how to eat lychee (chef's guide and easy way to peel)

Lychees are my favorite delicious tropical fruit. They have a unique flavor that's sweet and delicately floral, with a light melon taste that's simply irresistible! Their plump, juicy texture makes lychee perfect for snacking on or using in all kinds of sweet and savory Asian cuisine-inspired dishes.

As a chef and dietitian with a deep love for Asian ingredients (especially ones I grew up eating in Taiwan), I'll guide you through how to eat lychee—whether you’re peeling them for the first time or looking for new ways to use them in recipes. From selecting the freshest fruit to effortless peeling techniques, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know. Plus, I’ll share a few of my favorite lychee pairings, tips, and recipes that showcase its versatility in both sweet and savory dishes.

✨ quick facts

• name: lychee (荔枝) lìzhī in Mandarin, Chinese; nāi-chi in Taigi Taiwanese. Sometimes spelled litchi.
• origin: Southern China, Northern Vietnam, Thailand, and possibly other parts of Southeast Asia.
• lychee season: the most popular varieties in the US are available from May through early July, with the peak season in June.
• storage time: up to 10 days in the refrigerator if properly stored (I’ll show you step by step below).
• can be found: most commonly found as fresh fruit (raw and unpeeled) or canned. They’re also made into jellies (popular as a dessert and bubble tea topping), juices, and syrups, and are sometimes dried or frozen.
• uses: fresh fruit is delicious as-is but tastes amazing as a shaved ice or aiyu topping. Use pureed or whole lychee to make floral drinks. They can also be used in smoothies, frozen desserts, relishes, salads, even in savory dishes, and so much more. See more details below.

🍓 what is a lychee?

Lychee is a unique tropical fruit known as a "drupe" or "stone fruit." This refers to tree-growing fruits that have soft flesh and a single seed inside. It's the only member of the soapberry genus, although lychee are not actually berries. They're small round fruits (similar to a golf ball or ping pong ball size).

They are a popular fruit throughout Asia, and during the peak summer months are enjoyed fresh as a snack or light dessert. In regions like Taiwan and China, lychees are also often added to shaved ice and other frozen treats, fruit teas, or even included in savory dishes like stir-fries and marinades.

Before eating, the tough skin is peeled off. What's left is the soft, sweet translucent white flesh of the fruit and a single seed that you can eat around or easily remove.

💭 what do lychees taste like

As I discuss below, there are many varieties of lychee fruit, each with its unique taste. But they do have some universally similar traits! Mainly, they all tend to have a single hard pit in the center, slightly soft flesh that resembles a plump concord grape, and a light floral smell.

Specific flavors and intensity will vary, but most lychee tastes sweet with a delicate floral flavor. Some also have a slight melon or stronger rose flavor. Others are tart or have an acidic taste, while some can lean bitter - but in a pleasant way!

😋 how to eat lychee

It requires a little bit of effort and finesse to peel and deseed a lychee. But it's much easier than you might think, and absolutely worth the effort!

🔪 how to peel and cut lychee

First, I'll show you an easy method for peeling and cutting fresh lychee!

tip: Don't peel until right before eating, unless you're preparing the lychees to be pureed or frozen.

Here's a quick 15-second video or you can follow the step-by-step photos below:

To peel, hold each lychee upright with both hands.

Pierce the top widthwise with your thumbnail, or carefully with a small pairing knife.

Lightly press each side of the cut with your thumbs to pry the peel open.

Now you can easily pull apart the peel from both sides.

Pull the peel of the lychee down and twist the peel at the stem to remove it.

