Penang Durians, a Comprehensive Guide

Durians in the tree (30 May 2009)


Penang Durians are famous throughout Malaysia. Many people would drive all the way from other states and even from Singapore just to visit the durian plantations in Penang. Most of the durian plantations on Penang Island are located on the western half of the island, which is much less developed compared to the eastern side. This are roughly corresponds to the Balik Pulau District (to be exact, South West District), and hence the term "Balik Pulau Durian" has become the metonym for good Penang durians.

On this page, I want to help you identify Penang durians. All the best durians of Penang are known by where they come from. Most of these were planted by serious durian enthusiasts a few decades ago, and now their children are reaping the fruits of their labour, literally so to speak.

Durian planters name their trees, caring for them like family heirloom. They can tell you exactly how the durian is going to taste like, and how it will appear. Appearance-wise, many people like durians with dark yellow to golden-colored flesh, although the taste is often unrelated to the appearance.

The best durian trees were planted about thirty to thirty five years ago (I first wrote this page in 2005, and as I am updating it now in 2014, all the trees have aged by another decade). Although younger trees may bear the same name as their parents, they cannot match the older trees in terms of quality. When visiting durian farms, it is therefore necessary to go to farms with plenty of well-maintained older trees.

Durian trees require a lot of care to produce good durians. Rot and termite-attack can affect the health of durian trees and affect both the quantity produced as well as quality. Most durian plantations set up netting to prevent the durians from hitting the ground, as the impact will damage the flesh within.

Penang people appreciate durians that are soft and flavorful. The flesh has to be uniformly soft - if any part of the flesh is harder than the rest, the durian is considered poor quality.

Generally, thick-flesh durians with a small seed are preferred over thin-flesh durians. A thin membrane encases the fresh. The flesh should separate from the seed without sticking to it. The taste should range from sweet to bittersweet.

Durian connoisseur can identify the name of the durian by taste. The "aroma" of fresh durians - which many foreigner visitors might find to be obnoxiously unpleasant - is what the locals crave for. The aroma of the durian is strongest around the stem part of the fruit, and weakest at the tail end.


The flesh at the top part of the durian is the finest quality

The full-body aroma can only be appreciated at the durian farms themselves, by consuming durians that have freshly dropped from the tree the night before. The longer it is kept, the less fresh it gets. For that reason, supermarket durians and plastic-wrapped, refrigerated durians cannot measure up.

Where durians are concerned, size doesn't matter. The best tasting durians can come from the smallest to the biggest of fruits. Having said that, however, through my personal experience, the better durians range from the small to the medium sized.

Penang durians are never plucked. They must drop from the tree naturally. Climatic factors affect the quality of durians, even from the best trees. The most flavorful durians are those that drop from the tree during a dry spell - the aroma and taste will be strongest. Too much rain during the budding and ripening seasons will have adverse effects, the former causing blossoms to drop while the latter diluting the taste. Continuous rainy days over a period would adversely affect the quality of the durian. Durians that fall during a thunderstorm or heavy downpour are not of the best quality. It is therefore sensible to time your visit to the durian plantation after a stretch of dry days.

It goes without saying that durians taste best when they have just been opened, and the best of them all are the durians that have just been collected. When I was small, I lived in the countryside, in the then undeveloped Batu Maung. There were even durian trees in our compound that were tendered by wholesale buyers. In return for helping them collect the durians, they would give us some. My neighbourhood friends and I have also visited the bigger farms on the slopes of the hills in Permatang Damar Laut, and we had the pleasure of eating durians to our heart's content, without paying for any. But those were the days. Now we have moved away, and I believe the very area where the trees stood is now a housing estate.

It is not sufficient simply to consume the durians, it is also required that we know what durian we are consuming. People who know their durian will be able to name them (my own favorites include the Xiǎo hóng and the Ya3 Kang1 ). To stuff yourself with durians without knowing what you are eating is like gobbling chocolate with your eyes shut. That, to me, is a waste of good durians.

For a number of years from 2006 to 2009 I used to organize durian feasts. I hold them most regularly at the Bao Sheng Durian Farm, as I find that the owner, Mr Chang (aka Durian Seng) can provide a better explanation about durian than any other durian farmer. I am glad that Mr Chang has since become quite famous for his durians, and are often visited by celebrities.

Varieties of Durian

Durians in Penang Hokkien

Songs about Durians

List of Penang Durians

I provide you here a list of some of the popular durians that I have tasted, and have the chance to photograph before hungry hands grab them. In order that you can say the names correctly, I also provide an audio output. The names are spelled using Pinyin for Mandarin and the TJ Romanisation System for Penang Hokkien. All the words in Penang Hokkien are also found in the Penang Hokkien Dictionary.



The following are some of the durians I tried the first time at Peng Siew Durian orchard in Titi Serong, Balik Pulau, on the 2006 AsiaExplorers Durian Feast, on 17 June, 2006.



The following durian is what I tried the first time at Bao Sheng orchard in Titi Kerawang, on the 2007 AsiaExplorers Durian Feast, on 24 May, 2007.

All about durian

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