It's durian season again! For newbies, wandering into a stall to buy the king of fruit can be a daunting task. Which durian variety to choose? Is that really a Mao Shan Wang durian? What to look out for when the seller opens the durian for inspection?
Almost all connoisseurs we ask say it is important to go to a reputable seller, and to keep going back if the durians are good. Housewife Shelia Lim, a self-confessed durian enthusiast, says: “Customer loyalty counts for a lot. The seller will keep the good durians for you, so you know you’re paying for quality fruit.” She usually goes to Combat Durian on Balestier Road. Businessman David Lim says: “I have been going to the same shop in Balestier Road for 15 years and have never once been disappointed.”
Here are six expert durian-buying tips to help you choose the best of the best:
Experts never smell the base of the durian. Goh Kwee Leng, owner of Durian Mpire by 717 Trading, says: “The base of the husk is the thickest part, so it is harder to smell the aroma of the fruit.”
Instead, sniff along the seams or split lines of the durian – you should smell a slight fragrance. If there is no aroma, the durian is unripe. If the aroma is too strong, the durian is probably over-ripe.
The best durians are oval or slightly oblong in shape. Odd-shaped fruit are likely to have fewer chambers inside and, so, fewer flesh-covered seeds.
A perfectly round durian may have sub-standard fruit because it is usually less aromatic and the seeds are usually bigger and the meat less fleshy and creamy.
Check — and scratch — the stem of the durian. It should reveal a green interior, which indicates it was harvested in the last 24 hours. If it’s shrivelled or dark brown, it was likely harvested much earlier (and has been sitting around in the stall).
Also, watch out for worm holes and cracks. Durian worms create small but noticeable holes in the shell, and sometimes, you might see debris from the digested durian seed (their waste) around the opening.
Apart from being an indication of being overly ripe, a cracked shell can also expose the flesh to external contamination.
Different varieties of durians come in different sizes. For example, XO durians are generally smaller, while there are no small Red Prawn durians — these are generally large fruit. So be suspicious if a seller points to a large XO durian or a small Red Prawn one.
When it comes to durian, especially Mao Shan Wang durian, bigger isn’t necessarily better, says Kelvin Tan, the founder of 99 Old Trees. “The ideal weight for Mao Shang Wang durian, in my experience, is between 1.7kg to 2.3kg.”
Some sellers try to push durians that have been rejected by other customers. Watch the vendors to ensure that they are opening a new durian.
If you are tasting the durian beforehand, also keep an eye on your fruit to make sure it hasn't been swapped during the packing process — you don't want to reach home and realise it's not what you paid for.
Instead of prodding the flesh-covered seeds when the seller presents an open fruit, customers should taste the durian. If it is bad, or not the variety promised, they are not obliged to buy it, sellers say.
When you pinch or press the fruit, you’re only feeling the skin — not the flesh — so it doesn’t actually tell you much about its quality. Instead, taste it. That’s the only reliable way to know if the durian is truly good.
To make sure a seller isn’t passing off a lesser durian as a Mao Shan Wang, look for prominent seams radiating from the base of the durian. The seams are lines where the spikes of the durian run parallel to each other. The base of a real D24 durian has a flat, round spot about half the size of a five-cent coin.
Text: The Straits Times / Additional reporting: Natalya Molok and Michelle Lee
This post was last published here on May 27, 2023, and updated on July 24, 2025.