To remove the seed (optional), cut the top of the lychee to easily split it open and remove the seed from the center.

how to use lychees

1. fresh fruit – peel right before eating, sometimes over the sink if they’re extra juicy. Eat around the seed as you would with cherries. They taste extra flavorful when chilled.
2. as a topping for desserts – leave whole, or deseed and add to baobing (shaved ice), bubble tea, aiyu jelly, or any other chilled desserts. 
3. make into refreshing and floral drinks – puree the fruit to use as the base of blended drinks or make sweet and delicious lychee juice. Or use whole fruit or pieces as a tasty garnish. Here's a simple lychee mocktail for inspiration.
4. use in smoothies and frozen desserts – deseed and freeze to make into sorbets, ice cream, a granita, ice pops, or easily add to smoothies.
5. add to teas – add to green tea, make Taiwanese fruit tea, or add to a jasmine bubble tea.
6. in salads and relishes - include chopped lychee in fruit salads or as a sweet pop on a fresh green salad.
7. in savory dishes – glazed or caramelized lychee go well with pork, like a seared pork chop or pork tenderloin dish.
8. use in marinade – I would use canned lychee in this case since fresh ones have a more delicate flavor.
9. add to stir-fry dishes – add to stir-fried dishes at the end to enhance flavors with a hint of sweetness.
10. make into lychee jelly / jello – jellies taste great as a dessert or bubble tea topping.
11. make into a syrup – any extra fruit can be used to make lychee syrup that you can later add to teas or use as a dessert topping.

Lychee pairs well with mango, yuzu, pineapple, passion fruit, lighter lighter-flavored teas such as green tea and jasmine tea. Lychees are also fabulous with floral syrups like osmanthus syrup.

📝 recipes

Taiwanese shaved ice with fresh lychees

Lychee shaved ice (Taiwanese baobing) is the perfect light and refreshing dessert for any season, but especially summer! It features scoops of fluffy shaved ice topped with homemade ginger syrup, diced pink pineapple, and fresh lychees to enjoy as a fun and elegant treat.

make lychee Taiwanese shaved ice (baobing)

lychee mocktail

This easy lychee drink highlights the delicious yet delicate flavor profile without overpowering it – I've included one other ingredient that makes the perfect flavor pairing. This nonalcoholic lychee martini-style drink just may become your go-to sipper or mocktail if you love lychees!

make this easy refreshing lychee drink

🛒 where to buy lychee

When in season (it's a short 1-2 months!), fresh versions can be ordered from farms in Hawaii, California, and Florida (where they are sometimes known as alligator strawberry). One of my favorites is the Kaimana lychees from the Hula Brothers farm because they’re harvested at peak ripeness.

Our family of 2 can easily go through 2 cases each season when we have the means to buy them (ordered 1 case at a time for freshness). While others like to split a case with friends and family. We go through a 10-pound case in about 4-7 days, enjoying them after meals.

tip: I recommend buying them 1-2 weeks after the early season since that’s when they’re the sweetest.

They can also be found at local Taiwanese, Chinese, and other Asian grocery stores (such as 99 Ranch) in the produce aisles, and online Asian markets like Weee! (*affiliate link). I’ve tried many from grocery stores, but they’ve never tasted as good as ones direct from farms. Sometimes the lychees in grocery stores are harvested before the fruit is fully ripe, so they can be more tart than sweet.

And canned lychees can be found year-round! Though this version usually has a stronger flavor and tastes more tart than fresh ones. They lack the delicate, floral sweetness that fresh ones have.

👩🏻‍🌾 how to pick lychee

Look for signs that the summer fruit was picked shortly after ripening. A perfectly ripe lychee will have skin that is mostly firm, but not hard. The feeling is similar to an avocado, with a slight soft give when gently squeezed. Depending on the variety, many ripe lychees will also have a vibrant red or pinkish-red hue and smell sweet.

Here are more tips for what you should look for - and what you should avoid - when selecting lychees at the market.

• firm, vibrant skin – the outside of the lychee should be tight, but you should feel a slight give when gently pressed. Look for a bright pink-to-red color, although a bit of browning is okay. Some varieties have bumpy skin while others are smoother.
• dry exterior – choose fruits that are dry on the outside and have not been washed yet.
• sweet and floral smell – ripe fruits may even have a subtle sweet and floral scent.
• avoid – stay away from lychees that have turned brown and/or have bruised, soft, punctured, or slimy skins. Also be wary of any fruit that have an off, sour smell as that usually means they have gone bad and are starting to ferment.

