Hi, I am a durian farmer and I sell wholesale as well as provide Durian Farm Eating And Tour. In this article I will show you how to choose the best Musang King to buy and eat.
The ability to choose the best musang king or mao shan wang will enable you to select some of the best tasting musang king out there. It is not easy for the casual durian eater or the newbie.
Sometimes, you need to buy some durians for friends and your ability to pick a good mao shan wang will enable you to give your friends some really tasty durians
Below are some tips on how to choose the best Musang King for yourself.
1. Make Sure It Is A Musang King / Mao Shan Wang
The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that the durian is indeed a Mao Shang Wang. This is so that you are not tricked and rob of your money.
The easiest way to spot a Musang King is to look for the star at the bottom of the durian. Musang King usually have 5 stars but some may have a 6 star shape.
2. Bitter Or Sweet
The next thing you need to know is what kind of taste you want. Some Musang King are more bitter in taste while some are sweeter.
It is very hard to determine the taste by looking at the outside. But generally you want to choose the durian with more greyish green shell for a slightly more bitter experience.
I have tasted extremely bitter but superbly nice durians before. It is from a high mountain plantation and these are very very nice to eat.
However, a very good way to choose more bitter or less bitter is to ask your durian seller. Wholesalers generally do not tell you because they do not have the luxury of time to do so because they are B2B.
But local durian sellers by the roadside will have more time as they serve end users or B2C. They source durians from farms and wholesalers and will know which durians come from where. They will also know whether the durians are more bitter or sweet.
Just ask them and maybe they will tell you.
Don't ask the durian sellers if the durians are nice or not. As they have an interest to sell you the durians and make some money, they will always say it is nice. But if you tell them you want more bitter or sweeter musang king, they will be more likely to tell you the characteristics of certain musang king they sell.
3. Which Farms Does It Come From
When it comes to choosing the best musang king, this is a surefire way to get the best. This is also a trade secret. The best way to choose a musang king is always to know which farm it comes from.
That is why durian sellers will wait and hawk certain trucks from certain farms at the durian collection centre.
Musang king shells may look almost the same from the outside but the inside is always determined by:
The use and correct application of chemical fertilizers and organic fertilizers
The quality of the chemical fertilizers. Examples are Yara 12 11 18 fertilizers or Behn Meyer's fertilizers which can give very good results but they are very expensive hence the high price of musang king
The frequent use of organic fertilizers
The correct application of foliar fertilizers
The amount and quality of chemical pesticides
It is hard to know the SOP and type of fertilizers and pesticides they use unless you know the farm owner. Durian stalls will usually know which farms their durians come from.
Some people who want to send durians to Dato and Datin or royalty and people of importance will usually get their durians from farms that have a track record of excellence. Good management and good SOP will result in tasty and creamy mao shan wang with little sore throat after taste.
The only way to know which farm is good is to taste their durians once for yourself. You will also need to talk and speak with farm owners. Usually once you know one durian farm owner you will be able to network and connect with other durian farm owners.
You can also ask me to point you out to which farm owners. My contact is on the contact section of the Durian Farm Eating and Tour Book Now page.
Generally you want to choose a farm that uses a lot of organic fertilizers alongside high quality chemical and foliar fertilizers. Then you want to choose farms that do not spray high amounts of pesticides.
Farm owners who sell wholesale usually get better price for perfect durians without holes from pests. Therefore some will spray a lot and a lot of pesticide. Some once every 10 days and some every two weeks. The fruit may look good from the outside but the after taste from eating it will be a sore throat kind of feeling as a result of too much pesticide.
Occasionally you may find some farm owners who spray pesticides sparingly and stop spraying them when the durians are about to drop.
Pesticides are needed but a lesser amount of pesticide will give a better eating experience. It is also less harmful to the body in the long run.
Again how do you know which farm is good?
Ask some durian farm owners and you will soon have a list of network. This takes some detective work but once you found a good farm with good SOP, you will have a source of good durians from now on.
4. Size And Grade Of Musang King
Today there are many grade of musang king. They are:
Grade A
Grade AB
Grade B
Grade BC
Grade C
Grade CC
For the laymen a musang king is a musang king but stalls and wholesalers will grade the mao shan wang based on the shape and size of the fruit.
