Mao Shan Wang Durians Going As Cheap As $9/kg — Here’s How To Tell What Grade It Is

Durian season is here again, and thanks to a surprise bumper crop in Malaysia, prices for the prized Mao Shan Wang have dropped. Some fruit sellers, like Ho Jiak Durian in Jurong East, are offering the durians for as low as $9 per kg, while Yishun stall Famous Durian recently started giving away “small MSW” to senior citizens. It usually sells the small-sized durians at $5 each.

Photo: Ho Jiak Durian

Durian connoisseurs would know that buying the king of fruits is very tricky, as you need to discern for yourself if you are indeed getting a good deal even when paying for ‘dirt cheap’ durians. Controversially, some dishonest sellers may pass off inferior varietals as MSW. This premium varietal is usually categorised into grades, and priced accordingly (here’s how to spot a real MSW).

Reputable Ghim Moh durian stall Ah Seng Durian has shared a handy guide on how to identify MSW grades. Arm yourself with these tips when you’re shopping for durians this season:

Photo: Durian Baby

Three grades for MSW

The three main grades for MSW durians are A, C and C. This is determined by the durians’ physical appearance like shape, weight and yield. The best MSW durians are usually from Pahang, which is famous for its MSW plantations.

Grade A: The best grade of MSW, reserved only for durians that weigh at least 1kg. Its shape is typically nicely round, and has a 20 to 25 per cent yield (this means that a 2kg durian will yield around 400g to 500g of flesh). Currently, prices for Grade A MSW average at $20 to $26/kg.

Grade B: The second tier of Mao Shan Wang (which translates from Chinese as ‘cat mountain king’) is nicknamed by durian sellers as “small cats” or “B cats”, as each durian weighs less than 1kg. It has an irregular shape with a thick husk. It’s graded B also because its yield is lower than Grade A, averaging four seeds per durian. But the bounty usually has thicker flesh with more concentrated flavour due to the low yield.

While Ah Seng does not mention the price for Grade B MSW except that it’s “typically 20 to 30 per cent lower than Grade A” (it claims that it sells only Grade A MSW), durian seller Durian Baby revealed that the “small cats” are going for around $10 to $15/kg.

Grade C: According to Ah Seng, Grade C MSW are “very rarely brought into Singapore, as far as we know”. The reason is that these durians are usually in a very sorry state, “either badly infested with worms or bitten by animals in the wild”. As such it’s typically sold at, er, clearance prices (Durian Baby estimates that it goes for around $8 to $12/kg).

Read more about our undercover review and ranking of Mao Shan Wang deliveries here.

Main photo: Famous Durian/ Durian Baby