Lunchtime audition

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My friend lost her fantastic helper some time ago, and has been on the lookout for a replacement.  One of the candidates is "auditioning" today and she asked a few of us to stop by and help sample the food.  Why do people keep giving me free food?!  Sigh...

The lunch started late, and fortunately I had a late breakfast that kept me going for a while.  There was a spread of Thai dishes which was whipped up fairly quickly.  Nothing fancy today... just the basics.

There was som tam, the green papaya salad which was pretty spicy; larb moo is always good, and I happily gobbled up the ground pork.  Interestingly, the morning glory was stir-fried with ground pork; and there was chicken stir-fried with vegetables and chili.  All in all a pretty good lunch.  I think she's gonna get the job...

My hostess was kind enough to whip up some financiers in a hurry. They didn't look as gorgeous as they normally would, but the smell of the beurre noisette was absolutely incredible.  I had two of these babies...slurp!

Then we served up the "birthday cake" for the elf chick - one day early.  Some of the people in the foodie circle around me have been going gaga over durian lately.  Not sure why, but maybe because they've finally imported cultivars other than Thai Monthong (D159) into Hong Kong.  I've always found Monthong boring - there's a lot of flesh, pretty creamy but the flavors are too mild.  The elves are novices when it comes to durian, but they went out and got a whole Musang King/Kunyit (D197) in place of a birthday cake.  Everyone was pretty excited, since this was supposed to be one of the best cultivars and wasn't cheap.

I grabbed the cleaver, sections of today's South China Morning Post and went about cracking this baby open.  It's been a few years since my last durian opening, but I managed to do it without hurting myself.  The elf chick was kind enough to finish the job for me.

Honestly, there was no "wow factor" here.  Did it taste better than Monthong?  Yes.  But I still found the flavors too mild and sweet.  What I love about durians from Malaysia and Singapore is the concentrated flavors (beyond just the sweetness) and the slightly bitter aftertaste.  They simply weren't here in this one.  Oh well...