Durian is not available all year around. Hence, many people buy durian more than they can eat in one go and they thought they can just freeze the unfinished durian for the next day. But, some people doubt whether durian can be frozen.
Apparently, durian indeed can be frozen. In fact, most imported durians are frozen. Durian can be either frozen as a whole (before cut open) or getting the fruit extracted and place in a sealed container and frozen. However, frozen durian generally taste less strongly.
Durian is a fruit that goes bad relatively quickly. So, freezing the durian is not a bad idea. However, there are a few things to know when freezing durian.
How to Store Durian in the Freezer?
There are two ways durian can be sold; a) as a whole and b) just the fruit inside.
If you bought the durian as a whole, you need to extract the fruit within and place them in properly in a sealed container before putting it in the freezer.
The reason why you need a sealed container is because the smell of the durian fruit is strong. Hence, it may affect the smell of other foods in the freezer. Furthermore, you don’t want the smell of other foods to go inside the durian either.
But, if you bought just the durian fruit (extracted out), it may either come fresh or frozen. If the durian fruit is fresh, you can just put it in the freezer. Usually, the seller will give you a well sealed container. Otherwise, use your own sealed container.
On the other hand, if the durian fruit you bought is already frozen, it is not recommended to thaw and refreeze the durian because the fruit may become mushy.
Nevertheless, thawing and refreezing the durian fruit won’t cause the durian to go bad but it’ll affect the texture and overall taste. However, my mom doesn’t feel there is a difference in taste.
All and all, try not to thaw the frozen durian completely. If you don’t think you can finish a box of durian, put those you can’t finish in the freezer before they are thawed.
Does Frozen Durian Taste Good?
I used to not like frozen durian because I assumed the taste is not good. Oddly, I like warm durian, especially when I drive them in the back of my car on hot days. When I arrive home, they are warm and aromatic.
However, I recently tried frozen durian and it blows my mind. It is tastier than I thought!
Frozen durian taste less strongly than fresh durian (room temperature). In addition, they don’t smell that strong. But, they taste like durian ice-cream!
Frozen durian is quite different from fresh durian. Normally, you would expect frozen durian to taste like ice cubes or something. But, it surprisingly taste like ice-blended durian. The durian fruit is not hard rock but feels more like sandy (if you know what I mean).
Look at the texture of the durian and my teeth mark in the above photo.
When you first took out the frozen durian, it taste like ice-blended durian, a bit sandy but not creamy. But, if you let the frozen durian sit for a while, it becomes cold and creamy.
It’s hard to describe the taste of frozen durian. So, try to taste it for yourself.
How to Defrost a Durian?
There is no specific rule to follow when defrosting a durian. In fact, people don’t really “defrost” durian. Rather, they try to eat it as soon as they took it out from the freezer so that the durian is cold and taste like ice-cream.
But, if you have frozen durian as a whole, you may want to dry out the surface of the durian before you cut it open so that you won’t slip the knife and hurt yourself.
How Long Can You Keep Durian in Fridge?
Generally, frozen durian lasts about 2-3 months depending on the temperature of the freezer. Needless to say, the colder it gets, the longer it last. But, people usually don’t keep durian in the freezer for that long because they’ll finish it up the next day or so.
Is Frozen Durian Good?
Freezing durian is a good way to preserve the quality of the durian fruit. Normally, farmers freeze the durian as soon as the durian land on the ground. They quickly took it to the freezer and freeze it at a temperature below -40°C (-40°F).
After that, they switch to a fridge that freezes the durian at about -18°C (0°F) for long-term storage.
To export high-quality durian, rapid freezing technology must be deployed as durian fruits generally go bad relatively quickly. An opened durian can go bad within 3 days.
Some people don’t like frozen durian because it tastes less strong. However, there are also some people like eating frozen durian because of the ice-cream taste including myself now.
Frozen durian does not taste like it is mixed with water. In fact, for people who are worried about being unable to accept the strong taste of durian, frozen durian is a good way to start your durian eating journey.
Conclusion
Durian can be frozen. Frozen durian generally smell and taste less strongly than fresh durian. However, frozen durian taste like durian ice-cream which many people find very appealing. For people who are worried about being unable to accept the strong taste of durian, frozen durian is a good way to start.