Lychee Love

[liuzhou]

According to the fount of all misinformation, Wikipedia, the lychee entry states that "the outside of the fruit is pink-red". Ignorant fools!

 

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me a jar of lychee honey from the family plot. Yesterday, I  went to visit her and was taken to see the lychees. This involved quite a trek uphill!

 

Anyway, we got there. The lychees (荔枝 -   lì zhī) are being harvested as quickly as they can be, in order to get them to market in perfect condition before the season ends soon.

The first thing I noticed was the surprising range of colours in the fruit. I immediately  assumed that they were at different stages or degrees of ripeness. The "stupid foreigner", aka me, was soon put straight.

"No! They are all ripe. That is why we are hurrryng to harvest them!" I didn't hear the "idiot!" at the end of the sentence, but it was all there in the tone!*

 

It appears that lychees are pink/red when they are pink/red, but not pink/red when they are not pink/red. In fact they come in different colours.

 

Some were politely growing to Wiki specfications;

 

 

 

 

others were doing as they damn-well pleased and they were pleased to be yellow (some with a scattering of red freckles to increase their allure)

 

 

 

 

 

 

These yellow babies are not only yellow, but are larger than the red ones (the last two pictures show my friend's average sized lady-hand for scale. They are also noticeably more sweet and juicy.

The yellow ones are known as 情人荔 (qíng rén lì) meaning 'lover lychee' as the fruits are heart-shaped.

Finally, I saw these. 青荔 (qīng lì) meaning 'green lychee'.

 

 

 

 

These, I was told, are a new cultivar and still very rare (and expensive). The family has only been harvesting these for two years. They are ripe. I know. I ate the one in the centre of that last image!

 

* Actually, everyone was very polite, welcoming and happy to explain anything I asked about.

 

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

,OK - slightly suggestive caption and image, but the trees and their bounty are stunning. Only seen them in the market. I've mentioned here before that we enjoy them on hot days in a bowl of ice water. The squirt of the juices is a lovely respite from heat. I only see the dark ones here. It is a subtle floral taste that some I have introduced it to do not appreciate. No "wow".  My son and I were on a ferry once in Vancouver and nearby passengers were interested in our sighs of pleasure so we fostered some new aficionados.

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

OK - slightly suggestive caption and image

 

I have no idea what you find suggestive about the caption or what you imagine it is I was suggesting. I named the topic so because of the name of the yellow lychees in Chinese.

 

And I have no idea what image you are talking about, either. There are 12 images in my post - none of which are suggestive in any way.

Edited June 20, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[weinoo]

Soon, we will find out that apples come in all sorts of colors, sizes, and flavors!

[Anna N]

11 hours ago, liuzhou said:

This involved quite a trek uphill!

But it looks like the effort was worth it!  What a great opportunity. I love the ones we the can get here and often wonder how much I am missing. Most fruits picked and eaten at their peak of ripeness are revelatory. Thanks for sharing this experience. 

[KennethT]

@liuzhou This is a bit off topic, but can you tell me how lychee is properly pronounced? I've always thought it was lee-chee, but I've heard many others call it 'ligh-chee'.

Edited June 20, 2021 by KennethT (log)

[liuzhou]

38 minutes ago, KennethT said:

@liuzhou This is a bit off topic, but can you tell me how lychee is properly pronounced? I've always thought it was lee-chee, but I've heard many others call it 'ligh-chee'.

 

 I don't think how to pronounce a food is off-topic.

From my understanding, lee-chee is more American and ligh-chee more British, although I'm sure there are exceptions.

The Mandarin is  closer to lee-dji. But the Cantonese is closer to ligh-zi. So we are no furher forward! Call them what feels most comfortable to you!

 

[liuzhou]

 

First the name. Are they litchi or lychee? Actually neither.

 

They are 荔枝, pronounced lì zhī (lee jig) in Mandarin and lai6 zi1 (lie zip) in Cantonese. The etymology of the English is unclear. The scientific Latin name is Litchi chinensis.

 

However lychee is the more common.

 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 02:14 PM by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

A little known fact, of which I only recently became aware is that lychees are prone to producing conjoined twins. However, the dominant twin quickly kills off the runt of the pair.

 

Most often they look like this one at the front.

 

 

But occasionally like this.

 

 

 

You don’t tend to see these in the stores (and certainly not in the canned abominations) as vendors remove the unsightly specimens. I get my lychee directly from the farm so get the mutants.

 

 

[liuzhou]

This topic began with a rant about lychee colour and pointed out there is a range. 

 

One colour I avoid is that used by the OED in its definition of the fruit.

 

Quote

The fruit of an evergreen tree, Litchi chinensis, of the family Sapindaceæ, native to southern China but widely cultivated in tropical countries elsewhere; the fruit is a large berry with a rough, brown skin and sweet, white flesh, which is eaten fresh or preserved. 

 

Fresh lychees are never brown although they all turn brown within a day or less of being picked. You are unlikely to find anything else at any distance from where they are grown.

 

The OED is also atypically hazy in the extreme on the etymology, merely saying it comes from Chinese. Chinese isn't technically a language; it's a group of many languages and even more dialects. For example, the Chinese governments insist that Mandarin and Cantonese are the same language; linguists strongly disagree. There are no linguists in the Chinese government! Around 600 distinct languages native to China. I hear many every day!