Cambodian Durian or Khmer durian is one of the most popular fruits in Cambodia.
Durian has quiet the controversial fruit, in Malaysia, it is almost a religion, in Singapore, it is universally loved, but throughout Asia, it is also banned from lots of places.
Durian is famous not so much for its flavor, but for its rather pungent stench. Said stench gets it banned from most forms of public transport, and indeed public places throughout Asia. I’ve written a detailed blog on the varieties of durian, as well as the differences between it and jackfruit.
Now it turns out that there are a ton of varieties of the durian fruit, and seeing as I am in Cambodia it’s only fair that I stink out my house and try the Khmer version of the fruit.
So, we started with a bit of Khmer BBQ, before the main dish was to arrive. It actually arrived with some other Khmer/Vietnamese fusion dishes, such as flat rice-cake, which you wrap in a lettuce leaf. Quite good, even if I do feel you don’t make friends with salad…..
But what about Cambodian durian?
Overall, and as you will see from the photo, it is not as juicy and succulent as a big nice Malaysian durian, but of a fair size, and a nice color.
How does Cambodian durian taste?
Again less succulent and flavorsome than other variants of this fine fruit, but in some ways, I preferred the less pungent variety both from a taste and indeed smell point of view.
And of course, the smell is a big deal when you are consuming the famously smelly fruit, and even though we did actually eat that much the house still smelt of durian, or as my esteemed colleague put it “fart”.
And that’s another point with durian, people get so uptight about the smell of the fruit, but as another colleague, General Nic Song-Dok put it, when it comes to the smell of a durian “grow up”.
Overall opinion on the Cambodian Durian, a through thumbs up for the Street Food Guy.