While there are no durian farms in modern Singapore, there used to be durians before she became a metropolis. Even today, the shades of that history can be observed in Pulau Ubin where there are wild durians.

Even recently, the fruiting of durians trees in the mainland town of Lorong Lew Lian went viral.

But in terms of commercial durians. Those that consumers can regularly buy, not many varieties from Malaysia and Thailand make it to the city state.

If we look at the big picture, the retail market for durians is essentially less than 20 varieties. Of course if we want to count the odd ones where only 1 or 2 stores have it for a week or so, the numbers will rise considerably. But 1 or 2 stores just make up a small footprint in the market as a whole. For common or popular durians that Singapore consumers can regularly see, there are really just a few cultivars.

These are the most common ones that can be found at durian stores.

1) Musang King (D197)

Musang king, or mao shan wang (MSW), is undoubtedly the big daddy of them all. Sometimes. Also labelled raja kunyit which is it’s official name. There is simply no durian store in Singapore that will not carry this durian.

In fact, so dominant is MSW in this the SG market and makes up such a huge percentage of revenue of any store, that it’s probably not wrong to say that any store will close down if they don’t sell musang king.

There are SG durian lovers who live on a MSW diet during durian season. Refusing to even acknowledge the availability of other durians. It tells you that MSW is not just a fruit, it is also an infatuation.

2) Black Thorn (D200)

With how farmlands in Malaysia have rushed to plant black thorn creating a huge supply, it’s no surprise to find a lot of that inventory making it’s way across the causeway into SG.

Even before the world event of 2020, black thorn was actually quite rare in SG. But it has now moved onto the shelves of local sellers in huge volumes like musang king.

Almost every durian store will have it when it is in season.

3) D24

Whether you call it D24, XO, DXO or DX24O, this durian is also a mainstay in the SG market simply because everybody already knows the name. There is no need to do any marketing to promote it to consumers.

The hard work of making it a household name was already done decades ago. Old-timers can also be fiercely loyal to this durian. So a large amount of old tree D24s are imported from Johor, Pahang, Perak, etc, to cater to the SG demand.

4) Red Prawn (D175)

There needs to be a distinction between red prawn from Penang which is D175 and red prawn from Johor which can refer to a number of different durians which will be explained later.

Here we are talking about D175 which is one of the most famous Penang durians. The original red prawn of Penang.

When this durian gained fame in the 1980s, a lot of plantations started to plant because it was so delicious. So there is a considerable supply of it from Johor. And they fetch the best prices by going into Singapore. Some might make a case for KL too. But SG is actually closer to Johor than KL. So it’s understandable that many farm owners prefer to send the harvest to SG.

5) Hock 13 (D226)

Hock 13 is more often referred to in SG and MY as D13. This D13 is not the D13 officially registered with MARDI. But for some reason it has been known as D13 for as long as I can remember. Some people call it Hock Beng 13. It refers to the same durian. And many sellers call it red prawn as well.

It is pretty popular due to it’s high yield, sweet taste and low prices.

There is a huge plantations of D13 trees in Johor and most of the inventory comes into SG. It’s not out of the ordinary to say that it’s easier to find in Singapore than Malaysia.

6) Tekka (D160)

In many parts of SG and MY, tekka has the reputation of being a premium cultivar. It’s not surprising when you taste one in top form.

Since there is a strong premium market in SG, a lot of it from Johor and Pahang makes it’s way into SG.

Durian lovers in SG are often willing to pay very high prices of tekka in top form.

7) Chanee (D123)

We can hardly say that Chanee is a favourite among Singapore consumers. But we cannot ignore the fact that it has a huge presence in the SG market.

It has a good yield of flesh. It’s rather affordable. And can taste rather delicious as well when in season.

It is one of the most popular durians to be sold as something else. So it’s worth knowing how to recognise this durian.

8) 101 (D168)

This is another Johor durian that is sometimes labelled as red prawn. But most durianers will refer to it as 101 or IOI.

A durian that is one of the easiest to identify due to it’s slim thorns. It is a sweet durian that can often embody a very premium taste.

A lot of SG sellers carry this durian when the harvesting season starts.

9) Golden Phoenix (D198)

This is another durian that might be easier to find in SG than in MY.

Golden phoenix has a good yield and can often command a very good price. It does help that it tastes magnificent on it’s day.

It is a durian that is very well appreciated by the consumers and can easily sell out because it is good value for moeny.

These are the durians most commonly found in the SG durian market. They can often be found in most durian store when they are in season.

Keep a look out for them if you are looking to diversify your durian diet.

While other durians like D2, D163 or D206 can sometimes be found in SG durian stores, they are not commonly found at all and have been left out.