You either love or hate durian and for me personally I love the stuff, so also it would appear do the people and tourists of Nha Trang, at least going by the shops in the city – enter Me Sau Rieng.
Yes, it is smelly, but it is also expensive enough that one might call it delicacy and in Nha Trang at least there are stores that sell almost nothing but the stinky fruit.
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What does Sau Rieng mean?
And what does Me Sau Rieng mean? Well quite literally Sau Rieng means “durian”, but it is also has an interesting ethnology. There is a Vietnamese folk etymology which states that Sau Rieng means “ones own sorrow” – sầu (“sorrow”) + riêng (“private”)
The name supposedly comes from a love story during the Tây Sơn Dynasty, where a man that somehow stayed faithful to his wife AFTER death had a distinct memory of both eating a stinky-but-delicious tu-rên that signified his love at first sight. And that is where Sau Rieng comes from. In some respects though this can also be considered a nickname, with tu-rên also being used.
What the durian at Me Sau Rieng?
One day I will write a full durian article because it is rich in flavor, as well as SEO (lol).
But, it is also a controversial fruit. Many feel that the smell is so bad eating it is not with it. Others hat the smell but lover the taste, while others still love both. I fit into the later.
If though you have not smelt this fruit, keep in mind some find it so rancid that it is banned from most public places.
So, what the Me Sau Rieng?
Basically durian only grows in centurion weather types, so is pretty damned expensive. There are though exemptions to this, with the best ever durian I have personally had coming from a fruit that had fallen from a tree and my mate just opened – stench and all…..
That was in Malaysia, quite literally ground zero for durian overs. Vietnam and need Nha Trang fits snuggle in the middle for durian lovers, with Me Say Rieng having not just durian paraphernalia and advertising, BUT also cheap durian.
By cheap I mean like $3 a “piece” which is less than it sounds. I will at some point do an article on durian economics.
And as for the ship itself? Well Me Sou Rieng also sells mangos, but that is not why people decide to come in here….
What you come here for is the huge durians that you can then weigh, pay and they cut up before you, or let you take by yourself. Avoid the later unless you have your own plane. You then get to eat durian with a glove like street food.
Alas you cannot do this on a train and even on the beach people will small and call you out, either in a “ I need durian way”, or a “you stink way”.