Recipes for Lychee

August 17, 2009 6:19 AM

I received some lychee as a gift and I'm not sure what to do with them. Can anyone recommend some recipes that use lychee?
posted by defben to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

Jungle curry!
posted by hnnrs at 6:32 AM on August 17, 2009

I assume you've seen this; it looks like a good place to start.

To be honest though, if these are fresh lychees, there's no better way than to just peel them and pop them in your mouth.
posted by hellopanda at 6:40 AM on August 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

They are great snacks. Cuddle up to a nice movie with a big bowl of lychees and enjoy!
posted by gushn at 6:42 AM on August 17, 2009

If they're fresh, I would just eat them. They're fantastic fresh. Canned, meh. It's like the difference between fresh peaches and canned.
posted by electroboy at 6:44 AM on August 17, 2009

Yes, seconding the recommendation to just eat them.
posted by pravit at 6:54 AM on August 17, 2009

Lychee Martini
posted by swngnmonk at 6:56 AM on August 17, 2009

They can be a good addition to a tropical fruit salad... I do grapefruit, lychee, and mango, with a bit of fresh mint and real vanilla bean. I imagine some coconut in there too would be awesome.

But nthing just eating them. God, I love lychee.
posted by olinerd at 7:11 AM on August 17, 2009

A friend of mine just spent a month eating lychees as part of an art project. This is from her blog:

Lychee Smoothie
a healthy handful of frozen mango chunks (about 12 pcs.)
a generous pour of blueberry juice
1 1/2 small scoops of vanilla whey protein powder
1 serving of Greek yogurt (the honey-on-the-bottom kind)
5 lychees (from a can)
about 6 ice cubes
posted by lholladay at 8:02 AM on August 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

To take swngnmonk's suggestion further (specifically, into a Halloween theme), you can try a Mad Eye Martini.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 8:48 AM on August 17, 2009

Food Network. Ming Tsai. Epicurious.
posted by JABof72 at 10:07 AM on August 17, 2009

I would eat them out of hand if they are fresh. However, I had the best lychee smoothie at a neighborhood restaurant: frozen lychees blended with cold condensed milk. Yum!
posted by oneirodynia at 10:21 AM on August 17, 2009

If canned, make some sort of lychee sangria.
posted by o0dano0o at 12:37 PM on August 17, 2009

My restaurant does a great lychee mojito...muddle mint, slices if lime, simple syrup, brown sugar, then add dark rum, pureed lychee and soda water. Amazing!
posted by assasinatdbeauty at 3:10 PM on August 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

If you do decide to just peel and eat them, stick them in the fridge for a bit first. It's like eating refreshing little cups of joy.
posted by vespertine at 8:17 PM on August 17, 2009

swngnmonk: "Lychee Martini"

Yes! I had a lychee-tini at a restaurant once and it was awesome!
posted by radioamy at 11:15 AM on August 18, 2009