Duyan Untuh...

Subs topic : Durian – The King of Fruits…

Assalamualaikum and Salam Sejahtera to all…

Dear reader, may peace be upon you…

Duyan Untuh is ‘kedayan’ phrase as (Chef Nana would say it) for Durian Runtuh – meaning the fall of Durians fruits, some understand it as ‘luck just got you’.

The month of October is gone, which make this as my first post in November. Since I blog in March, last month was the least post with 3 posts and yeah I haven’t reach 100^th post yet, it seems a long way to go though but I believed the moment will come. My work related busy-ness and some other things has hold me back from posting few post which is drafted (need to be edit).  Time passed very fast and unwind, its like yesterday was 2008 but no, its now 2009 and year 2010 is coming to us, in less than 2 month? And the world is changing too, do you guys notice? I think you do, I don’t have to elaborate here though, you can get them from BBC or local papers… What crap am I saying… lol!

Anyway, lets get to my topic… Durian – ‘The king of fruit’ some saying… Yes! I love this fruit, really I do and now is the season where you can just get it from (temporary) stall on your way home, together with some other fruits like Rambutan, Langsat, Manggis, Tibadak, Tarap and many more. Some people could just pick them from their backyard because they grow the trees (lucky people, I am jealous – I would be waiting for those Durians to fall from the tree if I got them in my backyard – ‘menunggu duyan gugur tu lai…’)

 Durian sold in bundle - B$6/bundle - its hard to choose which one, tho...

I almost forgot to mention… Durian in English is, hmmm… let me see (referring to Mr. Dick a.k.a dictionary) couldn’t find it, is it ‘spiky fruit’ or ‘thorny fruit’? Well, we can just say durian then… ;)

I got this two Durians from my sister (who hated to open it but never hate to eat it) but I never eat it as I wasn’t fascinated by it because 2 numbers is never enough for my appetite – once I eat durian, will never stop until finish all and get ill few hours later, haha… and after 2 days its still on my dining table ‘untouched’ and it started to ripe and crack by itself, making it easier to open… so figured what to do with it when I am not eating it… Durian Cheese Cake (recipes at the end of this post… ;)

Durian was believed to be originated from Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is not native to Thailand but is the largest durian exporter in the World, followed by Malaysia and Indonesia. Other parts of the world that grows durian include Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, Florida, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, the Polynesian Islands, Madagascar, Southern China (Hainan Island), Northern Australia and Singapore.

Durians is seasonal fruit which will be fruiting from August to early November (in Brunei specifically) because I think in some regions it is fruiting as early as in May and ended by late September.  As now the fruiting season is going to its end, we’re going to miss durian and other seasonal local fruits but not to be worried, we can always get imported Durians in the supermarket, usually called Durian Muntong, from Thailand.

Chantaburi province in Thailand holding World Durian Festival day in May, half of Thailand’s durian production comes from here.  In the Philippines, Davao City an annually thanksgiving celebration for their bountiful harvest are hosted, called ‘Kadayawan Festival’ which features local fruits including durians.

In Brunei, you can smell durians everywhere, offices, streets, malls, supermarket and especially at the night market. Temporary stall will be open almost everywhere by locals to sell their harvested fruits and durian is the main attraction. And it is also sad to say that Durian is still imported from neighboring country mainly from Limbang, Lawas, Sandakan and Tawau but they’re still fresh…

 

A temporary stall, only open during fruiting season, found along Jalan Kg, Rimba, selling durians, cempedak, rambutan, manggis, langsat and kembayau.

Stall like this you can find on your way back home...

People having different ways of picking durians to see (feel, actually) either the fruit is good to be eaten or it is ripen too much, as mostly it is sold with shell. The stem that attach to durian’s fruit will be dried and started to fall off since it got off their trees, it is also determine how fresh is that durians, when the stems still attached means it is fresh. Some people would shake that fruits and when there is sound from inside the fruits which means the flesh are dry ripe and mature, separated from the shell but for some people they would preferred the flesh to be moist, therefore, it is good to ask your Durian’s vendor to open the durians for you, to ensure their quality (but mind that not all vendors will do this for you).

This is not so fresh durians I got (probably 2 to 3 days since picked from trees) ripe and crack, making it easier to open and made the whole house so durian’s smell…

Opening durian could be troublesome for some people, as its thorny might injured your self but for some people they would wait for those durians to ripe and crack by itself which makes it easier to open.  There is actually few ‘lines’ if you see thoroughly through durian’s skin and this lines separates each parts where durian’s fleshes are.  Use glove or clothes to prevent injury when touching durians, a not necessarily sharp ‘parang’ or cleaver may be poked into top of that line and incline your cleaver to let it open, once open you can use your hand/palm to open the rest and get the flesh.

Ripen durians is easy to open and once open you’ll have to eat them straight away and if you cant finish them, call your neighbors to join the party but don’t worry, you may chilled durians in the fridge (make sure your fridge is empty or your water would taste like durian… lol!) its still can be eaten up to 3 days.

Some people would be disgusted with Durian’s smells, I find them nasty but hilarious, they say its smells like garbage, dead rat, wet gym socks, rotten onion etcs but for me, durians has one of a kind either for its smells or the fruits itself (that’s why it get the title ‘The King’).  You can always say, if you are going to someone’s house ‘Durian’s smell’ or even in public places… ‘oh! Durians’ and craving for it instantly , then you’ll have to buy them…

In food, durians is mostly used as flavors in sweets like traditional malay kuih, bubur (my favorite), iced kacang, ice cream, cakes, biscuit and candies. ‘Tempoyak’ is made from fermented durians as accompaniment for dishes, as in Brunei we eat it together with ‘ambuyat’. I rather eat durians fresh and will be eating like I will never gonna stop. It was also stated durian’s lover would spend a lot of money to buy the fruits and gathers their family members to eat together – this is one traditional way of eating durians and keeping family together.

