Lychee's Cousin

I've written in the past about the exotic fruits we have discovered while living in Southeast Asia, but my children have a favorite I don't think I've mentioned before. Emily was the first to fall in love with longan and Megan and Elizabeth have since followed suit.

Longan resembles a lychee and rambutan (the hairy lychee) in size and shape but I think the girls find it sweeter than the others. It originated in China and the Chinese believe it can help with insomnia, stomach aches and that it nourishes the blood and calms the nervous system. Yes, those all sound like good reasons to provide ample quantities to my children!

Emily asks for longan almost as often as strawberries and given the price difference between the two, I'm going to encourage longan while living here. Most longan we buy comes from Thailand and that's a bonus because I still do my best to avoid fresh food from China whenever possible. Brian laughs at Emily's longan requests because he sees it as one more way our youngest is becoming Asian in her tastes.

Emily displays the components of a longan

I personally find the longan a bit high maintenance in terms of eating because the entire fruit is slightly larger than a grape. You peel the dry, brown skin and then in the middle of the meat, you'll find a substantial black seed. I would prefer to just eat seedless grapes. But the girls see the peeling and de-seeding process as part of the fun of eating the fruit.

The Dean darlings should enjoy as much longan as possible here because I doubt I'll buy it much back in Texas.

Loving My Longan