Cooked durian? Chinese netizens share unconventional durian recipes - TODAY
CHINA — A trending post on Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo prompted online users to share various odd and slightly dubious ways of eating durian.Methods of steaming and even eating the tropical fruit with instant noodles were suggested, courting controversy among Chinese online users.
The post in question, which was published on Monday (May 22), featured a photo of steamed durian with a sprinkle of chopped spring onions on top.
Dubbed as the "Guangdong method" of steamed durian, the post riled up Weibo users who found the recipe questionable, refuting claims that it originated from the Guangdong province in China.
The post went viral with more than 38,000 likes, even becoming the top two most-searched topics on Weibo on Monday.
One online user exclaimed: “Which family eats durian like a vegetable dish?”
Guangdong residents also rejected the dish in solidarity.
One said: “The photo is made up, am I right? Our Guangdong doesn’t have such a strong-flavoured cooking method.”
Another said: “I don’t recognise this, the people around me don’t eat like that, don’t speak nonsense.”
The Weibo user who put up the post then continued in the comments by asking: “What other dark cuisines do you know? Do share it here.”
"Dark cuisine" is Chinese internet slang for weird food combinations that taste terrible.
Someone posted a picture of instant noodles paired with durian in response, commenting cheekily: “Discuss this picture.”
Although most Cantonese in the discussion rejected the method, one wrote that they have a similar recipe to share: “Scrape the durian flesh off, mash it and lay it flat on a plate. Add some salt and steam it for 3.5 minutes.
“The salt will bring out the sweetness (of the durian), I’m serious.”
In a separate post under the trending hashtag, one user listed — possibly satirically — “unique” ways to eat a durian, which included: “Wuchang steamed durian, Wenzhou steamed durian with pigeon eggs, Cantonese-style chicken durian stew and air-fried durian.”
A video compilation demonstrated each recipe, which featured steamed durian with chilli, spring onion and soy sauce, mashed durian topped with pigeon eggs, durian chicken stew and air-fried durian.
Is steamed durian a recipe? A Cantonese online talk show called Cantonese Know One Two tried it in an episode released in 2019.
“It tastes like lotus paste… quite tasty” the host commented, while her partner winced in mock disgust.
The show also tried microwaving durians, freezing durians and making durian smoothies.
Demand for the fruit in China has spiked in recent years, as the country opens up its market to more countries for fresh durians.
China imported more than 824,000 tonnes of fresh durians last year, almost four times more in volume compared to 2017. Fresh durians imported in 2022 were worth more than US$4 billion (S$5.3 billion), data from China Customs showed.
The economic superpower has approved the imports of fresh durians from countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, with more Southeast Asian countries expected to join the list as a source of durian import.
Would you try any of the durian recipes mentioned?
