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Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

nytimes.com

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Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#101

Post by Der_Einzige »

3131s wrote: post #72

I live in Cambodia where all of these fruits are available, and more. I like every fruit mentioned, except salak, and eat many of them every day. This author comes off as a deeply uncultured American giving a generic impression of a drunken 3-5 day visit to SEA. There are so many errors in this article it's unreal. Jackfruit does not have a "jagged sheath" (that's durian). Dragon fruit is only mushy when it's badly b…

"Durian does not stink of death"

Sounds like you're the one spreading lies. Durian is without a doubt, the smelliest, nastiest fruit I have ever had the displeasure of ever smelling or eating in my life. My wife is from SEA and literally laughed out loud when I showed her your post. Check yourself before you try to check others.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#102

Post by unixhero »

magnio wrote: post #77
3131s wrote: post #72

I live in Cambodia where all of these fruits are available, and more. I like every fruit mentioned, except salak, and eat many of them every day. This author comes off as a deeply uncultured American giving a generic impression of a drunken 3-5 day visit to SEA. There are so many errors in this article it's unreal. Jackfruit does not have a "jagged sheath" (that's durian). Dragon fruit is only mushy when it's badly b…

It puzzles me how the smell of durian, which I find very aromatic, can be disgusting to some people. Also dragon fruit is a 'bland mush'? I've must have been eating the wrong fruit. There's also a red dragon fruit which is a little tastier.

For one Durian is poisonous in certain quantities that vary from person to person. That smell is a warning.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#103

Post by thewileyone »

Thai durian is nothing when compared to the smell and taste of Malaysian durian.

I love durian but the smell can be overpowering. I left a few in my car for an afternoon, parked in an underground garage, to bring to my family after work. I had to drive with the windows down for 2 weeks.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#104

Post by 3131s »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #101
3131s wrote: post #72

I live in Cambodia where all of these fruits are available, and more. I like every fruit mentioned, except salak, and eat many of them every day. This author comes off as a deeply uncultured American giving a generic impression of a drunken 3-5 day visit to SEA. There are so many errors in this article it's unreal. Jackfruit does not have a "jagged sheath" (that's durian). Dragon fruit is only mushy when it's badly b…

"Durian does not stink of death" Sounds like you're the one spreading lies. Durian is without a doubt, the smelliest, nastiest fruit I have ever had the displeasure of ever smelling or eating in my life. My wife is from SEA and literally laughed out loud when I showed her your post. Check yourself before you try to check others.

It smells like death though? Really?

I'm sure there are differences in how people perceive durian, among other foods. Most Cambodians don't have a particular aversion to durian though and it's definitely popular at the market, but sometimes you see it prohibited in touristy guesthouses and restaurants.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#105

Post by [deleted] »

maguay wrote: post #67

Another fun Thai fruit: ตะขบ (`da kop`), which are these tiny custard-like berries that literally spoil within hours after picking them. They make great shade trees, so you can often find them growing over a road in residential areas, and just pick a couple to eat on the spot. You'll never find them in a store, but they're a quintessential part of childhood here.

[deleted]

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#106

Post by thisrod »

Here in Australia, you can actually get fresh durians!

There are only 50 odd trees in the country, near Darwin, so the fruit cost a mint by the time they are flow to Melbourne and Sydney. They're good. The consensus is better than the Thai ones, but I hang around Malaysians, who have a low opinion of Thai durians.

Around 1980, there was talk of growing tropical fruit in Northern Australia. Our seasons are out of phase with Asia's, so that would have made a lot of sense. I don't know why it didn't happen.

There is one problem that the article doesn't mention: people who haven't been to Southeast Asia tend to mistake the durian smell for a gas leak, and call the fire brigade. You have to be careful where you take them in the west.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#107

Post by thewileyone »

greggman3 wrote: post #69
reedlaw wrote: post #47

Dragon fruit can be grown in California, Florida, and Hawaii and is not "bland mush with tiny seeds that can require floss to dislodge". The author must have had a bad one. They can be extremely sweet. The seeds are so small that they go down without noticing and I've never had to use floss. My favorite is a variety with deep red flesh. Mangosteen is so far from its depiction---"to eat a pile of mangosteens is an exe…

I don't dislike Dragon Fruit but having had 30 or so of them in SE Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan) I've never had one that was "extremely sweet". All of them were relatively on the bland every place I had one. It's good to know they can be sweet but I'm curious why finding a sweet one is so rare. As for the seeds I agree. It's like eating kiwi seeds. Mangosteen is great! No idea why the author…

Better chance of the purple/red ones being sweeter IMO. And don't buy the cut ones from the market; buy it whole and do that at home.

To choose a dragonfruit, pick the ones where the "leaves"/"tips" aren't dried out, feel heavy/full and slightly firm.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#108

Post by esquire_900 »

blago wrote: post #99
3131s wrote: post #72

I live in Cambodia where all of these fruits are available, and more. I like every fruit mentioned, except salak, and eat many of them every day. This author comes off as a deeply uncultured American giving a generic impression of a drunken 3-5 day visit to SEA. There are so many errors in this article it's unreal. Jackfruit does not have a "jagged sheath" (that's durian). Dragon fruit is only mushy when it's badly b…

> Durian does not "stink of death". It does stink to some (many?) people, much the same way some people think that cilantro tastes like soap. Which is why you see "no durian" stickers in public places throughout Asia.

It does smell, but by far not as repulsive as the smell of actual death (rotting meat).

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#109

Post by jesterson »

magnio wrote: post #77
3131s wrote: post #72

I live in Cambodia where all of these fruits are available, and more. I like every fruit mentioned, except salak, and eat many of them every day. This author comes off as a deeply uncultured American giving a generic impression of a drunken 3-5 day visit to SEA. There are so many errors in this article it's unreal. Jackfruit does not have a "jagged sheath" (that's durian). Dragon fruit is only mushy when it's badly b…

It puzzles me how the smell of durian, which I find very aromatic, can be disgusting to some people. Also dragon fruit is a 'bland mush'? I've must have been eating the wrong fruit. There's also a red dragon fruit which is a little tastier.

It's really fascinating how different is human reaction to durian smell and taste.

Durian smell is more than disgusting to me - but sometimes I do enjoy eating it. Often by holding my breath to avoid inhaling it.

Re: Eating Thai Fruit Demands Serious Effort but Delivers Sublime Reward

#110

Post by 9nGQluzmnq3M »

maguay wrote: post #67

Another fun Thai fruit: ตะขบ (`da kop`), which are these tiny custard-like berries that literally spoil within hours after picking them. They make great shade trees, so you can often find them growing over a road in residential areas, and just pick a couple to eat on the spot. You'll never find them in a store, but they're a quintessential part of childhood here.

Is this the same as da kop farang, or are these different fruits/berries?

https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%82%E0...

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