You stumple upon a night market in KK specialising in Durians, and one stand had boring-looking green fruits without label, only price displayed (20 Ringgit per kilo). „Duku“ they said. How does it taste? Shrugs. How do you eat it? The man made a peeling gesture, but did not open one. So I bought half a kilo.
The first I peeled behaved like a Lychee, but then my fingers turned a bit gummy. I went on and the Duku revelaed a shiny shimmering inside, quite similar to a lichi, but with irregular segments, bigger or smaller, with the bigger ones with a kernel. I chewed on a big one, and … hm … reminding of grapefruit, Lychee and green apple. For now. The big kernel inside tasted slightly bitter, so I spat it out (and “behaved” similar to a Rambutan – with some pulp sticking at the kernel). The smaller segments may contain a baby-kernel, and if you chew it it really tastes like the skin of grapefruits. So within one fruit, a variety of tastes – very cool!
Besides the fruit and tree may have further benefits, as I learned when searching the internet: Kernels against worms, bark against malaria … Good tree! Alas, never found in Germany.
After peeling (and eating) 4 or 5, my fingers were quite gluey, and when I tried to wash them, even with soap, it did not go away at first. Very strange. The finger tips felt like rubber coated. After half an hour it went away though. For the rest I used a knife to cut a small slit, and then with the rest of the fruits, it went much better. Heureka.
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