Lychee - Description
Lychee, or Chinese plum, is an oval or rounded fruit the size of a large grape. Its appearance is not appetizing at all, as such it is made by a red or pinkish peel, covered with small peaked pimples. But it is quite fragile and easy to clean with your hands. And under this rough shell there is a tender, juicy and sweet white flesh, similar in taste to currants, raspberries, grapes and rose petal jam.
True pulp in one berry is not so much, because it hides a rather large oval bone. By the way, this dark brown bone in white flesh reminds the Chinese of the dragon's eye, this is the unofficial name for this fruit in China. After peeling, litchi is consumed just like cherries - they eat juicy, fragrant pulp, leaving a bone.
Fruits grow in clusters at medium height trees with a spreading crown. The tree is blooming rather densely, with umbellate buds up to seventy centimeters long. But from one inflorescence with numerous flowers only five to fifteen fruits ripen, the other flowers crumble. Lychee is home to China. But now it is cultivated in many countries with a subtropical climate. Chinese plum has spread throughout Southeast Asia, where it is one of the most popular fruits. Oddly enough, but the plant does not like the humid equatorial climate. It simply does not bear fruit there. For a comfortable existence, it needs a warm climate with cool but dry winters.
Lychee - useful properties
Lychee have a fairly rich composition of nutrients. They contain vitamins H, groups B, E, K, C, trace elements such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, selenium and many disaccharides, dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates. Litchi is useful to use in atherosclerosis, anemia, diabetes, gastritis, liver disease, to strengthen the heart, blood vessels, lower cholesterol, normalize the bowels and stomach. This fruit tones the body, gives vitality, energizes and is a strong aphrodisiac.
Lychee does not contain any specific contraindications, except for individual intolerance. When buying it, it is only necessary to pay attention to the freshness of fruits, because only whole, not crumpled and not spoiled fruits contain all the beneficial substances in full. The color of the fresh fruit should not be too dark and have defects and damage.
Litchi - Calorie
Caloric content of 100 g of litchi is 66 kcal.
Litchi - use in cooking
Lychee is a very tasty and sweet fruit, so they are often eaten fresh. And in order to diversify desserts or dishes, give a new, or shade the main flavor, it can be added to salads - meat, vegetable or fruit, pastries, used as a filling. Lychee is made into juice, wine, tasty spicy sauce, added to fish and meat dishes, served with shrimps.
This fruit is rather perishable, it does not tolerate transportation, so most of it is allowed to be preserved, frozen or simply dried.
Lychee's Recipe Examples
Recipe 1: Lychee Pie
The principle of making this cake is interesting - each fruit is wrapped in a piece of dough, it turns out such a round pie. And from these roundels a big pie is laid out in the form of a bunch of grapes (a triangle), or a turtle (round or oval shape). It turns out original and, of course, delicious. If using fresh fruits, do not forget to peel them.
Ingredients: 500g of flour, a glass of sugar, 150g of margarine, 1/4 teas. soda, 5 eggs (4 per dough + 1 for grease), 15-20 lychees (canned or fresh). Method of preparation
Soften margarine and grind with sugar. You can stir with a spoon or a whisk. Add the eggs, stir well and pour the flour with soda, kneading the dough. Divide it into small pieces (about the size of a goose egg). Roll each piece into a cake three or four millimeters thick, cut it crosswise, and put litchi on each piece. The edges of the test pinch and roll up the ball. The result is a small round pie filled with whole fruit. Put the pies on a baking sheet, laying tightly to each other, in the form of any shape, brush with egg and bake for ten to fifteen minutes (230C). Preheat the oven and grease the pan.
Recipe 2: Strawberry and Lychee Ice Cream
This fragrant dessert will cool you pleasantly on a hot day and leave an unforgettable aftertaste. It is a puree of strawberries and lychee, frozen to a crumb of ice. So that the ice cream doesn’t catch an ice block, two hours after freezing it will be necessary to crumble it with a fork and mix. For dessert, it is recommended to use canned lychee with syrup.
Ingredients: 1 kg of fresh strawberries, 500g of lychee (canned), a piece of ginger 2-3 cm, 2 limes (juice), 50g of sugar.
Method of preparation
Wash strawberries. With lychee drain syrup (it is still useful). Grind fruit in mashed potatoes.
Ginger finely grate, mix with pressed lime juice, lychee syrup and sugar. Boil the mass for ten minutes, mix with fruit puree, cool.
Put the fragrant mass in the form and place in the freezer. Two hours later, stir the frozen ice cream. If you want to freeze it harder, send another two hours in the freezer. Then mix again with a fork, spread on pialas or creamers and serve.
Recipe 3: Lychee Dessert with Lemon Cream
This delicious warm dessert of lemon cream and aromatic berries disappears from the plate very quickly. But this time is enough to feel the beauty of his most delicate taste, to get satisfaction from the food and recharge yourself with positive emotions.
Ingredients: fresh or canned lychee (300g). For cream: 3 eggs, 50g of sugar (1/4 glass), 50 g of butter, 1 large lemon.
Method of preparation
First make the cream. Rub eggs with sugar, pour in lemon juice and finely grated zest. Mix everything and put the dishes in the water bath. Those. fill a large pot with a quarter or third with water. Put in a smaller saucepan with the cream and cook, with constant stirring, until the mass thickens. Remove from the bath, cool slightly, add oil and mix.
Lay the litchi halves on the bottom of the mold. If they are fresh, clean and remove the bone; if canned, drain the syrup. Fruits pour cream and bake (180C) until the top is covered with a golden crust. It usually takes ten to fifteen minutes. Cool slightly and serve.
Litchi - useful tips from experienced chefs
- When you buy litchi you need to know that the most ripe and tasty fruit will have a peel of red saturated color. If it is too dark, almost maroon, then the fruit is overripe, it may have begun to deteriorate. If pale pink or light yellow, then the litchi is not fully ripe.
- Lychee is a perishable product, so for better preservation, fruit can be frozen and kept in the freezer for several months.
