Facts you may not know about Durian Fruit

If you’ve never traveled to Southeast Asia, it’s possible that you have never encountered fresh durian fruit. However, once you have tasted the stinky fruit, it is an experience you are not likely to forget.

It has a unique appearance and an even more memorable smell

Durian fruit is generally slightly oval, about a foot wide and covered in formidable looking spikes. The fruit can weigh between two to seven pounds, and this is heavy enough that in holding it in your hands by the body of the fruit, instead of the stem, it could potentially pierce the skin. However, its otherworldly appearance is dwarfed by another one of its attributes – the smell. Durians have a strong, rank smell that permeates the outer shell and lingers long after the fruit has been removed.

It’s unwelcome on public transport

Due to its overpowering smell, durian has been banned on many types of public transport across Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong. In Singapore, the fruit is banned across all types of public transportation and even taxis have signs to let you know they refuse to carry passengers transporting the smelly fruit.

It’s a superfruit

Despite the stench, durian is extremely healthy, even more so than many other fruits. Naturally rich in iron, vitamin C, and potassium, durian improves muscle strength, skin health and even lowers blood pressure. Furthermore, one small durian contains 23g of dietary fiber which is nearly all of your daily nutritional requirement. However, it is important to not eat them in excess, as in 2010 Malaysian politician Ahmad Lai Bujang was rushed to hospital complaining of breathlessness and dizziness after gorging himself on durian.

There’s more than one type

There are around 30 different varieties of durian. The fruit is native to Malaysia, Indonesia and Borneo however today there are durian farms in Sri Lanka, Southern India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and the southern Chinese island Hainan. Thailand is in fact the biggest exporter of the fruit and home to many durian farms which produce more varieties than the original native locations.

It’s almost impossible to describe the taste and smell

For over a hundred years, travel writers have tried to describe the taste and smell of durian and still we’re nowhere closer to being able to describe it helpfully to someone who has never experienced its unique taste and smell. In 1856, Alfred Russel Wallace sent a letter to Sir William Jackson Hooker describing the fruit as: ‘A rich custard highly flavored with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavor that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes’. Anthony Bourdain, who actually enjoys eating the stinky fruit, colorfully describes the aftermath of eating it: ‘Your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother’.

It inspires architecture

Singapore’s official fruit is the durian. The Esplanade building next to Marina Bay, started as two glass domes but when the design was altered to include covering the buildings with pointed aluminum shades, the buildings took on the appearance of a durian that has been cut in half.

See more: The most unusual fruits you can find in Asia

Source: Internet

Where to go fruit picking in Japan

Cherries, melons, blueberries, peaches, grapes, pears and more. What better way to enjoy them than to pick your own? Find out exactly when and where in Japan you can do so.

CHERRY

These red jewels ripen at the beginning of summer, usually between May and July, ready to land into your woven baskets. In the Yamanashi prefecture of Japan, located southwest of Tokyo on the island of Honshu, there are many farms (either cherry farms or mixed) to satisfy your cherry picking excitement. Check out the farms at Minami Alps City, Koshu City and Kawaguchiko among many others. Beyond that, if you’re in Tokyo, you can head to Higashimurayama City. Ohashi Cherry Farm in Hokkaido is also popular among fruit enthusiasts!

MELONS

Between June to mid-August, you can visit melon farms in Hokota City in the Ibaraki prefecture. There is also the melon-only Irago Seaside Farm in the Aichi prefecture. In the Shizuoka prefecture, there is the Kashima Harvest Farm and the Izu Fruit Park to make a visit.

BLUEBERRIES

Between July and August, you can head over to many farms growing these blue beauties among other fruits but there are in fact many blueberry-only farms in Japan. Some include the Zao Blueberry Farm, with over 10,000 blueberry plants of different varieties, in Miyagi, Sekiaen Farm, with 2,000 plants, in Kazuno City of the Akita prefecture, as well as the Okudaisen Blueberry Farm, with 17,000 blueberry plants and 47 varieties, in the Tottori prefecture.

PEACH

Next up are peaches which ripe towards the end of the cherry picking season. You can find them in abundance between late June to early September. While Yamanashi will be an option to collect peaches while picking cherries and other fruits around late June, you could also head out to areas like the cities of Kobe and Himeji in the Hyogo prefecture, as well as Lidzuna Town and Nakano City in the Nagano prefecture.

White peaches in Okayama are indeed to die for and to get the “best flavour of Japan” or so it is often described, you can travel down to the Tomomien Fruit Farm and Nishiyama Farm.

GRAPE

Ripe around the same time as peaches, grapes are available from July to October. Grapes are hugely popular in Japan and there are many farms for you to collect them. In Kumamoto prefecture of Kyushu, you can head to Asu City and Minamata City, and if you’re in Osaka, the farms in Kawachinagano City and Kashiwara City will be a fantastic place! Marukei Orchards and Maruhara Orchards in Fukushima offer grapes during the season too!

MIKAN ORANGES

Available to tantalise our tastebuds from October to January, these juicy seedless fruits are farmed in places like Minamiboso City in Chiba, Fukaya City and Chichibu-mura village in the Saitama prefecture. They are also farms in the Shizuoka, Kumamoto and Aichi prefectures!

See more: The must-try fruits when traveling to Japan

Source: Internet