With lychees in abundance over the spring and summer months, there’s no better time to start experimenting with these juicy, translucent fruits. We’ve rounded up our favourite lychee recipes to celebrate the season!
Try tossing lychees through a fresh prawn salad for a pop of sweetness or stir them into your favourite cocktail when entertaining. Add unpeeled and peeled lychees to your Christmas dessert platters and grazing boards. For something savoury, our lychee recipes include red duck curry and sesame crusted tuna with grape and lychee salad. Need a quick pick-me-up? Dip fresh lychees in chocolate – yum!
Berry lychee granita with coyo icecream
Lychee and lime muddle
Sesame crusted tuna with grape and lychee salad
Mint and lychee caprioscas
Raspberry and lychee tarts
Duck and lychee curry
Tropical fruit salad with lemon grass & ginger granita
Coconut tapioca puddings with lychee
Endive, lychee and papaya salad with passionfruit dressing
Almond jelly with lychees
Thai chicken and lychee salad
Red pork with lychee curry
Tropical fruit with rosewater syrup
Lychees with passionfruit
Red duck curry with lychees
How to peel lychees
The easiest way to peel a lychee is to slit round the equator of the shell without cutting the fruit. Twist the two halves in opposite directions and lift off the shells. Or, lift off only the shell at the stem end and serve the lychees in their scarlet cups. The seed is not eaten but slips easily from the flesh.
How to choose the best fruit for lychee recipes
Lychees should have fresh-feeling, bright red shells. Greenness means that they are not ripe and will not improve as they don’t ripen after picking. Browning and dryness indicate that their freshness is gone. Fruit with some stem attached will keep longer than fruit without stems. Store lychees in a closed container or a paper bag enclosed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and use within 5–6 days. Canned lychees are available year-round and are good with ice-cream, in cocktails and some recipes, but try to make the most of the fresh fruit while it’s in season.
