‘I love it. It tastes like onion and garlic and avocado and pineapple, kind of like, in a custard.’
– American actress Jessica Chastain describing the taste of durian to American TV host Jimmy Kimmel.
I love nasi lemak, the Malay dish that consists of fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves. But the sambal, hot condiment, should not be too spicy.
I also love durian, the large spiky, greenish-brown fruit nicknamed the ‘king of fruits’ in Malaysia. But I try not to overeat the heaty fruit.
So far, I have never eaten nasi lemak and durian together simply because I do not have the opportunity of doing so. However, one day, if I have the chance to do so, I don’t mind eating my nasi lemak with a helping or two of durian.
Recently, a Malaysian restaurant in Kuala Lumpur served its nasi lemak wih the durian and apparently, this food pairing attracted a flood of online reactions.
According to a report in The Straits Times, several food blogs showed the diners at the restaurant topping off their nasi lemak orders with a helping or two of durian from a nearby stall.
The diners could even take their pick from several varieties of durian, including the black thorn, tekka, XO or musang king.
The newspaper went on to report that in one Tik Tok video, a diner could be seen slathering sambal atop some durian flesh but the clip stopped short of showing if anyone gobbled up the bizarre mouthful.
It said one user of the video-sharing platform writing in the comments section remarked, “Would it be worth to be in the toilet throughout the day?”
Another wrote: “This is not even fusion, just confusion.”
Now, I wonder if it is that unusual to eat nasi lemak with durian. No, I think it’s not, at least for many of us who have enjoyed a meal of rice with fresh durian or even tempoyak (fermented durian).
In fact, I will not be surprised if many Malaysian households in the state are already enjoying fresh durian with their nasi lemak.
My friends, if you have not eaten nasi lemak with durian, perhaps you can try doing so now if it’s currently the durian season in your hometown.
All you have to do is buy some nasi lemak from a restaurant or stall and buy a durian from a stall. Then you can enjoy them at home and decide once and for all whether they are good to eat together.
Local durians are now on sale in certain parts of Kuching. When I visited the MBKS (Kuching South City Council) Stutong Community Market recently, I saw some durians but nobody was buying them. Was it because there were no price tags on them?
I did not ask how much the durians cost because I did not plan to buy any. Anyway, recently, I bought two small durians for RM8 each at a local vegetable market while my sister gave me one.
At the Stutong market that day, tempoyak was also on sale and so I bought a small container from a Bidayuh trader for RM5.
Later that day, I fried the tempoyak with ikan pusu (dried anchovies), chillies and some sugar and ate it with plain rice.
I learnt from the Bidayuh trader that her family was making a lot of tempoyak because it was the durian season in her village. Her family was also eating a lot of tempoyak simply because it was the durian season.
One of my sister’s friend recently drove up to Serian with her family just to buy lots of durians for making tempoyak. She spent about RM250 on about 50 durians.
My sister told me that the woman’s children, who were back from Kuala Lumpur, were looking forward to going home with their mother’s tempoyak. I guess when you are far away from home, sweet home, there’s nothing like your mother’s cooking to remind you of it.
For the adventurous, do you know that you can use sugar instead of salt to preserve your durian?
That’s how the Chinese in Penang make their famous durian cakes. Long ago, I visited an expatriate who married an Iban man in Kuching during the Gawai Dayak Festival and was served cream crackers with sweet tempoyak. That, to me, was interesting.
Once, I visited a Bidayuh longhouse and saw jars and jars of tempoyak in one of the houses. That, I thought, was a good way of not wasting Nature’s bountiful harvests. Apparently, the durian season that year was exceptionally good for the longhouse.
My friends, if you are a good baker, how about making durian doughnuts, durian fritters, durian cakes or even ‘pengat durian’ (creamy and sweet durian dessert) for your family and friends this durian season? Remember we make memories by sharing food and food is better when shared.
