How to defrost & eat whole frozen durians
To be honest, I get frustrated when people give me “feedback” about their durians not tasting great and they’re disappointed. My personal nature is to try to fix things. But in this case, I will not fix what I can’t fix.
So how about we all share and learn how to eat frozen durian?
If you’re used to eating fresh durians, please remember that it is not the same eating frozen durians. We don’t have much choice in Australia due to Biosecurity regulations to keep Durian Seed Borer worms out of our country.
Thailand is the only country so far successfully able to import FRESH Monthong pulp air flown from Bangkok into Australia.
If you have eaten a soggy pulp durian, it’s because the durian has been defrosted poorly.
I learnt from some clever customers’ experience that the dampness in the pulp is due to the way the durian is defrosted. Large size frozen durian above 2kg should be defrosted in the fridge, so the moisture is gradually removed from the husk. If it’s left at room temperature, moisture from the frozen husk will leak into the durian pulp.
Smaller sized durians defrost better at room temperature.
Length of defrosting time depends on how big/small your durian is - and how warm/cold your fridge is... So it can be anywhere between 8-24 hours 🤷🏻♀️
Apparently, Black Thorn durian pulp taste better at room temp. So defrost in the fridge, then eat at room temp. While Musang King can be either way, up to your own preference.
Of course, this tip does not take into account if you’re a fan of ice-cream textured durian pulp 😊
Please feel free to share your own tips & experience on how to eat frozen whole durian here.
So how about we all share and learn how to eat frozen durian?
If you’re used to eating fresh durians, please remember that it is not the same eating frozen durians. We don’t have much choice in Australia due to Biosecurity regulations to keep Durian Seed Borer worms out of our country.
Thailand is the only country so far successfully able to import FRESH Monthong pulp air flown from Bangkok into Australia.
If you have eaten a soggy pulp durian, it’s because the durian has been defrosted poorly.
I learnt from some clever customers’ experience that the dampness in the pulp is due to the way the durian is defrosted. Large size frozen durian above 2kg should be defrosted in the fridge, so the moisture is gradually removed from the husk. If it’s left at room temperature, moisture from the frozen husk will leak into the durian pulp.
Smaller sized durians defrost better at room temperature.
Length of defrosting time depends on how big/small your durian is - and how warm/cold your fridge is... So it can be anywhere between 8-24 hours 🤷🏻♀️
Apparently, Black Thorn durian pulp taste better at room temp. So defrost in the fridge, then eat at room temp. While Musang King can be either way, up to your own preference.
Of course, this tip does not take into account if you’re a fan of ice-cream textured durian pulp 😊
Please feel free to share your own tips & experience on how to eat frozen whole durian here.
i like your little durian story
If the frozen durian fruit or pulp thaws (partially or fully) at room temperature because it’s transported in ordinary truck and not refrigerated truck, or because it’s left on shelf in retailers premises at room temperature, then the texture will be soggy and degraded because the water crystals melt and soften the flesh. Refreezing after thawing will not fix the problem since, as described in the above comment by Evelyn, the cell structure has been destroyed by thawing.
When defrosting I suggest taking the fruit out of the husk asap and then placing the fruit onto some absorbant paper and put into fridge covered up. Every so often change the absorbant paper.
For newbies to whole frozen imported durians like myself, this was my experience with my first box from Zona.
Two things to remember when you receive an order of frozen fruit. Firstly, all fruits are best eaten at room temperature or cold (if that’s your preference) but rarely frozen-ish. Secondly, tropical fruits are best enjoyed in the environment they are grown in.
I’ve learnt from growers that tropical fruit should not be kept in the fridge if possible. If you think about it, tropical fruits don’t grow or thrive in cold weather so that tells you a lot for a start.
For my first order, I left the box of durians outside to thaw. As the weather has been pretty cold in Sydney recently, this was helpful. The next day I noticed there was drippage from condensation/defrosting.
After opening the durians, we tried some of each fruit and saved the rest (still cold) in containers – half in the fridge and half in the freezer. The saved durian kept beautifully for a long time.
The durian we packed in containers maintained cool core temperatures in the seed even when left on the kitchen counter for hours before eating. Suffice to say, the warmer the pulp the tastier the durian eventually. There was a noticeable difference between the durians we sampled on first opening and the later fruit that had properly warmed. I recommend not allowing massive temperature fluctuations in storing durians and only thaw once.
Hope this was helpful.
[Side note: As fruits largely consist of water, the freezing process means freezing the water in the fruit cells. These cells support structure and texture of the fruit we consume. When the water freezes, it expands and the ice crystals cause the cell walls to rupture. Consequently, the texture of the fruit, when thawed, will be much softer than it was when fresh. Rapid freezing is better than slower freezing as the former means smaller ice crystals. However, slower warming is better as it keeps the ‘water’ and flavour locked in longer rather than melting away.]