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Lychee Lovers of the world unite!

honeye22

By honeye22
in Cooking

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honeye22

honeye22

Posted
Posted

Have any of you fellow foodies tried a lychee? It is a fruit native to China that closely resembles a plum. It comes in a spiny shell, but once you peel the shell off you reveal the juicy translucent fruit inside. They are sweet like candy, and quite addictive. :wub: I just found that one of my local ethnic markets sells fresh ones (Grand Mart on Duke street for any DC/MD/VA folks) and I've just been eating the fruit by itself, but do any of you have any good recipes that include lychee?

"No matter where ya go, there ya are....and there ya go!"

gus_tatory

gus_tatory

Posted
Posted
Have any of you fellow foodies tried a lychee?  It is a fruit native to China that closely resembles a plum.  It comes in a spiny shell, but once you peel the shell off you reveal the juicy translucent fruit inside.  They are sweet like candy, and quite addictive.  :wub:  ...do any of you have any good recipes that include lychee?

hi honeye22 and welcome to eGullet~!

i have only tried lychees either fresh or in cans as well, but you got me thinking! :biggrin:

i bet you they would be delightful in something bland and milky, like a baked custard or a creme brulee--and you could add lychee liqueur... mmm... :smile:

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the ocean."

--Isak Dinesen

honeye22

honeye22

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Thanks, it's good to be here! My first taste of the lychee was in a drink called a lychee-tini. it had 3 lychees in the bottom of the glass and a mixture of lychee juice and raspberry vodka. SO GOOD!!! :wub: I was thinking it would be great in a fruit salad with some mandarine orange sections, grapes, and walnuts. Maybe tossed with a raspberry vinagrette. Oh boy.....

"No matter where ya go, there ya are....and there ya go!"

Bond Girl

Bond Girl

Posted
Posted

Lychee ice cream, a flourless chocolate cake with lychee cream, cocnut and lychee flan, lime scented lychee custard cake, lychee bubble tea...the list goes on.

Ya-Roo Yang aka "Bond Girl"

The Adventures of Bond Girl

I don't ask for much, but whatever you do give me, make it of the highest quality.

Daniel

Daniel

Posted
Posted

My girl and I take a can of lychees dump them out with the juice into a blender.. At vodka, hit a quick pulse and then put the mixture into our ice cream machine until it begins to slushify.. Really great drink..

honeye22

honeye22

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
My girl and I take a can of lychees dump them out with the juice into a blender.. At vodka, hit a quick pulse and then put the mixture into our ice cream machine until it begins to slushify.. Really great drink..

I think I've died and gone to lychee heaven!!!! :raz:

"No matter where ya go, there ya are....and there ya go!"

Pam R

Pam R

Posted
Posted
My girl and I take a can of lychees dump them out with the juice into a blender.. At vodka, hit a quick pulse and then put the mixture into our ice cream machine until it begins to slushify.. Really great drink..

I believe this is one of the first things I will try when I get my new ice cream machine in the next week or so... :wub:

My mother is actually making something right now with the canned lychee (I think a sweet and sour type sauce) ... anyhow - I just took two out of a can - morning snack. Love them.

Pam Reiss aka "Pam R"

Author: Soup - A Kosher Collection - Passover - A Kosher Collection - Pam's Cookie Collection - Blog - Demos - Pam's Kitchen FB 

honeye22

honeye22

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
My girl and I take a can of lychees dump them out with the juice into a blender.. At vodka, hit a quick pulse and then put the mixture into our ice cream machine until it begins to slushify.. Really great drink..

I believe this is one of the first things I will try when I get my new ice cream machine in the next week or so... :wub:

My mother is actually making something right now with the canned lychee (I think a sweet and sour type sauce) ... anyhow - I just took two out of a can - morning snack. Love them.

I bet you could do it now with a blender...just add some ice to that recipe, and viola! Instant slushee. Let us know how the sauce turns out. :biggrin:

"No matter where ya go, there ya are....and there ya go!"

Pan

Pan

Posted
Posted

The lychee is probably my favorite fruit of them all! But to me, there's nothing you can do with them that's nearly as good as eating good ones fresh, by themselves.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

Pam R

Pam R

Posted
Posted
I bet you could do it now with a blender...just add some ice to that recipe, and viola!  Instant slushee.  Let us know how the sauce turns out.  :biggrin:

Brilliant ... but I'm really excited by the new ice cream machine... so I may just pick it up on my way home from work tonight.

Re sauce: it's for a dinner we're catering tomorrow ... I'm not sure I'll get a taste... we'll see. :wink:

Pam Reiss aka "Pam R"

Author: Soup - A Kosher Collection - Passover - A Kosher Collection - Pam's Cookie Collection - Blog - Demos - Pam's Kitchen FB 

ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted (edited)

An idea I got out of a thai cookbook once was to serve them in a chilled custard sauce. In addition, you can poach a sweetened meringue (similar to that made in an "oeufs a la neige") and float that on top. Serving them this way preserves their luscious texture.

