A self employed General Practitioner who lives with his lovely family in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. He dedicates his spare time serving people with precious information on climbing the Majestic Mountain of the Borneo, Mt Kinabalu. Reachable at drizad(at)gmail.comRed coloured durian - only in Sabah…
Durian, or the scientific name is Durio zibethinus, is widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as the “King of Fruits,” the fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and a formidable thorn-covered husk. Its name comes from the Malay word duri (thorn) together with Malay suffix that is -an (for building a noun in Malay), meaning “thorny fruit.”
The fruit can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lbs). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown and its flesh pale-yellow to red, depending on species. The hard outer husk is covered with sharp, prickly thorns, while the edible custard-like flesh within emits the strong, distinctive odour, which is regarded as either fragrant or overpowering and offensive. The taste of the flesh has been described as nutty and sweet.
The durian smell…
Quoted from Richard Sterling
… its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia.
Good luck!
Resources: Answers.com
July 9th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
It’s kind of cool people still associate Sabah as a place of strange stuff and unique…
July 10th, 2007 at 8:15 am
Yeah… Really cool eh? I am going to put tarap and bambangan after this…
July 12th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
lols..is that real durian..never see it before in peninsular malaysia. who ever taste the durian, what the taste look like…
July 12th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Yes!
IT IS A REAL DURIAN! And the photo was taken here in Beaufort, south of Kota Kinabalu.
I never taste it, but will do soon.
August 18th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
we have that here in brunei too…probably can be found on the whole island of borneo….
August 21st, 2007 at 10:23 am
Yes, you are correct babe…
September 12th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
ah.. if i’m not mistaken the locals calls them “dahit”..
i like “hampun” better.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
waa.. interesting colour..
i miss bambangan and tarap =(
p/s can i posted the picture in my blog?
with your permission..
September 29th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Sure can…
Just give me a link love back to this post, okay!
October 24th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
have u seen white colour kelapa sawit.
October 24th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
No, Tola. Send me the photo if you have one!
October 25th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Drizad,
The red colour durian can be found at Kelantan State, Kuala Krai district.
The thorn is a bit longer than the normal durian. Usual called as Durian Hutan, sale by the local natives during the season.
January 30th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
durians like any other food - eg. cheese, blue cheese etc have its own fans and nons.
funny some ppl like blue cheese but cant stand durians.
agree with you, durians are nice
January 31st, 2008 at 3:46 pm
QuaChee: Yes, I agree that those blue cheese taste horrible!!!
Hehehe…
March 21st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
never tasted a red one… im pretty sure it tastes the same as the normal ones… and i like blue cheese… that smells like cow dung as oppose to pig shit!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 2:32 am
holy cow… whoever says that durian smells like pigshit or a combination of gym socks, tupentine, etc., is totally a liar. yes, it’s true that durian is not for everyone but it CERTAINLY doesn’t smell like gym socks.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
drizad, do post some photos on other wierd fruits not found in peninsular. will try it next year when i am in sabah again…
May 15th, 2008 at 8:02 am
@KakiAyam:
Sure… Will try to hunt more weird stuff for you on this land!
May 15th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
drizad.. maybe you can put some info on ‘Tarap’ and ‘Bambangan’…
May 15th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
A Filipina from Mindinao told me that they too grew up with red durian, and like many fruits there, (jackfruit, for example)they picked it before it was ripe and stewed it as a vegetable.
Ironically, my Filipina wife can’t stand the stuff but I, an American, love it to the point of addiction. Would love to find a red one,though.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:20 am
@isa:
I did. Here is the post:
http://mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/blog/5-things-you-should-taste-before-you-leave-kinabalu.html
June 14th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Hie Drizad,
That’s a wonderful delicious looking durian there. And I have not tasted it so far and so vibrant red too.
It must be better than the normal yellow pulp ones.
How’s the taste and price like? Is it available in the peninsular?
Simply amazed,
Sue
p.s. Could I link this site to my social website. A friend curious to know
June 15th, 2008 at 9:53 am
@ Sue:
Taste & price? I am not really sure, as I have never had one. So far, I have never seen it in Peninsular Malaysia.
p.s. Sure do. Spread the love around…
June 15th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
That’s great, thank you , will have the love out spread
I came across this article about Red Durians and guess what!!!!!, we do have in the Peninsular…lol. It’s in Jitra, Kedah , the article was in 2005, hopefully it’s still blooming !!!!
Check it out -
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/5/18/nation/10980825&sec=nation
Have a good Sunday & Happy Father’s day!
June 16th, 2008 at 8:14 am
@ Sue:
Thank you! Have a nice day to you too!
September 24th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
The red durian locally dahit, has many variation of color, and taste. In my dusun, I have three fruit bearing dahit trees, with three different hues - from crimson red to dark orange, fro msweet taste to bitter sweet taste.
