It's Lilikoi & Lychee Season! + simple recipes

Some of our favorite tropical fruits is coming into season here on Kaua’i

… Lychee & Lilikoi …

We are beginning to see an uptick in fruit varieties at our farmers markets. 

Lychee is especially great for puree’s, ceviche, sauces, chutneys, whip into sweet breads, mixed drinks or just have them as they are raw. If you’ve never experienced Lychee they may look a bit intimidating at first, with scaly bumpy red skin you have to de-skin them first to get to the sweetness inside. The best way to open is to bite into the skin to just barely touch the fruit flesh and then peel, make sure not to bite into too deep because there is a hard seed in the middle. Lychee’s are native to Southeastern Asia and great sources of Vitamin B, Vitamin C, and potassium. When choosing your lychee make sure they are bright red and don’t have any burn marks which are brown discoloration too them. One of our favorite ways to use lychee outside of eating them as they are is to chop the flesh and add to a ceviche. Use the acid of lime or lemon to toss with your favorite fish, add red onion, grated ginger, serrano or hawaiian chili peppers, toss some salt onto it and add some cilantro for garnish. Voila, an amazingly delicious ceviche to serve for any occasion. 

Lilikoi, aka ‘passion fruit’  is a sweet and tangy fruit grown from a vine, that’s especially great with mixed drinks or mixed into sweet treats. There are a few varieties of Lilikoi here on Kaua’i. The more traditional is the yellow or brown hard shell fruits. When choosing this variety the ones with a few crinkles or wrinkles have matured a bit longer and will be more sweet in flavor. Another variety is the Jamaican Lilikoi, it’s a softer shell and has a yellow orange sherbert color. These are extra sweet and delicious on their own or made into a butter or jam. You can make a jam from this delicious fruit with a few simple ingredients, add a few (5) ripe mangoes, (1) lime juiced, 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla, boil together for about 20 min stirring continuously, allow to cool and refrigerate. Use on anything and enjoy!