What Is Lychee? And How to Use It

Petite and bearing the nickname ‘alligator strawberry,’ lychee is a small tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia. It’s got a long and storied history in Cantonese culture, which can be traced back to ancient times. But today, it also grows in warm regions of the United States, like Hawaii and Florida, and is slowly gaining popularity thanks to its easy-to-peel nature and sweet, almost musky, flavor.

See more: What Is Yellow Watermelon?

All About Lychee

Lychee may be a bit harder to find here in the States, but it’s a staple in Southeast Asia. It’s been grown commercially in China and India for a long time and was first introduced to the West in the late 1700s in Jamaica. When it comes to production in the United States, these little trees didn’t gain commercial significance until the early 1900s in Florida.

What Does Lychee Taste Like?

If you’ve never tasted lychee, you might be a little confused to learn that people seem to disagree on its primary flavor. Some say it tastes like a combination of strawberry and watermelon, while others say it has more of a floral, rose water essence. Whether you taste more fruity or floral notes, most agree that lychee has a sweet, strong and fragrant scent.

How to Use Lychee

Lychee’s curious tropical flavor makes it a great candidate for daytime snacking. You can easily remove the husk and eat it like a cherry, popping the whole thing in your mouth and spitting out the seed. If a lychee is ripe, the skin will easily slide right off.

You can also incorporate lychee into a number of recipes. One of the most popular ways to use them is in fruit salads, often paired with other tropical fruits like mangoes, coconut and pineapple. You can make tropical jellies, fruity margaritas and smoothies or summery desserts like our Strawberry-Lychee Shortcakes with Coconut Whipped Cream.

Where to Buy Lychee

You may not have the best luck spotting these are your local supermarket, although it’s still worth a peek next time you’re doing your weekly grocery shopping. If you happen to live in Florida, you might be lucky enough to visit a farm and pick your own. But for the rest of us, the best chance of scoring these tropical beauties is at local Asian markets or online (where you can often find them vacuum-sealed, dried or canned).

See more: What Are White Strawberries?

Storing Lychee

Lychee is one of those funny fruits that ferments as it ages, which means you may want to take extra care to store it properly once you get it home. Wrap the unpeeled fruits in a paper towel, place them in a plastic bag and store them in the fridge. The sooner you use them, the better they will taste, but they’ll last up to a week in the fridge if stored properly. You can also freeze lychees. Put them in a plastic bag, remove as much air as possible, and tuck them away for future smoothies, syrups or jellies.