Durian Season Part 1: Singapore

with ieat group

A surprise to me was that my Kampung Teratai durian report has been getting a lot of hits...probably due to the durian season again...so here is a quick followup of two separate and recent sessions.

The first was consumed on June 12 at Ah Loon & Ah Teck in Singapore...this featured "branded" durians...Red Prawn, D13, Black Pearl and Golden Phoenix. And the second, featured what is known as kampung durian...mongrels of sorts.

First, the Singapore session.



Ah Loon explaining the intricacies of the durian...a short tutorial on what to look for with each cultivar.

We started with Red Prawn, or Ang Heh in Hokkien. As I understand it, this particular cultivar was originally developed in Penang, and indeed the Penang versions are touted to be better. The one we sampled was the Johor Red Prawn.





The texture was very fine. It did not have a red glow as the RP we had in Kampung Teratai last year, but this tasted sweet, fine pulp. Creamy almost to a fault.

Next D13





The D13 was somewhat stronger in fragrance and taste...more intense. There was a slight winey tinge on the tongue. But the flesh was smooth, creamy, and sweet.

We then were served the Black Pearl





The thin waxy coating over the super creamy flesh was indication of freshness. Under the yellow waxy coating, a tinge of black can be observed. The pulp was very smooth, fibre-less, creamy, and sweet with a tinge of bitterness. The seeds were super small, but not shrivelled vestigal seeds, but was presented like a small round marble...um, pearl.

By this time, we were almost full...we had 3 durians per cultivar for each table of 5 adults.

But the Golden Phoenix was not to disappoint..





My tasting notes show that the flesh was bitter sweet, very smooth, fiberless, creamy. The seeds were vestigal...very small. Even though the fruit was not large, it yielded a lot of pulp, and tasted wonderful.

Next, our drive to Pekan Nanas, Johor for another durian degustation.


Ah Loon and Ah Teck.
231 East Coast Road (Opp Jago Close).
97514828.