Lychee Lovers of the world unite!

[SuzySushi]

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

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Lychee season here is right now! Not sure if the lychees I'm seeing in markets are grown locally or "imported" from somewhere on the mainland. Will ask at the greenmarket tomorrow.

[Ninjai Fanatic]

i love lichees. have you had the lichee jello things? they're excellent as well.

[Pam R]

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*.

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is there a recipe for the lychee sorbet?

there are fresh lychees in the stores now (here). The ones I saw last night weren't in great shape though. Hopefully they'll get more in soon.

[cathrynapple]

my experiences with lychees involve buying large crates of them (fresh) form street vendors and eating them by the dozen with my legs dangling in my grandparents' swimming pool.

i've had lychee chicken dishes at a couple of malaysian restaurants, but NOTHING beats teh real, fresh thing.

canned lychees are a surprisingly food alternative, though.

[Shalmanese]

I peel and deseed a bunch of lychees and run them through the blender. You can strain them if you don't want the pulp but I never bother. Then, just add enough sugar such that an egg placed in it will just barely float and freeze. Once it's frozen, whip in a blender again and you have sorbet.

[shamu668]

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

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Lychee season here is right now! Not sure if the lychees I'm seeing in markets are grown locally or "imported" from somewhere on the mainland. Will ask at the greenmarket tomorrow.

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The majority of fresh lychees you see are imported from Taiwan. They are usually very sweet and fairly reasonable in price, but have a short shelf life.

The "locally grown" ones come from Florida (if you're in the 48) or Hawaii. They're usually more visually appealing (sold with stem and leaves), but take longer to ripen.

Lychees are starting to grow in Mexico. I haven't tried them yet, but pricewise, they're in between the local and imported ones.

BTW, fresh peeled lychees soaked in vodka makes a wonderful snack.

[SuzySushi]

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

←

Lychee season here is right now! Not sure if the lychees I'm seeing in markets are grown locally or "imported" from somewhere on the mainland. Will ask at the greenmarket tomorrow.

←

The majority of fresh lychees you see are imported from Taiwan. They are usually very sweet and fairly reasonable in price, but have a short shelf life.

The "locally grown" ones come from Florida (if you're in the 48) or Hawaii. They're usually more visually appealing (sold with stem and leaves), but take longer to ripen.

Lychees are starting to grow in Mexico. I haven't tried them yet, but pricewise, they're in between the local and imported ones.

BTW, fresh peeled lychees soaked in vodka makes a wonderful snack.

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The lychees at the greenmarket were grown on the Big Island of Hawaii. They were all gone by the time I got there (1/2 hour after the greenmarket opened).

[Daniel]

I havent seen fresh lychees around.. I havent been searching too hard, but was in whole food yesterday.. Just wanted to show you guys an example of that martini thing..

First started with lychees in a blender.. Put them in and blended them so it wouldnt be lumpy, however, sometime we do lumpy

Then added the vodka and a shot of pear juice.. The vodka i would say for a can of lychees would be about a quarter bottle to more..

Add Ice and blend again my friend..

Thats it..

edit to add.. Didnt have my icecream drums frozen due to a previous engagement.. So we used ice.. It worked out well..

Edited June 13, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[piromanyac]

Hey guys, Im new to this forum, and was looking through the threads and came across this one. Anyway, ive tried the lychee lasagne and itś actually pretty good, if you dont mind eating cheddar cheese and fruit. I have tried it with both mild and strong cheddar and i personally think the mild one works best. It doesnt over power the fruit to much.

Edited June 13, 2005 by piromanyac (log)

[Pan]

I havent seen fresh lychees around.. I havent been searching too hard, but was in whole food yesterday..

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If Whole Foods does eventually get lychees, they'll be at least twice (if not three times) as expensive as the ones you can get in Chinatown now, and not as good. Go to Chinatown, young man.

[Soup]

I love lychees. I don't there you can improve it beyond peel and eat concept. Unfortunately, this fruit does not love me back. One of my few food alergies...

[Daniel]

I havent seen fresh lychees around.. I havent been searching too hard, but was in whole food yesterday..

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If Whole Foods does eventually get lychees, they'll be at least twice (if not three times) as expensive as the ones you can get in Chinatown now, and not as good. Go to Chinatown, young man.

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Of course I know about C-town... I was using Whole Food as a measure.. If Whole Foods doesnt have it, then my local corner store isnt going to have it yet either. But a trek to Chinatown during a busy weekend from the UWS, i would have to pay a little extra to save the time..

[honeye22]

I havent seen fresh lychees around.. I havent been searching too hard, but was in whole food yesterday..

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If Whole Foods does eventually get lychees, they'll be at least twice (if not three times) as expensive as the ones you can get in Chinatown now, and not as good. Go to Chinatown, young man.

