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Lychees...what are they?

Posted: June 16th, 2009, 11:54 pm
by KimmyB
Does anyone know what a Lychee is and can we eat it on LDL? Its round with sone kind of shell and about the size of a large olive. I was at the whole foods store tonight and saw them, and the container said peel and eat and deliciously sweet. Wasn't quite sure if it was a veggie or fruit it didn't say. It did say it was grown in Florida. Hopefully someone knows or has had them that can tell me what they might taste like. I would be grateful......thank you  :teeth:

Re: Lychees...what are they?

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 12:05 am
by greenheron
Lychees are a fruit.  I sometimes see them on a Chinese buffet. I know I've tasted them, and they don't have a strong flavor...pleasant, sweet.

I presume as long as they're not packed with added sugar, they'd be fine to eat.

Re: Lychees...what are they?

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 12:10 am
by Mynx
It is a fruit.

One cup of fresh lychee fruit has only 125 calories, more of the antioxidant Vitamin C than oranges or lemons, about as much dietary fiber as an apple with the skin on and is loaded with potassium.

Just be careful that what you buy doesn't have added sugar. It sounds like you described just the fruit? But I know my husband had brought back some lychee things from a friend that were not.

Re: Lychees...what are they?

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 12:39 am
by KimmyB
They were in a plastic fruit container, like what they put blueberries or blackberries in. They were in no water or juice they looked almost like really small kiwis. I had just never seen them or heard of them. So they must have just been the fruit nothing added to them I would think, since they weren't in a sealed package. Thank you so much for your input, might have to try them just to see. :)

Re: Lychees...what are they?

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 5:56 am
by margo
Hi all...

I love lychees and they're in season right now and the price is right!! like around 1.99 a pound.  THey are sugar sweet and covered by a sort of crocodile rind which you peel off and you put that white flesh lychee in your mouth and enoy...there's a biggish seed inside.  It's wonderful.  Now we enjoy them by squeezing the fruit into our bowls of LDL ice cream.  You can buy them now that they're in season and put them (unwashed in their shells) in the freezer -- i suppose you can also take the shells off but i don't see the sense in that until you're ready to use them).  Then in the dead of winter when you want some summer fruit you just take out as many lychees as you want and let them defrost for a half hour and they are WONDERFUL!!    I highly recommend lychees!!  Here's a link so you can see what they look like.


http://images.google.com/images?q=lyche ... =en&tab=wi

God bless!
margo

Re: Lychees...what are they?

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 9:24 am
by niki
i don't see them out by me, margo.....i'm going to ask my brother if they have them in the asian market near him...i've never eaten them....it's funny that there are fruits i've never tasted......when i was in peru, my cousin bought me this fruit i'd never tasted that was DELICIOUS...........i don't even know the name of it.....

Re: Lychees...what are they?

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 9:41 am
by niki
greenheron wrote:Lychees are a fruit.  I sometimes see them on a Chinese buffet. I know I've tasted them, and they don't have a strong flavor...pleasant, sweet.
I presume as long as they're not packed with added sugar, they'd be fine to eat.

THAT'S where i've probably seen them and didn't realize what they were........but, i wonder if the ones in the chinese buffet have sugar on them....anyone know?

Re: Lychees...what are they?

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 11:18 am
by margo
Hi Niki...

As long as you get the lychee while it's still in its shell you shouldn't have to worry about added sugar.  I don't think i've ever tasted a canned lychee although i did taste one cooked in some chinese dish my mom ordered years ago in China Town...i didn't like it cooked, i remember...

They sell them everywhere right now..in all the Chinese markets although i believe that the fruit comes from Colombia...i know they grow there...

The lychee are especially sweet this year....

one caveat....every once in a while you'll get a lychee that is not good...it'll taste bitter or may have a slimy appearance when you open the shell...Don't eat it.  I don't think it'll kill you or anything but it may turn you against lychees.....i don't know if you're a raw clam eater, but it's sort of like that when you get a bad one....it's really gross!  But in the thousands of lychees i've eaten....maybe i've gotten 20 bad ones!  Not too shabby.

Let us know if you love them..

Re: Lychees...what are they?

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 11:41 am
by niki
margo wrote:one caveat....every once in a while you'll get a lychee that is not good...it'll taste bitter or may have a slimy appearance when you open the shell...Don't eat it.  I don't think it'll kill you or anything but it may turn you against lychees.....i don't know if you're a raw clam eater, but it's sort of like that when you get a bad one....it's really gross!  But in the thousands of lychees i've eaten....maybe i've gotten 20 bad ones!  Not too shabby.

remember i'm a nurse....it takes a LOT to gross me out.....but, thanks for the tip, margo....NOW, i just have to make plans to go visit my brother.............