Brother Sprout has found a new fruit he likes. They are in season here in Honduras and you can find them sold on the streets and street markets. I haven't seen them at the super market though. The name of the fruit is pronounced sounding like "leeches" in English, as in the things that will suck your blood. I'm not sure what spelling they use here, but here are a few ways I found at Wikipedia:
The Lychee (Litchi chinensis), also spelled Litchi (the U.S. FDA spelling) or Laichi, is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. It is a tropical fruit tree native to southern China. It is also found south to Indonesia and east to the Philippines.
Aren't they cute little things
You break them open and inside hides a tasty white fleshed fruit
There is a seed inside and you have to eat around that. The taste is similar to a grape, I think.
14 comments:
Congratulations to brother Sprout! I was always too suspicious of new foods to try the Lychee...even though we had a tree in our own back yard!
I lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve Lychee!!!!
Although, I think that fruit is *technically* not a lychee. I did some web-searching on it a while back because it doesn't look the same as Asian lychee. I think it's called Rambutan, and is a close relative. Some people in other Central American countries also call it "mamon" as I recall. I think that sounds kinda bad though...
Anyway, everyone in Honduras calls it lychee, so what the hey.
Sure is tasty.
Ranty you are so right! They are technically Rambutan. I looked it up. My first roommate in college was Thai/American and I remember her eating them a lot from a can.
Wow, the fruit inside looks just like a mamon which i love, never had a lychee though! Does it taste similar? The outside of the fruit doesn't look anything like a mamon though. oh oh, I just found a thing on mamons on wikipedia that say the fruits are related and similar. I'll have to make sure to look for them next time I'm in Trujillo!
Funny thing in reference to the comment above about mamon sounding bad. I was talking about native foods that I love to a friend from Mexico and he about fell out when I referred to mamons because in Mexico the word is a 'bad word' hee hee!! oops!
Here in Honduras we call them "Lichas"...they are delicious, but I have seen that they refer to them in the newspapers, as Rambután. "Mamones" are green in the outside and are not "hairy" as the lychee. They are similar, but don't have the same taste.
Wow! I've never heard or seen anything like this in my life! I didn't even see these when I was there! (and I thought Honduras' pineapple was all that lol!) These are a really pretty color.
Next time I go there I'll have to try one! :)
ummmmmm
hey guys this fruit is the best fruit you all can ever eat here in honduras we called leecha,(peludas) wich means hairy" because of the look of her shell the real name is rambutan and proud to say that i have heard frm profesors of unversitys that only grows aorund honduras,east of guatemala,& el salvador but more in honduras its wild grow near to the rivers its my fav. mamon!!!!! its a tropical fruit in english known as guinep its green you can find it sour sweet&sour sweet and super sour jajajaja you can find it all over the caribean in the cayman islands they are everywhere honduras also you can also try the sea grapes they are yumyyyyyyyyy
later foxs
im from costa rica, and we call them "mamon chino"
tomelo papa
Those aren't Lychees, they're Rambutan.
Lychees are more-heart shaped; and they don't have the spines that Rambutan does.
Thanks Myles, yes we did establish that they are in fact Rambutan, but locally...they are still called lychees. I've seen them labeled both in the grocery store. Who knows why?
Does anyone know how to get a hold of these in the U.S? Im american but part costa rican, and I"ve always loved these they were my favorite as a kid and still are. I've been trying to find a company that imports them with no luck. Also, do they by chance grow in Hawaii?
I know they do have them in Hawaii because my cousin just had some for the first time while on her honeymoon there.
You can buy canned lychees at the grocery store (Asian section) but these are not rambutan and canned fruit...>OP
Sometimes whole foods had them. I've even recently seen them in Wal-Mart
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