Durian is Hot, Mango is Not – Don't Miss The Durian Lady in Chinatown Bangkok. Durian seller, Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Durian is Hot, Mango is Not – Don’t Miss The Durian Lady in Chinatown Bangkok

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With its spiky skin and an odour so offensive that it’s often likened to smelly sports socks, the poor old durian is much-maligned by many yet for others it’s the most beloved and most heavenly fruit around.

How many other pieces of fruit provoke authorities into erecting signs forbidding their presence on transport, in shopping malls, in hotel rooms, and in, well, just about every public space, going as far as to fine durian fans guilty of permeating places with the fruit’s not-so-fragrant obnoxious scent.

Yet while the durian is as adored as it is abhorred across South East Asia – its sweet yellow flesh eaten fresh and used in desserts, snack foods, and even curries – it’s never been as popular as the mango.

The mango is most typically described as sublime, and, at the start of the mango season, is sold by the mountain-load at stalls on every street here in Bangkok. Mango and sticky rice is the street food sweet that’s most rhapsodised over by expats and visitors. But for locals, it’s the durian.

Durian is Hot, Mango is Not – The Durian Lady in Chinatown Bangkok

In a recent issue, BK magazine placed durians at the top of its ‘hot’ list, along with Saudi women drivers and crappy wine pubs, while the mango was relegated to the ‘not’ list, with Air India and Thong Lor’s themed pubs. (Fun list, that one.)

That same evening, as we did a street food stall hop through Chinatown Bangkok, we noticed not one but half a dozen busy stalls selling durians by the truckload. It was well and truly in season!

One particular business – two pick-ups parked parallel to each other on Yaowarat Road – was so busy with customers crowded around their trucks placing their durian orders, they had an operation in place to deal with the rush that was so well-drilled it resembled a factory assembly line.

From the back of one truck, a young man tested the ripeness of each durian by hitting it with a long stick. Durians continue to ripen for several days after picked, and their level of ripeness is judged by the sound.

Tested, the bloke lightly threw the fruit to his pretty colleague who stood on the road between the two vehicles. As soon as she caught the fruit, she quickly passed it onto a guy on the back of the adjoining truck.

He, in turn, stacked the durians behind the sweet-faced old durian lady who was in charge of sales.

The durian lady listened attentively to each customer’s order before testing each durian again for herself by hitting it with her own long stick and listening to the sound.

Once satisfied she had found the right durian for her customer (different people prefer different degrees of ripeness), the old woman swiftly sliced it to size, served it – with or without sticky rice – and handed it over with a proud smile.

On a road selling what is some of the city’s best street food, it is the fresh durian that is most exciting the crowds right now.

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A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

8 thoughts on “Durian is Hot, Mango is Not – Don’t Miss The Durian Lady in Chinatown Bangkok”

  1. Strangely, I actually like the smell of durian but have never developed a taste for it. I do love to run my fingers over it though, and my eyes over this post :)
    Was on a bus in Bkk once that ground to a halt with the money collector screeching, ‘Who’s got cut durian on board?!’. She rifled through passengers’ shopping bags until she found the culprit, who then had to get off the bus!

  2. Ha! That’s hilarious! Thanks, Jenny. I wouldn’t say that I like the smell of durian but I don’t find it as obnoxious as most people did. Only time I really found it offensive was in a market in Saigon where *everyone* seemed to be slicing/eating durian and the stench was unbearable. Thanks for dropping by!

  3. I once wanted to try a durian but I read something on how awful it smelled and tasted that is just turned me off. If my memory serves me correctly I thought they said you almost had to wait until it smelled its worse before trying to eat it and even then it wasn’t pleasurable. Now I’m not sure it I would try it or not.

  4. I don’t always find the smell that obnoxious. It smells worse in closed spaces which is why I think it’s prohibited in so many places. I’m not sure about it tasting better the worse it smells but I’ll investigate.

  5. We had cultural food day at work and a colleague brought in durian. The taste and texture don’t quite match the smell. If we recall correctly, it tasted a little onion-y! But like you, we don’t find the smell too offensive – some work colleagues actually was asking around if we could smell the gas leak! Oh dear!

  6. Not a big fan of durian here. I love it’s uniqueness, but not enough to enjoy the flavor.

    Mangosteens,mangoes, and dragon fruit are my three favorite SE Asian fruits.

  7. Like you, I’m a huge fan of mangoes and mangosteens, also lychees. Okay, I love all SE Asian fruit. I do like durian – jackfruit also – and will eat it but I’d probably never go out and buy it. I do like durian candies though. Have you tried those?

  8. Ha! Ha! The smell is worse the riper and older the durian is it seems. I’m not sure about an onion taste. I’ll look out for that next time I have one though. For me it’s more about the texture, a little like avocado in its creaminess. Must go look for one today and try it again and let you know.

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