Even though there are thousands of different durian trees that are grouped together under the umbrella of kampung durians, you won’t need a lot of guessing to know that this is not a fair way to categorize them when we consider how they taste.

Some kampung durians taste like raw vegetable, some taste like premium cultivars. Some are as wet as yoghurt, and some are as dry as sandpaper. Some can even be as big as a volleyball, while some are smaller than a baby’s fist.

This diverse variety that we find in kampung durians is also one reason why a lot of people love them so much. Because there is an element of surprise in play. You don’t really know what you are going to get.

But some formidable kampung durians have left such a huge impression on eaters that they gained their own fame over time. And with such fame, comes their own name so that farmers can more easily identify and market them.

Some have become the stuff of legends.

This one in particular I have never seen with my own eyes until 2025. Before that, all I had of it were stories told by old-timers and old low-res pictures taken from outdated phones.

One of those folklore stories told in poetic prose was that of a virtuous man who ran into a wild boar and in his escape, he fell at the foot of the mythical tree. The commotion startled a large lizard in the tree and it’s sudden movement caused a durian to drop. It missed the boar but was enough to scare it away.

Believe what you will.

I had never gone about to look for this durian. Partly because I felt that it was most probably another one of those overhyped durians. Where you will almost never get one that taste as good as it’s reputation suggest.

And as fate would have it, it fell onto my lap out of nowhere. Totally unexpected. I would attribute this luck to the blessing of the durian god.

The durian I’m talking about is sikazua. It is the Hokkien pronunciation of the words 四脚蛇 (si jiao she) which refers to lizard. It can also be literally translated to 4-legged snake. But if you understand Chinese, you’ll know that it refers to a lizard. Biawak in Malay.

There is only 1 tree. The mother tree. Aged over 100 years making it a centurion tree. And it is located in the high mountains of Balik Pulau. The girth would take 3 adults linking their arms in a game of human knot to fully hug, and the tallest point of the tree is estimated to be 100 feet, approximately 30 meters.

The durian’s name didn’t come about from it having legs that enable it to crawl around. The story is more down to earth.

It was basically just another kampung tree. But when customers kept coming back on their knees to ask for durians from that particular tree, the farmer felt that he should name it for easy reference. To him, what’s unique about this tree was that monitor lizards seem to love climbing onto it to chill and relax after a long day of tongue-flicking. So he named it sikazua.

The manner of naming is similar to durians like lipan and lim peh.

Si ka zua durian features

The average size of this durian is about 1kg – 2kg. Seldom exceeding 2kg. Old trees generally don’t produce large fruits.

The husk colour is a light faded shade of brownish green. Or some might insist that it’s greenish brown.

Thorns are long and slim near the top and bottom, but not in the form of tian song or IOI. Comparably shorter and slightly fatter. From a direct angle flat view from the side, the base of the thorns look pyramidical and can resemble that of red prawn in this respect.

The tip of the thorns also tend to be dark in a brownish black kind of way similar to what can be observed on S17.

With a thin husk, this is an easy durian to open. A deft knife insertion into the bottom seam and twist, and it will open ever so willingly as if it is eager to show you it’s inner beauty in all it’s glory.

The fruitlet is a little glossy. Creating something like a two-tone or three-tone colour.

When I first laid eyes on it, the aril looked pale off-white. Something that reminded me of black pearl.

But when I turned it slightly, it looked like a faded lemon yellow. Like what you can see on a white lipan.

And when I turned it back to the initial angle, I somehow made out a beige colour.

So this is a multi-personality colour that can play tricks with your eyes. I attribute this partly to the glossy surface membrane of the fruitlet, and the dark bruise that can be observed through that thin membrane. This creates a mesh up of the colour spectrum that our eyes can see.

My eyes tell me that it’s more of a creamy off-white than dull faded yellow.

Unlike tupai king that has bruises that show up as stripes and patches, the bruises on this one is total as if it’s part of the foundational undertone. And on top of that, there are patches of deeper blue-black on some areas.

At this point, after seeing this right before you, you should reevaluate your life priorities if you are more concerned about getting the colour right instead of putting it into your gluttony mouth.

If you are having this for the first time, I suggest that you get ready to savour this moment rather than let it slither away. It’s not often that you get to put magic seeds into your mouth. The one and only chance to revel in that first bite.

Take a seat in case you get swept off your feet by the raw power in this durian. Check that there’s nothing hazardous behind you in case you get sent flying backwards from the gorilla punches it will throw at you. If you are prone to hallucination, you might want to get a friend to watch over you. Also make sure the ground around you is level terrain with no potholes in case you start doing cartwheels after tasting it. You should already know that these are all standard safety procedural checks to make before doing something like this.

At the moment it enters your mouth, it explodes with no reservations. I liken it to Dark Phoenix letting it go with a scream. Unstoppable unfiltered power.

You can have any of the most powerful durians before sikazua. It doesn’t matter. This lizard will blanket over the lingering taste of all of them. I’m saying this from my own experience.

Like khun poh where people tend to squeal with delight the moment they see it’s fruitlets, people will gasp for air the moment they eat this. Then let out a primal roar like Godzilla unleashing it’s atomic breath uncontrollably all over the sky.

The durian flavour is on the heavy side, flanked by an irresistible bitterness on the left and a relentless alcoholic surge on the right. And to top it all off, a delicate fermented aftertaste provides the classy finishing touch.

This intensity does not rise like a crescendo. The reptilian starts swinging for the fences from the start.

At some point you will notice the gooey texture infiltrate your tongue’s senses. You think that by right, you should feel repulsed by it. In actuality, you feel a little guilty for loving it by left. Especially in combination with how it taste.

I haven’t even talked about how it attempted to numb me into submission. I can’t say that all of them will be numbing. But at least you know that this is a durian capable of numbing you.

I’m sharing this as a warning so that you don’t get caught by surprise and choke at the hostile takeover of your mouth.

There’s no special floral aroma like ganja, a unique scent like clove, or a special taste like L13. It’s just an incredible force of nature that is made for durian lovers who lust for their tastebuds to be punished.

And punish them it will. Savagely with no remorse.

For this reason, I find it as one of the scariest durians I have ever come across. It’s like coming face-to-face with T-Rex in Jurassic Park.

I really don’t know if every durian is consistently this insane. Maybe I got really lucky with a one-off durian. But I’m hopeful that I’ll be punished again.

Under normal circumstances, I’d say that getting 2 durians out of 10 with such quality is already very optimistic. But because this is a hundred year old tree and I struck gold with 1 durian, I wouldn’t be surprised if as much as 5 out of 10 are of such pedigree. Old trees are generally more consistent with the quality in their fruits.

If you are new to durianing, I’m unsure if you would be able to handle this extremely hard-hitting durian. Like if you have never tried chilli hot food, it’d be crazy to start off with ghost chilli pepper. Go have your fill with the likes of chanee, D13, or D103, etc. Leave this dangerously scary durian to those who are able to take punishment like me. I’m saying this because I care for your well-being. 😀

Sikazua harvest season

This is a main season durian. Which means that it peaks in June.

It is said that the single tree produces about 300 fruits per season. And the owner candidly reveals that many customers have been unable to get their hands on one for years.

Some even come from other countries hoping that a walk-in would convince the owner of their sincerity. He is indeed touched. He would have loved to make their trips worth it. But there are simply not enough sikazua durians to go around.

I asked the owner why he has not cloned the tree. And he shrugs it off without giving a clear answer. So I don’t know… maybe he has cloned it. It’s just that they are not ready yet.

So if you ever run into this durian, don’t think that it’s another overrated durian.

Grab it. This is the real deal.