"It smells like hell and tastes like heaven," is a common description of the durian, the national fruit. This large green fruit has a hard and spiny exterior containing several soft, edible segments. Because of its pungent smell, Malaysians also like to say that eating durian is "like eating ice cream in a toilet." Despite its smell, it is by far the most loved fruit in the country, and negotiations for a single fruit can easily last ten minutes. Durians are also reputed to be phenomenal aphrodisiacs.
This small purple-brown fruit (which is unrelated to the mango) has tasty white segments inside with a tart, sweet flavor. The cooling, juicy fruit was so loved by Britain's Queen Victoria that she offered a reward to anyone who could import fresh ones to England.
Though the rambutan's hair like spines can look intimidating, they are actually quite soft, and hide an incredibly sweet and succulent white fruit. The outside of the fruit is bright red, and it grows in small bunches from a tree.
