This is real love, people. Luke Otter, the man behind food blog Hungry Ang Mo, loves the King of Fruits so much that he actually set up a durian stall called Durian Ang Moh. Together with experienced durian seller Ah Teck — who he claims was the first honest durian seller he met — Otter brings in Malaysian durians to hawk at his stall at Blk 681, Hougang Ave 4.
But the 30-year-old wasn’t always obsessed with the stinky fruit. In fact, he was averse to durian after his first taste of durian cake in 2007, and only gradually learned to appreciate the actual fruit years later. That marked his transformation into a true blue Singaporean, as he moved to the city-state at the age of 21, following the completion of his studies in the UK, his native country.
The man is now a resident of Singapore, and lives in a HDB flat with his Singaporean wife. In his words, he’s carried out “full integration” in his new home, admitting that most of his friends are Singaporeans, and that he eats in hawker centres.
After meeting Ah Teck, who brought Otter on a “durian holiday” — y’know, one of those vacations for durian addicts that revolve around durian farm visits and durian at all meals — he decided to join forces with him and establish Durian Ang Moh. Both communicate in Mandarin, which Otter picked up over the course of his time in Singapore.
As told to Vulcan Post, Luke said that his customers usually find it “shocking and/or humorous” that a Caucasian man is a durian seller.
“There is a minority of people who will assume the durians are not good, or assume that I know nothing about durians,” he explained. “But overall the response has been very positive.”
If you’re keen, check out the stall, which regularly posts durian pricing updates on its Facebook page, and also employs delivery services to dispatch boxes of durians straight to your doorstep.
