KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — Some folks love durian, others loathe it.
This is the traditional narrative when it comes to the King of Fruits, controversial only in how it may split some families down the middle: those who favour its heavenly aroma and those who fear how it stinks to high heaven.
I belong to the former category and, fortunately for me, my entire family joins me in this group too. Is there an activity better for bringing parents, children and grandchildren closer together than to share in a durian feast? You know you’re tight when everyone has durian-slicked fingers and durian cream moustaches hovering above mirror-image gluttonous grins.
Of course, what constitutes a durian feast has changed over the years. When I was younger, my father would bring home heaving gunny sacks of durians from the dusun of one of his students’ parents in Jasin.
Happy with their son’s improved academic results, they’d always save the best fruits for my father (Forget apples; ‘tis better to be the durian of your teacher’s eye).
On longer school holidays, we’d even make the trek to the dusun itself, to have a picnic beneath the shade of large trees (not the durian trees themselves, mind you; not unless we wanted to risk a rogue fruit falling — during the day rather than at night — on our heads!).
Armed with heavy duty gloves, essential for prying open the durian’s thorny shell, the orchard supervisor would sniff and open spiky orbs as fast as we could devour the creamy flesh within.
There’s nothing quite like sight of empty lobes of durian shells and glistening seeds, clean of any precious flesh, piling up in a pyramid of our labours.
These days, the feasts are delivered right into the city, far from the dusun where the durians are grown and collected. Durian buffets are the efficient and relatively mess-free (for the customers).
“All you can eat” may sound like you’re asking for trouble but never underestimate both the appetites of durian aficionados and the profit-making abilities of entrepreneurs. It’s win/win.
For me, it’s a sort of anti-smörgåsbord — yes, it’s served buffet-style, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s only one dish I’m interested in: raw, unadulterated durian.
Some durian buffets even offer other tropical fruits such as rambutan and star fruit as accompaniments; mangosteens, in particular, are considered the perfect pairing for durians, and believed to help cool down the resultant “heat”.
I consider them a waste of space. It’s real durian or nothing.
Life has a way of proving you wrong, given enough time. While I still abhor all manner of durian-derived products — from durian ice cream to durian cheesecake — that make a mockery of the original fruit, I have found exceptions.
Pulut durian where the creamy flesh of the durian is complimented by the creamy albeit toothsome texture of the glutinous rice and the richness of the santan (coconut cream) is an excellent reason to admit I’ve been wrong.
One can even westernise this Malaysian dessert by transforming it into a tart — a deconstructed pulut durian, if you will — so long as the durian flesh is kept intact and unsullied.
See, I’ve realised the secret to enjoying durian other than as is: to have the other ingredients be supporting actors only and to let the immaculate fruit shine as it should, in all its natural splendour.
DURIAN STICKY RICE TART
This recipe is pretty straightforward. A note, however, on using a rice cooker for sticky rice: Make sure you test the doneness of the rice before adding the coconut milk to make the creamy, glutinous layer.
If you find that the rice is still a tad undercooked, just cover the rice cooker with its lid again and let it sit for a few more minutes. The residual heat from the cooking should finish it off nicely.
Ingredients for the tart base
250g digestive biscuits
100g unsalted butter, melted
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
Ingredients for sticky rice layer
400g uncooked glutinous rice
600ml cups water
1 fresh pandan leaf, tied in a knot
½ teaspoon salt
400ml coconut milk
100g granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Ingredients for cream layer
150g cream cheese
50ml coconut milk
50ml honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for the durian layer
6-8 pieces of durian, seeds removed
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Crumb the digestive biscuits by hand into a mixing bowl. Add melted butter, cinnamon and salt to the crumbs. Mix well till fully combined. Transfer to a 24-centimetre non-stick tart pan and press down to form the tart base. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until set. Remove and allow to cool completely before layering with the other ingredients.
To make the sticky rice layer, add the glutinous rice and water into the rice cooker pot. Allow the rice to soak overnight; the long soaking gives the rice more flavour. (You may keep the tart base chilled in the fridge during this process.)
Add the pandan leaf and salt to the soaked rice before turning on the rice cooker. Allow it to cook on automatic mode. When ready, add the coconut milk, sugar and salt to the still warm rice and mix together. Allow to cool to room temperature before spreading this sticky rice layer evenly onto the tart base.
To make the cream layer, add the cream cheese, coconut cream, honey and vanilla extract to a food processor. Combine until smooth. Pour this creamy mixture over sticky rice layer and keep chilled in the refrigerator for about 6-8 hours until set.
Once set, top the tart with the fresh pieces of durian. Slice into wedges and serve chilled.
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