Longan is a sweet, grapey fruit native to China and Southeast Asia. Its seed gives it the name “eyeball.” Longan is used in traditional medicine and can be eaten fresh or cooked. It is available canned in syrup.
The longan is a brown-skinned fruit that is said to be the “little brother” of the lychee. It is native to China and Southeast Asia and is a little larger than an olive. Longan has a musky, grapey flavor and is sweeter than a lychee but not as juicy. The longan has whitish, translucent flesh that encases a small black seed, and its skin is pale brown and brittle.
The longan or lungan is sometimes referred to as a dragon’s eye or eyeball in China and as mamoncillo chino in Cuba. It is the seed in the center of the fruit that gave it the name “eyeball.” The seed is shiny and glossy black with a circular white spot at the base, giving it the appearance of an eyeball. In China, longan is used more often in traditional medicine than as an edible fruit.
Longan thrives at higher elevations and can handle more frost than lychee. The longan tree was introduced to Florida in 1903 and was grown in a few other locations, but it never became very popular. It has been known to grow easily in Hawaii, but again it’s not as popular there as lychee.
There are several types of longan. Hei ho shih hsia is a longan with black seeds and Chin ch’i ho shih hsia is with brown seeds. The flesh of these types of longan is crunchier and sweeter than other varieties of the fruit.
Other variations of the fruit include the Wu Yuan, which is very small, sour, and mostly used for canning. Hua Kioh has very thin, almost tasteless flesh, and its quality is very poor. She is the largest fruit in the longan family, with rough skin and a large seed; the quality is low and part of the juice is found between the peel and the pulp.
When stored at room temperature, longan will stay fresh for several days. Longan can be frozen and, unlike lychee, will not break down quickly. Longans are usually eaten fresh, but you can also cook the fruit. They are also available canned in syrup.
Longan is also a medicine. The meat is considered an antidote for poison, while the dried meat has been used as a cure for insomnia. In Vietnam, the seed or eye of the fruit is pressed against a snakebite to absorb the venom.
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