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I agree on the prices at whole foods being out of control. I get mine at the Grand Mart on Duke Street in VA (if anyone lives in the DC/MD/VA area). Go to your local asian/ethnic grocery and you should be able to find them there. I just returned from my trek to Geneva, NY and got a chance to do some wine tasting. I have a nice stash of wine that I brought home and I plan to spend the weekend by my pool with a glass of good wine and a nice Lychee "desert". Very simple, I found an awesome vanilla port, so I will drizzle the port in a martini glass, add chilled fresh lychees, and enjoy. If any of you live in DC, you are welcome to stop by and enjoy!!! Oh, they are $4.99/lb which is pretty good.

Edited June 13, 2005 by honeye22 (log)

[Soup]

I saw them at Super H for 4.99/lb as well this weekend. But they didn't look that great. I love the ones with the smaller pits but there seems to no way to tell until you actually eat them.

[Pan]

I'm guessing that they're for sale in the little Chinatown in DC, right?

[Daniel]

So yesterday I walk up to my local fruit guy who stands on 85th and broadway... asked him if he is going to get lychees soon.. He said, i have some right now but just a little.. He told me they were 5 bucks a pound.. Now this guy is really shady and you can bargain with him.. So he pulls out a plastic bag from the drivers seat.. He puts it on the scale and tells me its a lot less just give me 1.50... Very intrigued and more skeptical, I ask guy to show me whats in the bag... It was a branch with like 8 lychees attached.. I declined the offer... What a bastard..

So whats a good price per pound for lychees in NY.. What are the prices in other peoples neck of the woods..

[phaelon56]

I have always enjoyed the lychee ice cream sold at the Chinatown Ice cream Factory shop in NYC but my favorite lychee based drink/dessert is either Chinese or Vietnamese in origin (sorry I can't recall which). Take some cracked ice, lychees cream of coconut and those little red beans (again - sorry I don't know what type but they're canend and are sold in Asian grocery stores. Throw itn a blender for a just a few pulses and you have a delicious beverage that's part cold drink and part dessert.

[honeye22]

I'm guessing that they're for sale in the little Chinatown in DC, right?

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I haven't actually checked Chinatown for them yet....the place that I found that sells them is in Alexandria. I'm sure the places in Chinatown will have them though. I've never tried the ones in a can...are they good too?

[Pan]

I'm guessing that they're for sale in the little Chinatown in DC, right?

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I haven't actually checked Chinatown for them yet....the place that I found that sells them is in Alexandria. I'm sure the places in Chinatown will have them though. I've never tried the ones in a can...are they good too?

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Not bad at all, but nowhere near as good as the fresh ones. There's a kind of complexity (I'm tempted to say tartness, but people will misunderstand) that the preservation in syrup obliterates.

Daniel, $3.50/lb. and $10/3 pounds for really high quality lychees is a good price in New York. I don't really expect to find anything passable for much less (maybe $2.50/lb. could be possible, but perhaps not this year).

[honeye22]

I usually just stand at the sink and peel and eat mine, but I want to take some chilled to a get together this weekend...does anyone know how to get the pit out of the middle wihout mutilating the delicate fruit? I guess they could be cut in half, but I kind of want to preserve the shape as much as possible....

[godito]

Just today I made Lychee-mint mousse. I find that lychees and mint are the perfect combination.

This time, though, I used canned lychees because I wanted to use the syrup. As for fresh lychees, I like to eat them by themselves.

I once had a coconut-cilantro-lychee ice sorbet that was scooped over a salad to serve as the dressing. It was quite good, but I don't really know how they made it.

[Pam R]

Not bad at all, but nowhere near as good as the fresh ones. There's a kind of complexity (I'm tempted to say tartness, but people will misunderstand) that the preservation in syrup obliterates.

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While I like the canned ones, I'd say you hit it on the head here. The fresh ones are superior if you can get them (and they're good).

If I'm eating ones from a can, I like them in a bowl with some crushed ice - that's it.

Edited June 14, 2005 by Pam R (log)

[Pam R]

I have no idea what the actual season for lychee is, but my local SuperStore has had them a few times in the last month or so (and since there is no local lychee season here, I've been buying them). Anybody else seeing them? Doing anything with them? I'm just enjoying them chilled, on their own, but I've been wondering what else I should do with them.

[David Ross]

Try my recipe for using canned lychees to make a fruit conserve. It's a wonderful condiment to roast pork, but it would also be very good with roasted duck, chicken or lamb.

I"m not sure that my recipe would work with the fresh lychee you are finding in your market but I think it will. I would probably just add a bit more liquid to the conserve if you are using fresh fruit. Let me know if you try the recipe how it works for you.

Lychee--Plum Conserve-

5 large litchee fruit, from canned in heavy syrup, roughly chopped

2 large black plums, roughly chopped

½ cup fresh squeezed mandarin orange juice, (substitute with tangerine juice)

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. Chinese five-spice powder

½ cup sugar

2 tsp. mandarin orange zest

In a saucepan over medium heat, add lychee fruit, plums, orange juice, cinnamon, five-spice powder and sugar. Cook until sugar is dissolved and mixture begins to bubble, about 10 minutes.

Transfer mixture to a blender. Process until roughly pureed. Pour mixture back into saucepan. Add orange zest. Keep sauce warm until service.