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

Gifted Gourmet

Gifted Gourmet

Posted
Posted

An adoring fan of lychees, I once came upon this page:

you just knew there were a couple of recipes, no? :rolleyes:

Chinese Lychee Chicken

Honey Mustard Chicken with Lychee Puree

Lychee & Carambola Chicken Breasts

Lychee & Thyme Grilled Tuna

Lychee Chicken

Lychee Chicken Oriental

Lychee Fish

Lychee Glazed Roast Chicken

Lychee Lasagna

Lychee Marinated Chicken w/Sweet Ginger Mustard

Lychee Marinated Pineapple Steak Kebabs .... and that is merely a fraction of the entrees .. there are a bazillion more ... enjoy!

Yeah, lychee lasagna, just like Granma's old country recipe, no doubt ... :laugh:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

Daniel

Daniel

Posted
Posted (edited)

Of course you could do it with ice, but i prefer the non watered down version and the consistency is a lot smoother..

This one place i go to in Vegas serves as a dessert ice cold fresh peeled lychees in a martini glass.. Simple ( if you werent in the middle of the desert) and terrifc..

Edited by Daniel (log)
honeye22

honeye22

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
The lychee is probably my favorite fruit of them all! But to me, there's nothing you can do with them that's nearly as good as eating good ones fresh, by themselves.

I bought a pound on Tuesday, and they are nearly gone!! :raz:

"No matter where ya go, there ya are....and there ya go!"

honeye22

honeye22

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Yeah, lychee lasagna, just like Granma's old country recipe, no doubt ... :laugh:

"No matter where ya go, there ya are....and there ya go!"

rajsuman

rajsuman

Posted
Posted

Oh how I love lychees! Everytime I taste them, I think there's so much potential there for a wonderful dessert. The delicate taste, the wonderful aroma - it's just asking to be made into something fabulous. I tried a couple of lychee mousse recipes, but found that the lychee flavour got lost somewhere in the end product. I've been looking for a lychee extract (if such a thing exists) to embellish the lychee flavour/aroma, but no luck. Never thought of looking for lychee liqueur. Thanks for the great link GG! honeye22, I could post the 2 mousse recipes if you like, but as I said, I was kind of disappointed with the results. I also tried topping phirni (Indian rice custard) with chopped lychees and pomegranates, that worked very well.

SuzySushi

SuzySushi

Posted
Posted

Lychee ice cream and sorbet are fabulous! (I've never had to make my own because it's a pretty common flavor here in Hawaii.) A friend makes drinks with the heavy syrup from canned lychees (eat the fruit; add your beverage of choice to the syrup). Canned lychees stuffed with cream cheese mixed with chopped candied ginger. Lychees are good as a substitute for cherries in Clafoutis.

I've never done anything with the fresh ones except eat them out-of-hand with the juice running down my chin! You can tell when it's lychee season... the streets of Chinatown (every Chinatown I've ever visited, anyway) are littered with the red peels, almost like spent firecracker shells at Chinese New Year's... no one can wait to get the lychees home before starting to eat them. :laugh:

SuzySushi

"She sells shiso by the seashore."

My eGullet Foodblog: A Tropical Christmas in the Suburbs

tazerowe

tazerowe

Posted
Posted

Funky Broome, a Chinese place in NYC, does several seafood dishes with lychee. I recall a shrimp and scallop stirfry. That said, based on one try, I didn't really think the flavors did too much for each other, so I would order something else. Still, the idea is out there.

honeye22

honeye22

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Oh how I love lychees! Everytime I taste them, I think there's so much potential there for a wonderful dessert. The delicate taste, the wonderful aroma - it's just asking to be made into something fabulous. I tried a couple of lychee mousse recipes, but found that the lychee flavour got lost somewhere in the end product. I've been looking for a lychee extract (if such a thing exists) to embellish the lychee flavour/aroma, but no luck. Never thought of looking for lychee liqueur. Thanks for the great link GG! honeye22, I could post the 2 mousse recipes if you like, but as I said, I was kind of disappointed with the results. I also tried topping phirni (Indian rice custard) with chopped lychees and pomegranates, that worked very well.

I'd like to try the mousse recipe if you have it! I'm going to NY tonight and I plan to take a bag with me to munch in the car. Yum.

"No matter where ya go, there ya are....and there ya go!"

VeryApe77

VeryApe77

Posted
Posted (edited)

David Thompson's book 'Thai Food' has a recipe for Roast Duck and Lychee Salad that I made quite often...it's excellent.

When is Lychee season? I have rarely seen them fresh here in Chicago (I normally buy frozen ones in a pinch)

Edited by VeryApe77 (log)
Phatlouie07

Phatlouie07

Posted
Posted

here in jersey, i get fresh lychee from the local filipino oriental store. there was one time when i bought fresh lychee in chinatown, those tended to be a bit more sour than sweet. try lychee flavored ramune(carbonated soda drink), very good stuff.

Shalmanese

Shalmanese

Posted
Posted

I popped in here especially to talk about lychee sorbet. OMG, it is out of this world. It's so crisp and clean. It's almost as if you can taste the ice present in the lychee in it's natural state and all a sorbet does is boosts that crispness... Come to think of it, what would lychee and mint sorbet taste like? You would get that double boost of crispness to in *me runs off to experiment*.

PS: I am a guy.

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