Durians produced heat in our body system which cause us to sweat and that is why Manggis (mangosteen) are advisable as companied when eating durians (mangosteen as cooling agents). Durians may cause indigestion too and advised not to consume wine/ alcohol or any gassy drink after eating it, this is caused by sulphur content in durians.

Truth about Durian:

-         It is known as ‘King of Fruits’ in Asian countries

-         It is banned in public places like planes, subways, hotels, mall, etcs

-         Durians has been consumes by SouthEastAsian people since pre-historic time

-         It is only known by westerners about 600 years ago

-         There are 55 different species of durians and about 190 clone species

-         There is no such things as ‘bald durian’

-         Durian trees can grow up to 50 meters and fruits once a year (in some regions fruits twice a year)

-         I love durian!

Tips: for those who never tried durian in their life and wanted to try it, my advice do not try the frozen ones, when you traveling to South East Asia, drop by in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia or Brunei to try the fresh one and I am sure, you going to love these fruits.

Durian Cheese Cake…

Ingredients:

220gm cream cheese

220gm mascarpone cheese

150gm caster sugar

150gm pao flour (Hong Kong flour)

4nos egg

200gm durian flesh

*as I was lazy to make base for its crust, I used sultanas biscuit which I arranged ar the bottom of the mould.

Methods:

Heat up oven at 180’C.

Mix both cheese in your mixer together with sugar until creamy. Add flour and let it mixed. Beat eggs in a different bowl and add in the mixture in and let it mix. Take out the bowl from machine and add durian flesh using spatula. Arrange sultanas biscuit as base and pour the batter. Bake in the oven. Halfway baking, make sure your kitchen smells like durian and wish for the cake to cook faster… lol!

  

Sultanas biscuit as crust... 

Can I have a slice?... and I was lazy to garnish it too but hey… its soo yummmyyyyy… perfect combination cheese and durian… both are creamy. This cake also has wet/moist textures which is making it perfect for high tea meals after hard works in your office.

I hope you enjoy reading and one way for first-timer to try durian, this cake is so delicious… heavenly, I ensure, after I made this cake I told my colleague the next day and we end up making some in my workplace… a definite sold out!!

P/s: I am having durian when I am posting this…

Regards,

Chef Nash

Replacement for wine...

Assalamualaikum and Salam Sejahtera to all…

Cooking with alcohol, well as a Muslim, I am well aware of limit in my food that I eat everyday or cooking, though there is always temptation of wanting to try anything that is widely available in the market and yet I still have to limit myself to do so. As my understanding, there is always alternative/replacement ingredients, one close example is: Carbonara is never a ‘halal’ food and as replacement for bacon, we use smoked beef strip (which taste almost the same I think).

This post topic is all about replacement for wine, more specific is red wine.  I dare to say that about 40 to 60% blogs that I’ve been thru are talking about alcohol in their food and for some, about 60-80% were highlighted. So, that makes me think that for a Muslims, those who read blogs are not interested to read any post that featured to non-halal food around (as for me those articles with pork featured post, I’ll straight away skip them) but with wine or anything alcoholic in the food, its still be considered just to add for knowledge.

There were period of time for me, where food is all about taste, satisfaction for your appetite and whatever you eat/taste, regardless religion, you will have to try to eat them especially foods that looks really good, oh! so good!. I know that, it is wrong but for me, you live only once and if you never try it you will never get the chance and I am glad that those periods has over except under some circumstances, I think.

Red wine is used as marinations, flavoring and finishing. As a replacement, I use red/white wine vinegar (you’ll have to be careful for their amount cause of sour taste), sparkling grape juice and stewed grape (usually home made). These are most available product in our limited market here in Brunei which I believed that in oversea there are more choices available in the market.

Maison Rose – Sparkling Grape Drink, this drink has sweet taste and far from wine taste, so, I wouldn’t recommend to be used as marinations.

As for marinations for meat or seafood, I would recommend red/white wine vinegar (I don’t have pics for this, sorry)

Spaghetti Alla Mediterranean prepared by Chef Jimmy using Rose – an improved version of his signature spaghetti

And here is his recipe…

1 tsp garlic (sliced)

1 tsp onion (diced)

3 nos asparagus (sliced)

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Black olive (crushed)

Diced tomato

Dried tomato (diced)

Spinach

Chili (sliced)

¼ cup rose

100 gm cooked spaghetti

Salt and pepper

Method:

Heat up a pan, add in evoo, saute onion and garlic to fragrance. Add in chili, asparagus, dried tomato, stir and cook to a bit brown color. Put in rose and reduced, simmer for about 5 minute, add in tomato and black olive, cook for about 2 minute.  Add in Spaghetti, spinach and seasoning. Serve hot.

Spaghetti Alla Mediterenean - I am not a Veggie dish fan but this one gets your appetite to top... and I think it would taste better if using wine... let me know...

 

Rose as a side drink, great combination right? - just like having your dish with wine...

Spaghetti with chicken in cream sauce with touch of Saffron and Rose - another dish that was prepared by Chef Jimmy

 

I have to highlight here that I still doubt non-halal-ness of wine in cooking (can anyone give me a good answer to this) that alcohol evaporated during cooking process, so, there is no more alcohol.  My big question is, no more alcohol in that so cooked food, is it still consider non-halal?...

Regards, Chef Nash