There are two summer fruit that are unique to Chinese, they are only available for 2 months and one will come onto the market one month ahead.

These two unique summer fruit is Lychee and Longan (also called as Dragon Eye). Lychee is probably more known than Longan. These days, you can find lychee flavor in drinks, candy, cookies, snacks and ice cream, of course.  The best lychee comes from southern part of China - Guangdong especially. The orchard has lychee tree that goes back to 100 years. Every summer, there will be "lychee tasting" groups visiting these orchards. There are many different types of lychee, though they are look similar, the best one is those with small pit - we called them in Chinese "glutinous rice bits", they are very juicy, refreshing sweet and believe it or not, filling. In Chinese medicine, lychee is considered "heat food", meaning if you consumer too much, you might suffer sore throat or even cranker sore. They recommend you to drink a full cup of salt water after a lychee feast, to cleanse your body extra heat. Chinese has a saying "one lychee equals to three torches of fire". But they are so tasty and plus we only get to eat them only one month a year!

For the rest of the year, we can only enjoy the canned lychee and the dried lychee. The dried lychee still has its shell, you peel them and eat them like a chewy candy. Those canned lychee, they are usually soaked in heavy syrup, they taste like eating a big lump of sugar. So if you are like me, who loves lychee, you would buy a whole lot, then peel them, pitted them and freeze them. And when you're in that "lychee" moment, add them in your drinks, your ice cream, your cooking or thaw them slightly and eat them. It's not as good as the fresh, but better than the other two.

One of the dishes that I cook with stir fry lychee with shrimp in sweet and sour sauce. It's very easy to make. Or braised chinese herb soup with lychee, chicken and chinese herbs. They are very nutritious and we normally make them during the fall before the winter. You will be surprised how the lychee sweetness and its fragrant adds the perfect touch to the soup.

The other summer fruit is Longan (in Chinese, it's called Dragon Eye), it has a round pit and has a different sweetness than lychee. Lychee has a much stronger and distinct fragrant, while Longan does not have. Longan is considered by Chinese doctors as medicinal fruit. It is also a heat food, but it's not as "hot" as lychee. If you are suffering from sleeping disorder, you can try drinking a hot "longan" tea before you sleep, it helps to calm your nerve.

Dried form of longan is always used in our soup making, it helps to balance our yin and yang. Fresh longan on the other hand is not as commonly used in cooking, more in braising dishes than stir fry. The flavor and sweetness of this fruit can only be drawn out by long cooking time, so they are perfect for braising, soup making.

So if you pass by an Asian grocery , don't hesitate to go there and try them out.  And don't wait, they will disappear very soon, then you have to wait for next year!