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Durian, Food & Beverage

5 Secrets and Tips How to Choose and Open a Durian while Living in Singapore | 2024 Guide

March 8, 2024

Have you ever had experiences when the durian you ate was too watery or unripe or sour?

Are you having trouble choosing a good durian and opening it?

If you answered “YES” to any of above, this post is exactly the secrets and tips you are looking for, will show you 5 secrets how to choose a good durian and open it while living in Singapore with friends or your family members so you can enjoy eating durians with them.

Table of Contents

5 Secrets and Tips How to Choose and Open a Durian while Living in Singapore

Secret 1. The shape of a durian

Durians with perfectly oval and rounded shapes are not always the best.

It is better to choose durians that come in irregular or oblong or odd-shaped durians that contain fewer chambers and flesh-covered seeds because the durian flesh is more intense and flavour with a creamier texture. Odd-shaped durians can come in curved and crescent shapes.

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Image Credit to: Hafiz Issadeen

Secret 2. Look at the stem of a durian

When you choose a durian, please make sure to look at the stem. If you look at the stem, you will see that fresh durians have moist and light-coloured ends. If the durian has been off the tree for long time, the end of the stem will be darker and drier.

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Image Credit to: Francis Chung

Secret 3. Shake a durian

The best way to test how ripe the durian fruit is, is to place the durian next to your ear and then shake it gently. It sounded like shaking maracas to some soul music. If you hear no sound, it means that the fruit is too ripe. If there is hard-knocking sound when shaking it, it is not ripe yet. If you hear something moving inside the durian fruit , that’s a sign it has dried out. What you want to hear is the sound of dull, subtle knocks.

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Image Credit to: Chin Wei Zhi

Secret 4. Smell a durian

After finding the right hitting sounds, you want to narrow your choice down further with the right smell. Please smell area around the stem because durians first ripen at the stem, and then other parts of it ripen later. To avoid getting injured, please use your hand to shield the exterior thorns.

If the durian smells really raw, like unripe fruit, then it probably isn’t ripe. If smell is over-powering and strong durian aroma, it is probably too riper and the flesh is gooey and soft. Its smell is not too raw and too strong.

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Secret 5. Open a whole durian fruit

To open a durian, first to cover the work surface with newspaper. If you look closely at the bottom of a durian, you’ll see faint brownish traces of what looks like a star. These are the sutures that separate the durian’s different segments. If you follow these lines, you will find it a breeze to split open a durian.

So, start looking for seams where the thorns grow in toward each other. These section marks indicate where the durian you can use knife a dig into along the seams. Once the incision has been deep enough, pry it apart with your hands. Repeat the same process along each seam and then enjoy your durians with your family.

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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. What if you want to buy durians that are already pre-packed?

Sometimes we don't have the opportunity to choose and buy whole durians. Here’re tips you can test the packaged durians with the unfrozen variety.

Use your finger to lightly trace over the surface of the yellow flesh. If the durian flesh feels tender and soft, then it's ripe. If the durian flesh is hard to the touch, then that part of the fruit is unripe. If the durian flesh yields too quickly, it is too ripe.

Next, smell each of the pre-packed fruits and see if you can tell which one is ripe already. If its smell is raw, then it is probably not ripe. If its smell is over-powering and strong, it is likely overripe. It should smell somewhere in between raw and overpowering.

2. Where to buy good durians in Singapore?

You can make durian order online via high reviews of Shopee / Lazada SG durian sellers and deliver durians to your doorstep.

3. What is best way to eat durian in Southeast Asia Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, etc?

In Southeast Asia, local people eat durian with coconut milk and sticky rice.

4. What is the taste of durian?

If the durian is too ripe, it may be pungent or overly bitter. If the durian isn't ripe enough, the flesh will be hard and probably flavorless.

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Thank you for reading this post. If you enjoy this post, please share it with your friends or family members. Let’s get life transformed together! Many thanks.

By Kristina F.