The D24 Durian used to be the most popular and in-demand durian before the advent of D175/Red Prawn/Ang Heh and later D197/Musang King/Raja Kunyit. It’s still the favorite of many people, but has lost some of its star appeal since it’s so common now (and I predict the same would happen to Musang King in the future – a glut).
However, it’s still a very good and well-rounded durian – bitter to bittersweet, fleshy and creamy and strong smelling. There are various “subtypes” of the D24 durian – regular D24, Super D24, and XO, in increasing price.
Highland D24 is another subtype (although I don’t know what differentiates it from Super D24) coming from a higher altitude and older trees.
I’ve eaten a lot of D24 durians this season, primarily coz my better half likes it. They’re from various sources, old trees (Super D24/Highland D24) to ones of unknown provenance like this uncle selling D24 durians from the boot of his car.
I found his stall while driving and he’s selling them for RM 10/kg and says it’s from his own orchard.
I selected one myself from his basket and chose the one with the most D24 characteristics:
This one is green with a flat round spot in the bottom of the fruit…
…and has a classic crown with spikes growing over the short stem.
It turns out to be quite good but he has never revealed where his orchard was. It’s also a steal at RM 10/kg for this sort of quality.
I’ve also gone for the “RM 20 for 3” deals which is a mixture of smaller fruits of D24 Sultan, Highland D24 and Super D24.
There’s also a couple of Durian Jantung fruits in here, which I suspect is a type of D24. I could be totally wrong on this account though, since the seeds in a Durian Jantung is small and vestigial, totally unlike any other D24 variants.
It is interesting though, to see the progression in tastes and preference – back in the days, D24 durians was the popular choice, and although it has been eclipsed by other durians now, it’s still a good choice if you want a classic and delicious durian with no frills.
argh! a torture to see this durian post on a Monday morning. I WANT durians! Where oh D24 3 for RM20. SS2? So cheap. Been searching for durian at my area. Sadly due to Raya, many not open. Those open punya the durian atso “open” at the bottom. Didn’t feel like buying.
There’s a “3 for RM 20” deal at SS6. 🙂
However that was earlier in the season when it was more plentiful. No more such cheap deals now – it’s getting more expensive since the end of the season is coming. Your area quite near my area, if you go in front of Neighbourhood Food Court in Sunway Giza, there’s a guy there at 2 pm onwards, good durians.
I saw them selling at a stall by the roadside yesterday en route to Selangau. The season is just starting here, it seems. There is dabai too, making its appearance as well – RM40 a kilo. No, thank you!
Yeah, it’s starting in Sarawak now! 🙂
I had a friend to brought back Musang King, she actually flew back the Musang King durians to Sibu via cargo plane and sold it at her (well, her dad’s) supermarket. Amazing, I would have bought if I were in Sibu, but due to the costs of flying it in it was sold at around RM 50/kg.
So many names!!
Yeah, they’re all names for the subspecies. 🙂
A lot of sellers would tell you XO is a different durian, it’s not, it’s a *grading* of D24 that came from a tree that might be older but might not, however, due to the conditions (temperature, water, elevation etc) it turned out slightly wetter and bitter than a regular D24.
i swear in a blind tasting, i probably wouldn’t be able to pick out all the different types of durian, though i know i like musang king better than d24. but gosh, with all the different sub-types of d24, it sounds quite complicated. i’d love to see a durian sifu at work, sniffing out various durians and explaining what makes each one unique 🙂
Yeah, but for the most part, those are gradings. 🙂
It’s marketing names to a certain degree, D24 is known as Sultan in Singapore, and of course the better quality ones would be sold as “Super D24” and the ones from highlands as “Highland D24” and the ones which turned out wetter and bitter as “XO” (which is a grading of D24).
Wow! So many durian names that are new to me. I would love to try them all to make comparisons….. esp the Sultan and Highland D24
I agree that there would be durian gluts in future as the Musang King is throwing prices nowadays at Taman Tun. They sellers target the folks here who would always buy in big numbers to clear stock.
Yeah, but now it’s the end of the season and prices are getting higher again. 🙂
I found out that Malay or Indonesian owned stalls typically sell durians for a higher price, including Musang King, while their stock isn’t as good as the average Chinese seller. I don’t know why this is so, but it’s the scene in KL. All the roadside Malay stalls I’ve been to (including the better ones) are overpriced and overrated.
hahaha… I just had Sultan yesterday and didn’t know its D24. There’s lots of flesh and small seeds and very sweet!
Yeah, D24 is more commonly known as Sultan in Singapore. 🙂
Actually XO is a grading of D24, arguably it’s not a subtype but rather a tree that produced a wetter and bitter flesh fruit so it’s “classified” as XO. Yup, small seeds usually (not always though) meant that it was tended well.
that’s really cheap! looks realy good too! bet they are tasty
The best time for durians is always during peak season. 🙂
You have the best durians for the best price.
Eh, so many names la.. You don’t get heaty or tummy discomforts after durians? I only had 2 types during this durian season – D24 (I only know D24, don’t care about the “levels” of D24, haha) and Musang King.. That’s all.. After taking about 8-9 biji, tummy discomforts came.. Sigh..
Nope, I never get sick from eating durians. 🙂
Probably coz I don’t believe in the concept of Chinese TCM – not in the heaty or cold foods thing so I don’t get affected. I think it’s a reverse placebo effect, people who believe in it gets affected, while people who are raised not to believe in things unless it can be scientifically proven (like me) don’t get affected coz inside our hearts (and minds) we know it’s not true.
Oh, no, I don’t want to be tempted by the durians (when I can’t find the fresh ones here)… and it’ll be another six months or a year before I can sink my face in Musang or D24 again.
Wait, did you have any like heaty feeling after eating so much durian?
I would even eat a frozen durian over nothing! 🙂
Come to think of it, I just had a Monthong durian the other day. It was HUGE – 5.4 kg, the size of a couple of rugby balls and it took me 24 hours (2 days) to finish it. I had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Haha. No, I don’t believe in the concept of heaty foods so I’ve never gotten any ill effects from durians.
After reading this, I want to eat durians again.
You can still eat it now! 🙂
It’s still in season, although the quality isn’t so good anymore. I got 2 measly and small D101 durians for quite an expensive price, it was wet and not very good, but I wanted to eat it anyway coz I was craving for it. Strange thing is, I don’t usually like fruits but I don’t consider durian a fruit.