No the taste is unlike the normal durian, i nwhich one could get a feeling of being stuffed when having one tooo many. Dahit - no you just get a nice filled stomach feel. No heady sensation too.
Theres some good mention about the color compound in fruits, such as the reds in carrot, and by my own extension the red durian. Apparently they are good helath formative compound, very much why doctors almost always recommend fruits for health [ ok for its fibre, too].
October 28th, 2008 at 1:04 am
I’m French, having home in thailand…
It would be interesting to have this fruit in my garden… who can send me some seeds ?
Regards
Philippe
October 29th, 2008 at 4:16 am
i juz ate it this morning…i realy crazy bout wild durians..many types of colours..i bought it at miri market..actually it also can be found in sarawak…indonesia too..only in Borneo..coz my great grandparent planted it long time ago…hehehe
November 6th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
can you send me some seeds for my garden in thailand ??
November 7th, 2008 at 8:07 am
@ Pilou:
I can, but I don’t know whether I could find the seeds. I am actually still looking for it here in KK. Maybe need to find it from the southern part of Sabah. I will contact you if I found one.
Cheers!
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:08 am
Aha..durian merah. Good info on this one. I’ve been wondering if other people know about this ‘durian merah’ .
This is one of my favourite fruits. It doesn’t taste like the normal durians or smell like the normal durians that can cause people to secrete saliva in anticipation of the ‘durians’. I think that it’s the smell that triggers such effect.:-) haha
It taste better if made into ‘tempoyak’.In my ‘kampong’ , red durian is fried with onions and chilli and served as a side dish. Sometimes when the ‘durian merah’ was served, I am contented to have just the rice and the durian merah as my main dish. (Just mixed it with your rice and you will have a nice, unique meal).
January 20th, 2009 at 7:38 am
This is such an interesting species! Red durian is “durio graveolens.”
Let me know if I might be able to buy seeds from you! I’ve been looking for these to try growing here.
Excellent pic!
March 9th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
maaf yaa.. teman teman di malaysia…., durian merah nya nggak cuma ada di kinabalu ajaah lho…., tapi di indonesia juga…. di provinsi kalimantan selatan buah durian merah banyak tuh di hutan…masyarakat sini menyebut tu buah lahong ……..
, sayang saya nggak punya foto na heheheh. TQ yaaa
April 5th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Cikgu Ismail, saya rasa nak komen pasal durian merah.
Saya rasakan durian merah itu boleh dimakan. Kalaulah mulut
saya &cikgu berbau, tolonglah ajak saya pergi ke gunung Kinabalu dengan segera supaya saya menikmati gunung Kinabalu dengan nyaman.
Yang Ikhlas,
Muhd Al-hakim Bin sayed Nasir,
Pelajar SMK Kelapa Sawit
April 5th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Hi, Im a rare fruit collector from Mexico looking to buy or trade for another seeds, 6-10 seeds of red durian,trough regular mail,
Thanks, Raul
June 6th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Durian is simply tasty exotic fruit,one of the best in world,I come from East Africa,Tanzania(presently living in Canada)back there on the Island of Zanzibar grow durian,the only country in Africa, I guess,have been eating since was kid and doing so till now(tho I get durian from Thai and malay here in Canada
thanks
June 15th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
durian merah aneh benar, sebab saya penggemar durian di Indonesia durian bermacam-macam tetapi yang merah benar belum aku temuai tetapi saya penggemar durian suatu hari apabila saya datang ke sabah-Malaysia saya ingin sekali mencicipi durian yang fantastic ini, tetapi di Indonesia ada durian kesukaanku durian ini namanya durian hijau dari Jepara tetapi walaupun kulit dan buahnya mengandung warna hijau tetapi sangat enak sekali.
September 28th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
well, the red colored durian is indeed quite well known in sabah, and the local term for it is ‘dahit’. It’s different from the normal durian whereby the thorns are longer and sharper. The taste and smell are not as strong as the normal durian hence for those who are used to eating normal durian might find ‘dahit’ bland.
November 16th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
I taste it before but it’s different color.. yellow and a bit orange.. it’s really bland and i dont like it.. never seen red colored.. My uncle say Santubong Sarawak also have red flesh durian.. i prefer durian..
December 17th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Selamat Hsian, I am visiting Sandakan now and I am told in KK that now it is not musin for red durian. Ahioi! Any idea if itis true or not? Where to find red durias now here or around? I will be here 3 more days only, can you please direct me? Thank you, Giovanni
January 19th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
i dont like it when they say it smells like “pig-shit”.
It taste GOOD!!
January 19th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
i dont like it when they say it smells like “pig-shit”.
Durians taste GOOD!!
February 11th, 2010 at 1:15 am
I’ve been to Sabah a few times now and I’ve never seen the red variety. Interesting. It might be because I can’t stand the smell of durin. I would not go so far as to say it smells of pig shit though.
February 14th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Durian smell and taste like french Camembert Cheese