Korean TV Show Tried Durian For The First Time; Ate The Skin & Said It Tasted Like Pineapple

If you are in possession of a mouth, you probably like durian. For many Singaporeans, a durian was their first love.

I remember the first time I laid eyes on the King of fruits. It looked incredibly creamy and my mouth was like come, come to Papa. 

Then, I got a whiff of it and nearly died. It smelled like a rat who farted on some cheese.

But then, many years later, I tried it again and actually died. The sweet mellowy flesh melted in my mouth and I melted along with it.

Describing its taste is no easy feat though. It’s a combination of sweet and savoury flavours with a sulfuric smell.

A little like pineapple, some would say.

And by some I mean one Korean man on a TV show.

Law of the Jungle 

For those who don’t know (including me before I did research), Law of the Jungle is a South Korean reality show where celebrities are sent to remote locations to test their survival skills.

This includes eating durian, I guess.

In one episode, several contestants tried durian for the first time in a jungle. And thanks to Twitter user @Tumblrshopmy, you can see their reactions.

Firstly, you would’ve noticed that they have absolutely desecrated the fruit, dissecting it like a medieval executioner.

They cut the durian in half, cutting through the seeds in the process.

The right way to do it would be to cut the durian open along the sides so you don’t slice open the seeds like this expert durian slicer demonstrates here.

But, hey, they’re doing it for the first time, so I understand.

Tastes like pineapple

All the contestants liked the durian, commenting on how tasty it is.

One man found it particularly tasty and compared it to a… pineapple.

Image: Giphy

Yes, I don’t get it either.

Durian tastes like pineapple in the same way chocolate tastes like vanilla. They’re two completely different things.

Surprisingly though, none of them was fazed by the smell.

Image: Twitter (@Tumblrshopmy)

Ate the skin

In a separate video posted by @_nuruliffahh on Twitter, the same contestants tried the fruit again in a different part of the jungle.

They also ate the fruit in a rather different way; they didn’t actually eat the fruit.

If you look closely, you’ll see that they’re eating the white skin, not the actual flesh of the fruit.
This part:
Image: duriandelivery.com.sg

Which may explain why one of the contestants said it tasted like chestnut.

They all said it’s really delicious though, so I’m not sure if they’re the idiots for trying it or I am for not.

Either way, let’s not condemn these poor souls; they know not what they do. 

Durians aren’t as common or cheap in South Korea as it is in Singapore. Plus, we usually buy our durians without the prickly green husk, so we can’t really lecture them on durian preparation techniques.

One thing’s for sure, though. It does not taste like pineapple.