• 100g ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
• 3 tablespoon tempoyak
• 2 tablespoon oil
• A pinch of salt

Sambal Tempoyak Ingredients for making sambal

• 10 bird’s eye chillis (chilli padi)
• 2 tablespoon chilli paste
• 2cm piece fresh turmeric root
• 2 stalks lemon grass, smashed
• 2 tablespoon coconut milk
• 10 pieces petai (Parkia speciosa) seeds, skin removed

Sambal Tempoyak Procedure

1. Remove heads and entrails from ikan bilis. Wash and soak for 10 minutes. Deep-fry until it becomes crisp.
2. Blend 2 tablespoon of tempoyak and coconut milk together with the sambal ingredients.
3. Heat oil in a pan and stir-fry the sambal ingredients and lemon grass until it becomes fragrant. Add the rest of tempoyak and boil gently over low heat until gravy is thickened.
4. Add salt to taste. Serve with crisp ikan bilis, petai and rice.

• 2 large durian fruit, remove flesh and discard the seeds
• 4 tablespoon salt

The salt is used as a preserving agent and thus one needs to be generous with it.

Tempoyak Procedure

1. Place the durian flesh in a clean jar. Add salt, then beat the mixture until it becomes soft and creamy.
2. Close the jar tightly and leave it to ferment for 1 week.
3. The fermented durian can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a year.

• 1kg glutinous rice
• 500ml coconut milk
• A pinch of salt
• 300gm sugar
• 1 durian
• 2 screwpine leaves (or pandan paste)

Pulut Durian Procedure

1. Steam the glutinous rice with a pinch of salt until it is cooked.
2. Combine the flesh of durian with coconut milk, sugar, salt and screwpine leaves / pandan paste, and boil them until its sauce thickens.
3. Serve it hot with the rice.

• 90g grated coconut flesh
• 1 egg
• 140g rice flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot flour
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 50g durian
• 170g palm sugar, shaved
• 250ml coconut cream
• vegetable oil
• 120ml palm sugar caramel
• passion fruit ice cream

Durian Pancake Procedure

1. Mix coconut flesh with the flours.
2. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas and durian, and then add palm sugar, egg and coconut cream and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour banana mixture into a blender and process until the mixture is smooth.
4. Mix coconut mixture and banana purée. Cover this and let it chilled in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
5. Heat a pan to medium hot. Brush the pan surface with oil and spoon on the mixture. Fry it until it is light brown color.
6. Serve it hot, with the palm sugar caramel and passion fruit ice cream.

Smell
A fallen, ripe durian announces its presence to the world by a pungent aroma that spreads for a considerable distance.
The smell is so distracting to humans that there are signs up througout South-East Asia prohibiting people from taking the fruit into hotel rooms or onto public transport.
The smell is quite effective at alerting animals in the vicinity to the presence of the durian.
There are several distinct durian aromas. The fresh durian has one smell, a ripe durian that has just cracked opens smells rather differently, and after that the stench of decomposition starts to dominate the durian’s aroma.
Durian pulp has its own smell - though this is perhaps not so penetrating and intense.
Both are rather thick, foetid, penetrating smells - that hint of moisture, decomposition, and - somehow - sex.
Durians are attractive to a great many creatures. However not all of them can get at the flesh. It can take considerable strength and intelligence to open a durian.
Being large is essential - and having hands - or a large crushing implement is helpful. The rind often resists damage even after being dropped from a substantial height.

Size
Some large durians are difficult to eat all at once - due to their large size, substantial fat content and filling nature.
Many modern durians are even more inflated in size - by selective breeding.
Large size was probably favoured by the fruit - since the larger the fruit, the longer it is likely to travel before being discarded.
Fortunately, each durian comes equipped with its own “peduncle” - a stalk that is useful for carrying it around with - assuming you have hands, of course.

Durio graveolens, also known as red-fleshed durian. The colour of its flesh ranges from orange to bright red.D. zibethinus is the only species commercially cultivated on a large scale and available outside of its native region. Since this species is open-pollinated, it shows considerable diversity in fruit colour and odour, size of flesh and seed, and tree phenology. In the species name, zibethinus refers to the Indian Civet, Viverra zibetha. There is disagreement regarding whether this name, bestowed by Linnaeus, refers to civets being so fond of the durian that the fruit was used as bait to entrap them, or to the durian smelling like the civet.Durian flowers are large and feathery with copious nectar, and give off a heavy, sour and buttery odour. These features are typical of flowers which are pollinated by certain species of bats while they eat nectar and pollen. According to a research conducted in Malaysia during 1970s, durians were pollinated almost exclusively by cave fruit bats (Eonycteris spelaea). However, a more recent research done in 1996 indicated that two species, D. grandiflorus and D. oblongus, were pollinated by spiderhunters (Nectariniidae) and that the other species, D. kutejensis, was pollinated by giant honey bees and birds as well as bats.

Durian (Durio zibethinus)
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 150 kcal   620 kJ

Carbohydrates 27.09 g
- Dietary fiber  3.8 g 
Fat 5.33 g
Protein 1.47 g
Water 65g
Vitamin C  19.7 mg 33%
Potassium  436 mg 9%

Edible parts only, raw or frozen.
Refuse: 68% (Shell and seeds)
Source: USDA Nutrient database
Percentages are relative to US
recommendations for adults.

Durian fruit contains a high amount of sugar, vitamin C, potassium, and the serotoninergic amino acid tryptophan, and is a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. It is recommended as a good source of raw fats by several raw food advocates, while others classify it as a high-glycemic or high-fat food, recommending to minimise its consumption. In Malaysia, a decoction of the leaves and roots used to be prescribed as an antipyretic. The leaf juice is applied on the head of a fever patient.The most complete description of the medicinal use of the durian as remedies for fevers is a Malay prescription, collected by Burkill and Haniff in 1930. It instructs the reader to boil the roots of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis with the roots of Durio zibethinus, Nephelium longan, Nephelium mutabile and Artocarpus integrifolia, and drink the decoction or use it as a poultice.In 1920s, Durian Fruit Products, Inc., of New York City launched a product called “Dur-India” as a health food supplement, selling at US$9 for a dozen bottles, each containing 63 tablets. The tablets allegedly contained durian and a species of the genus Allium from India and vitamin E. The company promoted the supplement saying that they provide “more concentrated healthful energy in food form than any other product the world affords”.Discover Magazine reported an incident where a woman ate a durian and ended up critically ill from potassium overdose.