Lychees

Left: Ripe lychee fruit


In the 1970's, the American government gave aid to thousands of Hmong refugees, a nationality that is from the southeast region of Asia, primarily Laos. Many of them were relocated to the city I live in, which has resulted in a kaleidoscope of exotic new foods, celebrations and traditions.





Another result of this union is the opening of many Asian specialty stores, which are within walking distance from my home. I frequent these stores for new ingredients to incorporate into my cooking experiments. My current focus is on lychees.





The lychee (pronounced litchi) is a sweet, juicy fruit that is indigenous to the southern regions of China. It has a tough outer exterior that is inedible but can easily be peeled away from the fruit. The uses of lychees are endless. It can be eaten fresh, canned, in sauces, in drinks and can even be used to make honeys and candy.

Two things that I plan to make using canned lychees and lychee juice, as fresh lychees are currently unavailable to me, are lychee martinis and scallops in a spicy-sweet lychee sauce. Both are fairly easy to make. The scallops in lychee sauce is a recipe adopted from one of my favorite chefs, chef Ming Tsai and follows:

Seared Lychee Scallops in Champagne-Butter Sauce
Serves 4

1/4 cup lychee syrup, from canned lychees
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 teaspoon madras curry powder
12 large scallops, day boat preferable, dried, foot removed
2 shallots, minced
1/4 cup 1/4-inch dice lychees
1 cup Champagne
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chive batons, for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Canola oil to cook

Pour lychee syrup into a small dish. In a pie plate, combine rice flour and curry powder.
Season the scallops on both sides and dip in syrup and then flour/curry mix.
In a saute pan over medium-high heat coated lightly with oil, sear the scallops until browned on both sides, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Remove scallops to a plate.
In same pan, add shallots and lychees, season and saute for 2 minutes. Deglaze with Champagne and reduce by 75%. Whisk in butter, check for seasoning.
Plate scallops and spoon Champagne-butter sauce over. Garnish with chive batons.

I will let you know how it turns out after I successfully make it!