You can buy a lychee shaved ice from street vendors in Japan or a lychee sorbet in India.
Your Chinese dinner host might have taken the lychee, stuffed it with fresh ginger and then dipped it in chocolate.
In restaurants, the menu would be updated showing lychees getting top billing in sweet and sour chicken dishes.
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| How to open a lychee,
click for tips |
Lychees are given an honorary ingredient status during their season.
For example, you can find intricate recipes for coconut puddings made from scratch. But garnish that pudding with some lychees and the recipe's title changes to "Lychees and coconut pudding."
To those of us new to lychees, that's a bit much. First things first: try a handful of lychees. The texture of its white flesh will remind you of grapes but with a floral smell and a mild, sweet flavor.
It's easy to open one. Bite or cut into the top and peel. Pull apart the white insides with your finger or a knife to pop out the seed.
You may be tempted to try canned lychees when the fruit is out of season, but some of the flavor gets lost in the canning process.
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Made for salads
Once you have tried lychees, you'll want to do more with them.
Kudos if you search for that coconut pudding recipe. But you don't have to go far - or make a huge effort - to enjoy lychees during their season.
You name the salad - fruit, veggie, citrus, tropical - they all shine with the addition of lychees. Take an old favorite and add them right in.
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