💭 how to wash and store

Make sure to pick out any that have bruises or tears in the skin before rinsing and storing so you don’t risk spoiling the whole batch. Most of these can be washed and eaten right away, but toss any that have a strong sour or fermented smell.

When properly stored and kept dry, they can last up to 5-10 days.

Rinse fresh lychees with cold water (don't let them soak in water).

Drain the washed lychee, then place them on a clean kitchen towel to dry.

Use the towel to gently pat dry, then allow them to air dry for 5-10 minutes.

Once they are totally dry, transfer them to a paper towel-lined container with a lid and store them in the refrigerator.

🌿 different varieties

The are many different varieties of lychee and not all are equal. Each one tastes different, have different water content, seed sizes, and texture. They’re grown in many areas worldwide. This includes but is not limited to, Australia, China, India, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, and the US (Hawaii, California, and Florida). Some of the more commonly accessible ones in the United States include:

• Kaimana Lychee (grown in Hawaii) – One of my favorites. Has a relatively smooth, thin reddish skin that’s easy to peel, large, juicy fruit, and a smaller seed compared to others.
• Fei Zi Xiao (grown in China) – Medium-large, sweet, juicy, with a small-medium sized seed. Yellow, orangish red, spiky skin. Other name: Concubine Smiles.
• Groff (grown in Hawaii) – Smaller fruit, available late season.
• Brewster (grown in California) – Red, large fruit that’s more acidic with a larger seed. Other names include Chen’s purple, Chen Zi, Chen Tzu.
• Tai Tso, also known as Mauritius (grown in California, Florida, China) – Medium-size fruit with large seeds, available early season. Has a sweet and tart flavor. Other name: Hong Huey, Da Zao.
• Wai Chee (grown in Florida) – Other names: Huai Zhi, Kim Cheng, and Wai Chi.
• Bosworth 3, also known as Kwai May Pink (grown in Australia) – Yellow to yellow pink or orangish red, skin with sharp spikes, available late season.
• Kwai May Red, also known as Kwai Mi – Small fruit size.
• Souey Tung (grown in China) – Dark dull red, thin smooth skin, available mid-season.
• Bengal – Red skin, large seed. Other name: Rose Scented.
• Hak Ip (grown in Taiwan, China, and other parts of Asia) – Thin skin, medium to large fruit with small seed. Other names include Woo Yip, Baidum, Oh Hai, Haak Yip. Hei Ye, and Black Leaf.
• Emperor (grown in Florida, China, and many parts worldwide) – One of the larger varieties, juicy and sweet with a slight tartness, medium-sized seed, though not always available since they’re more difficult to grow.
• Sweet Cliff – Reddish, thin skin with medium-sized seed. Other names: Tim Naan, Tian Yan. 
• Sweetheart (grown in Florida, Australia, China, and many parts worldwide) – Juicy and sweet with a relatively small seed, though larger than Kaimana lychee seeds.

Out of all the varieties I’ve tried, these are my top picks for size, flavor, and juice content. Plus, these are all relatively easy to peel. 

Where and how the lychee is grown (factors like climate and soil conditions) can affect its flavor and other characteristics.

💭 faq

💭 final expert thoughts

As a chef and dietitian with extensive experience, I've had the pleasure of sharing my love for lychee in various culinary spaces. I was even featured alongside Chef Masaharu Morimoto and Judy Leung from The Woks of Life in a Martha Stewart article, where we shared tips on how to store and use fresh lychee to maximize its flavor and versatility.

And now you're practically an expert, too! I hope my step-by-step guide inspires you to enjoy this sweet and juicy fruit at home, just as I have in Taiwan and the States.

Let me know your favorite way to lychee in the comment section below!

Happy cooking! ~ Cindy 周昀

🍧 recipe pairings

Here are some favorite recipes that use fresh lychees and ones that pair well it!