Sheer
dumb luck led us to our most exciting durian experience so far.
Unbeknownst to us, Tina Chong was already famous in the durian world. A
one-woman powerhouse in what is generally a man’s business, Tina is
partially responsible for the Musang King’s fame and title. More
impressively, she’s a former Guinness Beauty Queen and goes about her
business in platform shoes, jean shorts, and a newspaper boy hat jammed
over her high ponytail. We had no idea just what we were in for; when we
asked to visit her orchard she invited us to spend the night at her
durian orchard.
The Musang King was
registered in 1993 in Tanah Merah, a district in the far north of
Malaysia near Kota Bahru. At the time, it was given the code name D197
and the local name
Raja Kunyit (Turmeric King), referring to the
durian’s bright yellow flesh. Raja Kunyit was already a popular
variety, and in the early 1990’s when Tina was planting her durian
orchard, it was the variety she favored.
Local legend has it that the reason
Raja Kunyit does so well in
Tina’s orchard is that the original Musang King tree was discovered only
a few miles away, in what is now an palm oil plantation called Chinteck
Estate. A very long time ago, someone took a cutting from the tree to
Tanah Merah, where it was widely cultivated and finally registered with
the government in 1993, under the code name D197. Tina is responsible
for bringing the Musang King back home. Unfortunately, the original tree
was cut down to make way for oil palm, so no one will ever get to taste
the original Musang King.
Musang
King is currently regarded as the best durian in Malaysia. It received
its name from the Chinese-Malaysians, who in my experience, operate the
majority of durian farms. They told me that in Chinese culture, the
highest quality, most sought-after premium version of anything is called
the king. As Musang King became established as Malaysia’s best durian,
it was colloquially known as the king durian
from Gua Musang, or the Musang King. The durian received its name from
its birth place, not because it’s the favorite durian of the
musang animal. Yet there is an indirect connection. Gua Musang
translates as “Musang’s Cave,” referring to a local legend about a large
cave that may be haunted by a pack of ghostly civet cats.
Tina
told us she started her durian orchard because she loves durian. When
she was a child, she got in trouble for stealing durian and decided that
when she grew up she would own a lot of durian trees. She worked as a
hair stylist in Singapore and Johor Bahru until she saved enough to buy
her 18 acres of virgin rainforest an hour outside of Gua Musang. There
she has planted around 700 trees, 400 of which are currently old enough
to bear fruit. Eighty percent are Musang King. The rest are a mix of D24
and old kampung durian trees that she is slowly converting to her
favorite variety by grafting.
Tina’s
boyfriend accompanied us to the orchard to help translate. For some
reason he declined to share his name with us, suggesting that in the
book I could just call him Mr. Anonymous. I teasingly shortened the name
to Mr. A. I thought it was really strange that he wouldn’t tell us his
name, but he was really nice. We appreciated his immaculate English,
which he acquired attending university in Nebraska. He and Tina met at
her durian stall. “She is really quite impressive,” he admitted to me.
“She is a very hard worker.”
Tina’s farm is a forty minute drive up and down a winding, rattling,
unpaved road leading into the mountains. I had never been on a road so
rough and was very impressed by her driving skills. She makes the drive
four times a day, ferrying durians out of the orchard in the back of her
truck. As the truck crawled over ponderous rocks and waded through
mountain streams, I imagined the catastrophe this road would be in my
little Toyota Corolla back home. I finally understand the purpose of
four-wheel drive.
While Tina cooked dinner, we enjoyed the beauty
and serenity of the orchard. Already the durians were beginning to drop
and we heard the distinct thunks and thuds through the quiet hum of
evening insects, and the louder hum of the generator. When it was
thoroughly dark and we had finished eating, Tina led us on a night-time
tour of the orchard. I was secretly hoping to see the Musang animal, but
we didn’t. Instead we enjoyed the company of Tina’s entourage of dogs,
who follow her everywhere.
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It
was a thrill to collect the durians in the dark while the night settled
in around us. Tina used a strong headlamp to sweep the ground under the
trees, searching for the gleam of a freshly fallen durian. We sat at a
picnic table while Tina cracked the durians open with an expert flick of
her machete, oohing and aahing at the revelation of each golden pod.
She cooed with delight when she found a particularly good one, insisting
that we try. The gooey flesh was enveloped in a thin skin that allowed
it to separate neatly from the seed, giving a slight resistance when bit
so that the soft innards gushed out in a perfect yellow cream. The
flavors ranged from sweet with a surprising metallic tang to the
mouth-numbing tingle that we first experienced at Bao Sheng’s. I’ve
never had more perfect durian than those I ate under the black ceiling
of sky with the Queen of Musang King. It was like a dream.
Tina’s
lucky dogs eat Musang King on a regular basis, wolfing down the seeds as
well. She generously shared several pieces with them, demonstrating
their preference for Musang King by offering them two varieties at once.
Even more hilarious was the dog’s reaction to the fruit that had fallen
from her one Thai durian tree. Not only did the dogs choose Musang King
over the Thai durian every time, they refused to eat it when it was the
only fruit offered. Not satisfied with this display, Tina placed the
Thai durian on one dog’s tongue, closing its muzzle around it. The dog
spat the seed out and sniffed it apprehensively while we just about died
of laughter.
The next morning started early. Every day Tina rises at 4:30 AM to begin
collecting the durians that have fallen during the night. She and her
two hired help ride motorcycles up and down the shadowy orchard’s hilly
terrain, searching the cleared ground with flashlights. Nets are emptied
and the fruits at the top of the trees that have been tied to the
branches with plastic twine are lowered to the ground using a clever
pully-system.
It was still dark while she used a bristle brush to
clean the durians of leaves and debris and sorted them into piles by
variety. Rob and I took a turn brushing the durians, although we were so
slow at the task I don’t know if we were much help. I certainly wasn’t.
I was too focused on trying to get a few good pictures. I don’t have
much experience taking shots in the dark, and had to fumble and
experiment with my flash. Tina was a really good sport and let me take
about a million shots of her brushing, sorting, and packing the durians.
The sky was just beginning to lighten when her brother showed up to help
her sort and pack the A-Grade Musang King’s for shipment to Singapore.
Then she rushed indoors to take a quick shower and put on her make-up
before making the 2-hour drive to Raub, where she sells her durians to
various wholesalers. Rob and I wanted to see the distribution process
and had asked beforehand if we could come along in the truck. This would
be our first peek at how the durians get from the farm to the cities.
On
an average day Tina sells around 1,000 kilos of durian. That morning we
collected only 300 kilos. She looked slightly disappointed as she
surveyed the night’s catch. We went to Raub with the durians piled high
in the back of only one truck, instead of the usual two. I got a kick
out of the way the durian thorns screeched and squeaked on the window
just behind my head as the truck bounced down the mountain. I’ll cover
the distribution in a future post, where Rob and I trace the
durians sold at 818 Durian Stall in Singapore back to the supplier in
Raub. Raub turned out to be a treasure trove of durian information!
Around
11 AM, we waved goodbye to the durians, now on their way to Singapore.
We were sad at the thought that it was also time to say goodbye to Tina
and Mr. A. But Tina had more surprises
up her sleeve. Our sleepover and morning outing with her turned out to
be just the beginning of a long and very interesting day in Raub.
Thank you Tina!
