It’s lychee1 season in Taiwan and the season is not a long one. I swear they’re only in season for like a week or two and then you can’t find them anymore, replaced by longans.2 Now longans are good, but they’re no lychee. Lychees have this floral flavor to them that is just unmatched. Longans are good, but they lack that floral note and have a lighter flavor. Those damn things seem to last the rest of the summer, while the superior lychee is here and gone.
The we bought recently are of the “glutinous rice ball” variety 糯米荔枝, so named because of their resemblance to sticky rice balls. These have seeds that are atrophies slivers, leaving more succulent flesh. Besides the normal “traditional” variety with its fullsize seed, there’s also the “jade purse” variety 玉荷包荔枝, which has a seed in between the size of the other two. They’re all good though.
