Longan

Dimocarpus longan · Tropical fruit

40 pairings

The longan (Dimocarpus longan) is a small round subtropical fruit of the soapberry family and a close kin of the lychee and rambutan, named "dragon eye" (lóngyǎn) in Chinese because a peeled fruit — translucent, glassy flesh wrapped around a single shiny black seed showing through — looks startlingly like an eyeball. The thin, tan-to-brown leathery shell snaps off to reveal a juicy, sweet, faintly musky aril; drier, browner and far less perfumed than the lychee, the longan is eaten fresh but is above all dried in vast quantity for Chinese soups, teas and tonics.

Picking a good onedrag

Bright shell, tight and heavyDull, slack, fermenting

Shop freshDays off the tree and fading slowly. Eat out of hand, or peel and stone them into fruit salads and cold sweet soups. Shell and stone are both discarded.Everyday best

ShellA shade duller, browning at the shoulders

SqueezeFirm with a little give

Twigs and clusterTwigs drying pale, most fruit still attached

Peel oneStill translucent, the musk gone quieter

What to look for, from bright shell, tight and heavy to dull, slack, fermenting.

What one gives you

53%

Usable yield

3.2 g aril · shell and stone off · SR28 refuse 47%

6 g

Typical weight

one specimen

Keeping ittap a band

A domestic fridge holds it about 3× longer than the counter.

Humidity

90-95%

AH-66 calls drying out longan's main problem: in dry air the bright shell dulls to brown within days. Bag them, and leave the fruit on its twigs.

Airflow

Bagged, never misted

AH-66 says do not mist longan - wet shells feed the fungi that brown and rot them. A perforated bag on a fridge shelf, shells kept dry.

Preparing