Lychee

Litchi chinensis · Tropical fruit

40 pairings

The lychee (Litchi chinensis) is a small subtropical fruit of the soapberry family, instantly known by its bumpy, leathery, rose-red rind and the translucent, jelly-like white flesh inside. Intensely sweet, low in acid and famously perfumed — all rose, citrus and grape — it is eaten fresh out of hand, canned in syrup, and dried into the chewy "lychee nut," and its floral terpene profile makes it a signature note in cocktails and desserts.

Picking a good onedrag

Bright, tight, just pickedBrown, weeping, fermenting

Shop freshSalads, sorbets, cocktails - wherever the perfume shows.Everyday best

Shell colourRed fading to tan at the tips

SqueezeFirm to hard, no give at all

Stem endStub brown and dry, still tight

SmellFaint sweetness, little else

What to look for, from bright, tight, just picked to brown, weeping, fermenting.

What one gives you

60%

Usable yield

9.6 g of aril - shell and seed off

16 g

Typical weight

one specimen

Keeping ittap a band

A domestic fridge holds it about 5× longer than the counter.

Humidity

90-95%

Dry air is what browns a lychee, not cold: bag it or box it. Left bare on a fridge shelf the shell tans within a day or two.

Airflow

Still air, keep it bagged

Keep it bagged. Moving air strips water from the thin shell and turns it brown; loosely closed is enough, sealed and damp invites rot.

Neither ripens nor ripens others

Non-climacteric and barely makes any ethylene, so it neither ripens on the counter nor pushes its neighbours along. It just gets older.

Preparing