Lychee

Imperial Chinese delicacy

Lychee has been cultivated in southern China for over 2,000 years, and was a luxury good of the imperial court. The Tang dynasty Emperor Xuanzong’s consort Yang Guifei famously demanded fresh lychees from Guangzhou — so an elaborate horse-relay system was developed to ship the fragile fruit thousands of kilometers in days.

Tang and Song dynasty poetry references lychees frequently as symbols of luxury, summer, and impermanence. The fruit has long appeared in Chinese painting and decorative arts.

Translucent flesh

A peeled lychee has the appearance of a small translucent grape — the flesh is glassy, faintly cloudy, almost gelatinous. The flavor is intensely floral with citrus and rose notes; the texture is firm but yielding.

A single hard brown seed sits in the center, separating cleanly from the flesh.

How to peel one

A ripe lychee opens easily. Press a thumbnail into the rough shell to crack it; peel the shell back like an orange. The flesh slips out clean. Eat the flesh, spit the seed.

A short season, fragile fruit

Like rambutan and longan, lychees are highly perishable. They:

• Brown rapidly after picking — within hours, the bright red shell turns dark.
• Lose flavor quickly if not refrigerated.
• Don’t ripen further after picking.

Outside of growing regions, fresh lychees are commonly air-shipped at premium prices for a brief 6-week season. Canned lychees in light syrup are the year-round alternative — different in texture but useful in cocktails and desserts.

A quirky toxicity

Unripe lychees contain hypoglycin A (the same toxin in unripe ackee) and a related compound. Eating large quantities of unripe lychees on an empty stomach has been linked to outbreaks of severe hypoglycemia in malnourished children in northern India and Vietnam. Ripe lychees are safe.