Ingredient: Lychees
Category: Fruit -
Season: July to October
The Lychee (Litchi chinensis), also spelled Litchi (the U.S. FDA spelling) or Laichi and Lichu, is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.
It is a tropical fruit tree native to southern China. It is also commonly found in India, northern Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The Fruit
The fruit is a drupe , 3–4 cm long and 3 cm in diameter.
The outside is covered by a pink-red , roughly-textured rind that is inedible but easily removed.
The inside consists of a layer of sweet, translucent white flesh , rich in vitamin C, with a texture somewhat similar to that of a grape.
The edible flesh consists of a highly developed aril enveloping the seed.
The centre contains a single glossy brown nut-like seed, 2 cm long and 1–1.5 cm in diameter.
The seed , similar to a buckeye seed, is slightly poisonous and should not be eaten.
The fruit matures from July to October , about 100 days after flowering.
There are two subspecies:
Litchi chinensis subsp. chinensis . China, Indochina ( Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia ). Leaves with 4 to 8 (rarely 2) leaflets.
Litchi chinensis subsp. philippinensis (Radlk.) Leenh . Philippines, Indonesia. Leaves with 2-4 (rarely 6) leaflets.
Culinary uses
Lychees are commonly sold fresh in Vietnamese, Chinese and Asian markets, and in recent years, also widely available in supermarkets worldwide.
The red rind turns dark brown when the fruit is refrigerated , but the taste is not affected.
It is also sold canned year-round.
The fruit can be dried with the rind intact, at which point the flesh shrinks and darkens.
Lychees have wonderfully fragrant, lucid white flesh surrounding a large stone inside a finger-peelable thin shell.
To prepare this juicy little fruit
Peel off the papery skin, slice the fruit round the middle, separate it into halves and discard the stone (as it is slightly poisonous and should not be eaten).
They are dramatically alluring with blueberries,
Serve them whole on their own , to shell and at the table, the taste is fantastic. |