng Nee). Here's my little review.
Malaysia Durian, D24
- D24 (small fruit)
I noticed this little devil among the pile sold by per fruit. Picked it, took a light sniff and decided I want this! The seller opened it, and told me it's not good, because of the 3 sides, 2 sides had worm invasion. WHAT? The more I want it!
- D24 (2 x large fruit)
I didn't choose, let the seller choose.
Of these 3 pieces of D24, only the small, worm infested D24 was worthy. I ate 2 out of 3 seeds, and these 2 have been 'invaded' by the single worm. Who cares! I won't die (and i had a shot of whisky at home before heading to the stall). The taste of this D24 was really strong, nice bitter sweet taste. Good thing I insisted on taking it.
The other 2 larger D24 didn't impress me one bit. Wasted calories.
Thai Durian, Cheng Nee.
I had asked the seller to help me bump the fruit and left it unopen for about 20 minutes while we tuck into the D24. Bumping helps to soften the texture.
The flesh was thick and sticks to the throat. Taste was pleasant, way better than the 2 D24 we had. It is a good substitute for Malaysia durian for now. I will be tucking into more Thai durian this week!
For those who are very 'anti-Thai Durian', maybe it's time you consider trying it.
