Tan also warned that online scams are more prevalent because hardly anything might be known about the seller. To protect oneself, one can look for sellers with a high volume of reviews.
When buying durians in person, one can keep the five S’s in mind:
First, choose a durian in the 1.7 to 2.2 kg range, as larger-sized ones tend to be overripe. Next, perform the stem test: A green stem means freshness. Then, look for signs of spoilage, such as a deep horizontal crack.
Afterwards, shake the durian gently to assess its sound. A loud knocking suggests the flesh is overripe, a gentler sound indicates ripeness and no sound at all signals that it is unripe.
Finally, use your sense of smell. A ripe durian will have a strong — some say pleasant — aroma; an unripe one will have little to no smell.
To save some money and avoid the hype, take a page from Yeo’s updated durian playbook: Go for Mao Shan Wang, and embrace the natural variance in each fruit.
Watch this episode of Talking Point here. The programme airs on Channel 5 every Thursday at 9:30 p.m.
