Stir Canned Lychee Into Your Fruit Salad For A Refreshing Twist

Are you looking to spruce up your go-to fruit salad recipe? One simple yet innovative solution is to stir canned lychees into your fruit salad for a refreshing new twist. Lychee is a tropical fruit native to Southern China. They are packed with vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin C and antioxidants. Lychee is often an underutilized hidden gem in the Western culinary world outside of Asian-style desserts. 

Regarding taste, lychee has a subtle floral flavor and defined sweetness. Each bite offers a burst of juice and a delightful crunch in your fruit salad. While the fruit is soft and jelly-like when you touch its flesh, it is surprisingly crispy. Unlike their fresh counterparts, canned lychees come without their characteristic inedible spiky shell, making them an effortless and convenient addition to your dish.  Canned lychee will integrate beautifully with everyday fruit salads like apples, grapes, and citrus. It will also be welcomed in savory salads, like those where you add raisins or dried cranberries. 

Finding canned lychees is straightforward. Many Asian supermarkets stock them, and you can find them in Western chains, especially in the international or Asian food sections. 

Ready to add canned lychee to your fruit salads? Pick up a can or two of canned lychee. Then, begin by draining the canned lychees of their canning syrup or juice.  If you decide not to pour the liquid down the drain, reserve it for later use. Just note the liquid is quite sweet on its own. Then, chop up the canned lychees or leave them whole for a bold presence in your salad.

The canned lychee will blend nicely with the other fruits, enhancing the fruit salad's overall flavor profile. Lychee works well with most fruits, such as berries, citrus fruits, or tropical varieties like mango and pineapple. In savory salads, lychee's sweetness can balance the flavors of leafy greens, nuts, cheese, or even bacon, grilled chicken, shrimp, or other proteins.

As aforementioned, if you choose not to discard the canning syrup or juice, repurpose it into dressings or marinades. Try mixing the lychee syrup with white vinegar, olive oil, and spices to make an easy salad dressing. For your easy marinades, the sweetness of the lychee will balance the savoriness of your meats or vegetables. Finally, the lychee syrup or juice can be diluted with ice, water, or black or green tea for a delicious, sweet beverage. Whether used in sweet fruit salad mixes or as an intriguing element in savory salads, canned lychee introduces a world of flavor possibilities and a refreshing twist.