Whether you pronounce it “lie-chee” or “lee-chee,” you can’t deny that lychee is one of the most beloved fruits in the tropical produce canon. Originating in Asia’s subtropical and tropical regions, the small, pink-red pod has a golfball-textured exterior that protects the good stuff inside — namely a juicy, firm flesh.
Although lychee is a well-recognized ingredient throughout the coastal U.S., those familiar with it tend to box it into the context of a drink or candy — Asian Americans in particular may recall childhood memories of slurping it in jelly form out of a small plastic cup, or sipping chunks of it through a boba straw. Thanks to how well the fruit takes to canning, it’s fairly easy to purchase it online or in a grocery store’s Asian aisle. But if you’re after the fresh version, its seasonality and limited growing regions make it difficult to access year round. The best bet is during the late spring and summer, when some Asian grocery stores stock the fruit as it’s harvested in states like Florida, Hawaii, and California.
What does lychee taste like?
Unlike tropical fruits such as mango and pineapple, which boast bright acidity and tartness, lychee is often described in terms of its sweet, deeply floral traits. “It’s kind of hard to describe the taste of lychee without likening it to another tropical fruit, like soursop,” says the chef and restaurateur Ming Tsai. “It’s like a large grape with exotic flavor, mushy yet plump.” Mature dessert wines like Riesling and Gewürztraminer are often given lychee as a tasting note, Tsai notes. Chef Mayank Istwal of Musaafer, a Michelin-rated Houston restaurant, describes the flavor as a blend of grape, pear, and rose water. “The sweetness is natural and balanced, with a subtle citrusy tang that adds brightness,” Istwal says. Both chefs agree that the texture is more firm with a slight chew when fresh, while Istwal explains that the canned version can be a bit gelatinous and significantly sweeter than its fresh counterpart.
What can I make with lychee?
Dessert is a first-choice course for utilizing lychee’s inherent sweetness. “I would use canned lychees for something like ice cream,” says Tsai. “I’ve taken lychee and pureed it, while using the canned syrup as a sweetener for the ice cream. You can even add it to a fruit salad and drizzle a little bit of the lychee syrup over it.” Istwal uses lychee similarly in sorbets, but has also puréed it fresh for panna cotta, simmered it for compote, and topped custard-filled tarts with whole pieces of lychee, often “paired with raspberries or passionfruit for a vibrant dessert,” he adds.
Lychee is also a popular ingredient in beverages, especially cocktails. At Hat Yai in Portland, Oregon, the restaurant’s co-founder Ian Akwai occasionally uses lychee to flavor daiquiri slushees. “Lychee is very tropical, floral and fruity, but also soft and delicate,” he explains. “The challenge with making cocktails with these kinds of fruit flavors is that you need enough acid to punch through the spirit if you’re making a sour-type cocktail” — like a gimlet, daiquiri, or margarita — “but you want the character of the fruit to still shine through.” He recommends combining a heavy dose of fresh lychee purée with just enough lime or lemon to make a sweet and sour mix. “From there you can play with base spirits or other modifiers that you find complimentary or further fortify the lychee flavor,” he says.
As for nonalcoholic beverages, Mo Maravilla at Kindness & Mischief Coffee in Los Angeles similarly stresses the importance of acidic balance. “Lychee is often paired with rose to accentuate the florality in its profile,” she says. “[At the café], we personally love pairing it with a bright, tropical, acidic fruit like passionfruit to highlight it even more.” Their lychee rose tonic and lychee passionfruit tonics are seasonal specials that showcase these flavors; baristas reduce puréed canned lychees and strain them before adding tonic and rose water or puréed passion fruit to the mix. An additional shot of matcha is optional.
So where does that leave us when it comes to the iconic lychee martini? Given its notoriously stiff combination of gin or vodka and vermouth, wouldn’t a punchy acid compromise the ethos of this classic cocktail? Jason Marshall, beverage director at the Ritz Carlton in Portland, thinks it would. “But, [nowadays], many people refer to any drink that is served up with stemmed glassware as a martini,” he adds. “It would be more accurate to call the drink a lychee cocktail.” Modern renditions of the lychee martini include acid (lemon) or salt to balance the fruit. Marshall does this to the hotel’s “Lychee What You Did There” by serving the martini riff alongside a housemade yuzu and dragonfruit-flavored granita, which has salt in it. Otherwise, the martini itself is a blend of vodka with a coconut-washed Carpano, dry vermouth, and Giffard’s Lichi-li liqueur — leaving its acidic components outside the beverage to maintain its velvety texture.
Although most people in America treat lychee as a sweet ingredient, it is possible to expand its use for savory foods. Tsai loves adding lychee seasoned simply with sambal or chutney to salsas that top grilled fish and seafoods, and notes that a small dice works best when showcasing the texture and flavor of the fruit. Istwal’s menu at Musaafer has a lychee ceviche that features cured lychee, homemade tooti frooti (a sugar syrup and fruit candy), yuzu coconut sauce, and crispy corn. “Lychee’s sweet, floral, and slightly tart profile pairs well with ingredients that balance or enhance its qualities,” Istwal explains. Generally, he recommends seasoning lychee with citrus, spices with heat (paprika, ginger, chile), and fresh herbs to balance out its sweetness, whether it’s going into ceviche, salads, skewers, salsas or stir fries. For stir fries, he also suggests adding an umami element like soy sauce or sesame oil for balance.
How do I pick the best lychees?
To select ripe lychees, pick ones that are a little larger than one inch in diameter. They should have the same firmness as a ripe lime, and a floral smell. If the fruit smells fermented, has a brown husk, or is cracked, these are signs that it has overripened. To prepare fresh lychee, you’ll need to remove the exterior from the flesh, as well as the membrane and the seed. Canned lychees are already de-seeded and peeled. However, you should drain the syrup and rinse the flesh with water if you’re trying to remove the excess sweetness from it, then pat it with a paper towel to get rid of excess moisture. Fresh lychees have a short window of freshness, lasting about a week in the fridge or six months frozen, while canned lychees can spend months and years in storage before opening.
