Lychee Description
Lychee, or Chinese plum, is an oval or rounded fruit that is the size of a large grape. Its appearance is not at all appetizing, so it makes a red or pinkish peel, covered with small peaked pimples. But it is rather fragile and easy to clean with your hands. And under this rough shell hides a tender, juicy and sweet white flesh, similar in taste to currants, raspberries, grapes and jam from rose petals.
True pulp in one berry is not so much, because a rather large oval bone is hidden in it. By the way, this dark brown bone in white pulp reminds the Chinese of the dragon’s eyes, this is the unofficial name this fruit has in China. Having peeled, lychees use as well as cherries - eat juicy fragrant flesh, leaving a stone.
Fruits grow in clusters at medium height trees with a spreading crown. The tree blooms quite densely, with umbrella-shaped inflorescences up to seventy centimeters long. But from one inflorescence with numerous flowers, only five to fifteen fruits ripen, the rest of the flowers crumble. The birthplace of lychee is China. But now it is cultivated in many countries with a subtropical climate. Chinese plum has spread throughout Southeast Asia, where it is one of the most popular fruits. Oddly enough, the plant does not like the humid equatorial climate. It simply does not bear fruit there. For a comfortable existence, he needs a warm climate with cool but dry winters.
Lychee - useful properties
Lychees have a fairly rich composition of nutrients. They contain vitamins H, groups B, E, K, C, microelements such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, selenium and many disaccharides, dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates.
It’s useful to use lychee for atherosclerosis, anemia, diabetes, gastritis, liver diseases, to strengthen the heart, blood vessels, lower cholesterol, normalize the intestines and stomach. This fruit tones the body, gives vitality, energizes and is a strong aphrodisiac.
Lychee does not contain any special contraindications, except for individual intolerance. When buying it, you only need to pay attention to the freshness of the fruit, because only whole, not crumpled and not spoiled fruits contain all the nutrients in full. The color of fresh fruit should not be too dark and have defects and damage.
Lychee - Calories
The calorie content of 100 g of lychee is 66 kcal.
Lychee - Cooking Use
Lychee is a very tasty and sweet fruit, so they are often eaten fresh. And in order to diversify desserts or dishes, add a new one, or shade the main taste, it can be added to salads - meat, vegetable or fruit, pastries, and used as a filling. They make juice, wine, tasty spicy sauce from lychee, add to fish and meat dishes, and serve with shrimp.
This fruit is quite perishable, does not tolerate transportation, so most of it is allowed for preservation, frozen or simply dried.
Lychee recipes examples
Recipe 1: Lychee Cake
The principle of making this cake is interesting - each fruit is wrapped in a piece of dough, you get such a round pie. And from these roundworms a large cake is laid out in the form of a bunch of grapes (a triangle), or a turtle (round or oval). It turns out original and, of course, delicious. If you use fresh fruits, do not forget to peel them.
Ingredients: 500g flour, a glass of sugar, 150g margarine, ¼ teaspoon soda, 5 eggs (4 in the dough + 1 for grease), 15-20 lychees (canned or fresh).
Cooking method
Soften margarine and grind with sugar. You can mix with a spoon or whisk. Add eggs, stir well and add flour with soda, kneading the dough. Divide it into small pieces (approximately the size of a goose egg). Roll out each piece into a cake three to four millimeters thick, cut its cross into a cross, and put a lychee on each piece. Pinch the edges of the dough and roll the ball. You will get a small round pie stuffed with whole fruit. Put the pies on a baking sheet, laying tightly to each other, in the form of any shape, grease with an egg and bake for ten to fifteen minutes (230C). Preheat the oven and grease the baking sheet with oil.
Recipe 2: Strawberry and Lychee Ice Cream
This fragrant dessert will pleasantly cool on a hot day and leave an unforgettable aftertaste. It is a puree of strawberries and lychee, frozen to ice crumbs. So that the ice cream does not catch in a block of ice, it will be necessary to crush it with a fork and mix it two hours after freezing. For dessert, it is recommended to use canned lychee with syrup.
Ingredients: 1 kg of fresh strawberries, 500 g of lychee (canned), a slice of ginger 2-3 cm, 2 limes (juice), 50 g of sugar.
Cooking method
Wash the strawberries. Drain syrup from lychee (it’s still useful). Grind fruits in mashed potatoes.
Grate finely, mix with squeezed lime juice, lychee syrup and sugar. Boil the mass for ten minutes, mix with mashed fruit, cool.
Transfer the flavor to the mold and place in the freezer. After two hours, mix the hardening ice cream. If you want to freeze it harder, send it for another two hours to the freezer. Then mix again with a fork, arrange in bowls or bowls and serve.
Recipe 3: Lychee Dessert with Lemon Cream
This delicious warm dessert of lemon cream and fragrant berries disappears from the plate very quickly. But this time is enough to feel all the charm of its most delicate taste, get satisfaction from food and recharge with positive emotions.
Ingredients: fresh or canned lychee (300g). For cream: 3 eggs, 50 g of sugar (1/4 cup.), 50 g of butter, 1 large lemon.
Cooking method
First prepare the cream. Grind eggs with sugar, pour in lemon juice and finely grated zest. Mix everything and put the dishes in a water bath. Those. Fill a large pot with a quarter or third of water. Put in it a smaller saucepan with cream and cook, with constant stirring, until the mass thickens. Remove from the bath, cool slightly, add oil and mix.
Put halves of lychee on the bottom of the mold. If they are fresh - peel and remove the stone, if canned - drain the syrup. Pour the fruit cream and bake (180C), until the top is covered with a golden crust. This usually takes ten to fifteen minutes. Cool slightly and serve.
Lychee - useful tips from experienced chefs
- When buying a lychee, you need to know that the ripe and most delicious fruit will have a rich red peel. If it is too dark, almost burgundy, then the fruit is overripe, perhaps it began to deteriorate. If pale pink or light yellow, then the lychee is not fully ripe.
- Lychee is a perishable product, therefore, for better preservation, fruits can be frozen and kept in the freezer for several months.
