Durians are known to be the king of fruits. Ironically, they need to be treated like kings too if they are to taste great. Read on to find out how our durians can taste so good!
Efficient hydration is essential to good durian growth. By observing this picture, you can tell that this durian has an outer husk that is of a perfect shade of green. Surrounding the thorns, you will also realise that there is more vibrant lineage of green. These are indications that the fruit is well hydrated.
We have engaged experienced irrigation specialists to construct a system that would be ideal for durians. Not many plantations do this and that is why some sellers get a significant share of durians that have its flesh too watery or overly dry more often than not.
Durian sellers always face a supply issue. It is one of the products in the World whereby the demand is just too great. That being said, it is common for plantation owners to overcrowd their land with durian trees. When this happens, each tree has to fight for sunlight and nutrients. Most plantations we visited even had roots of different trees intertwining with one another. As a result, the fruit becomes dehydrated (which can be observed by it having a yellowish outer shell instead of green), and falls to the ground easily. To minimise this issue, potent fertilisers tend to be overused. This can also cause the seeds of the durian to be much bigger, thus affecting the available flesh within. Because these plantation owners are all for profit, they will export and sell every single piece of durian. During its 8 hour lorry ride to Singapore, the durian is being oxidised very quickly. Upon reaching the seller in Singapore, the durians would be mostly watery. On top of that, they would have horrible odd shapes, causing the flesh to be much smaller too.
Durable nets that are strong enough to withstand the force and impact of a falling durian are secured at every inch of our plantation. They are also cleared 5 times a day to ensure the durians do not fall on one another.
When a durian encounters impact, not only does it lose its round shape to produce irregular sized flesh, but whatever potential opening allows it to become oxidised quickly. This is how your durian becomes ‘watery’. A common complaint against many durian sellers in Singapore.
In this image, you can see an oddly shaped durian with a weak shade of green. It is unlikely that this durian would taste good because it is from a plantation that does not practice the correct farming and harvesting methods that we so stringently follow.
Upon reaching the seller, it is necessary that the durian is quickly chopped and packed, and sent to the customer. This has to be done as quickly as possible because the quality of a durian dwindles with every second of exposure to the atmosphere.
A good durian chopper is important because an inexperienced one may hit the wrong spots of a durian. Should the skin of the flesh be punctured, it will begin to decompose at a faster rate.
At 8 Durian, our durian chopppers undergo real training and we only bring onboard those who can chop durians well. It is also worth noting that bigger durians are much harder to handle as compared to smaller ones. The chopper is important!
It is worth noting however, that big seeds are usually predominantly present in durians during the start of the season. At the start of each durian season, it is common for durians to fall prematurely. Regardless of how spread out the durian trees are, they are struggling to distribute nutrients to all fruits because the low temperatures are not yet at an acceptable level.
At 8 Durian, we are blessed to have been able to build a plantation with state of the art technologies and premium tools such as a good irrigation system, durable nets for durians to fall on, and organic fertiliser. We are also blessed to have managed to acquire a plantations on the high mountainous regions of Pahang, boasting the best climate for growing durians. In Singapore, we are also lucky to have a good customer base that allows us to afford such a way of management. We have promised the best durians when we started, and we never plan on breaking that promise!