StickyMangoRice

It’s the size of a soccer ball, a stinky medieval morning star of a fruit covered in thorns; the durian. They’re found in many South East Asian markets, on small roadside stalls, or piled up on the back of a motorbike zooming through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.

In the words of one Cambodian that Jeff and I met, it ‘smells like shit but tastes like heaven’, and in the words of a western backpacker that I met, ‘tastes like a garbage bag of rotting fruit that was left in the sun’. In certain countries, such as Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, bringing durian onto public transport is forbidden for this very reason.

Its flesh is yellow and smooth, and it’s this creamy texture that puts a lot of people off. It tastes a bit how it smells, a sort of creamy pungent fruit salad mixed with custard. When in Asia, definitely try one, and tell me what you think!