The laymen may think that Grade A means it is the best and taste the best. That is not the truth. Grade A means it is bigger, rounder and have more pulps. Grade A musang king must also be below 3kg otherwise it will be too big and the pulps are not so tasty.
Grade B and Grade C will have less pulps. Grade B are the ones that most people get to buy at a durian stall. It is somewhere in between and will give you enough pulps to enjoy.
Grade C will have less pulps but you can often see 5-6 pulps in the fruit. Usually the fruit will be crooked and not round. Therefore, there is less pulp in it.
Grade A will be more expensive than Grade B and Grade C. The better the grade, the more expensive they will be. The better the grade the more pulps should be expected.
But here is the paradox.
Bigger or higher grade does not mean it tastes better. In fact the smaller musang king tend to be much more tastier than the bigger ones.
Therefore a grade CC can taste better than a grade A or grade B mao shan wang. Furthermore, they are cheaper. You just need to buy a few more grade CC musang king and you can be easily satisfied.
The reason why a smaller musang king durian tastes better than a bigger musang king durian is because of the amount of nutrient that goes into the pulp. Smaller musang king durians may have 2-3 pulps. Whereas a bigger one can have more than 10 pulps.
The nutrient that goes into the smaller musang king durian is absorbed more by each pulp compared to the bigger musang king durian.
If you are buying durians as a gift for a VIP or important friend, I recommend that you get a Grade A one. It looks good. The size itself will impress them. But you might want to mix it with a number of grade CC musang king. This is because the grade CC tastes better.
By the end of the eating experience, they will remember the grade CC taste but are also impressed by the grade A size. So it is a win win experience.
If on the other hand you are just buying it for yourself and your own family, then just go for a grade CC or grade C. They are much cheaper and taste better too.
A grade C musang king pulp. Great tasting musang king pulps have wrinkles
5. Rounded Or Crooked Musang King
If you go by grade and buy the musang king, you will notice that the higher the grade the more pulp there is inside. Grade A will have more pulps than Grade C.
The more pregnant looking the fruit is, the more pulp there will be inside. Rounded ones have more pulp than the crooked ones.
Grade C and below will usually be crooked in their looks. So a balance between price and the look of the fruit will be to choose a grade B musang king.
6. Freshness Of The Musang King Fruit - Look At The Stem
Musang king are notorious for opening mouth very fast. Usually within one day, you will see them crack open. Some even crack open by the afternoon if you leave it in a hot place. This is because the durian is so easy to open.
Of all the varieties of durians, it takes the least skill to open a musang king. You can even use a car key to open a musang king.
Because of its unusual characteristics, as long as the musang king has not open mouth, they are fresh. You can also double check by looking at the stem. If you use your finger nail to scratch the stem, you will see a fresh skin underneath the stem.
The top of the stem will be white and fresh. If it is dark brown it means the fruit has drop for many days.
7. Smell And Shake The Fruit
It is a bit hard to smell a musang king durian compared to other durians. You can often smell the kampong durian when you put your nose near the middle of the fruit. The stronger the smell the better tasting the fruit.
But with the musang king durian it can be a bit hard to smell. However, if you do smell a nice durian smell from the musang king, it usually means it is going to be good tasting.
The next thing you need to do is to shake the durian. If you hear the pulp rocking inside, it is usually a dry soft creamy pulp.
Wear gloves and shake the durian. Listen for the 'krock, grock' sound.
Some people only choose durians that have a rocking pulp because the chances are higher that the musang king will taste better.
8. Eat In The Middle Of The Season
In Malaysia, there are 2 main seasons for Musang king durians. A bigger one and a smaller one. Because of the change in weather there are also multiple smaller seasons today.
What you need to do is to ask your durian seller when is the start of a season. A season can last for a month. You want to choose musang king durians that are in the middle of the season.
Early fruits and end of season fruits usually do not taste that nice. So choose to eat musang king after it has start to drop for a week. The second week fruits are usually better.
End of season fruits are not so nice because many farmers will be putting chemical fertilizers to boost and restore their trees after a heavy harvest. This in turn might make the pulp in the fruit less creamy and become harder.
The above 8 tips will help you to improve your musang king durian picking skills. With some experience, it is not so difficult to choose the best musang king durians to satisfy your taste buds and tummy.
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