From the outside, fresh lychees are generally not very brightly colored. Those with an exceptionally vibrant hue and no impurities are likely to have been artificially treated by unscrupulous vendors. Selecting lychees is a three-step process.Step 2: The Squeeze Test
When selecting, you can first give them a gentle squeeze in your hand. A good lychee should feel firm and springy. If it feels soft or you sense a hollow space under the skin, you shouldn't risk it, not just for your wallet, but for your health.Step 3: Judging by Appearance
As the saying goes, "look beyond the surface." To choose lychees with thick flesh and a small seed, pick those with a pointed tip. Those with a rounded tip generally have larger seeds.Lychee Preservation Tips
Untreated lychees are characterized by "a change in color on the first day, a change in aroma on the second, a change in flavor on the third, and the complete loss of color, aroma, and flavor by the fourth." To preserve the color, aroma, and flavor of lychees, you can spray them with a little water, place them in a plastic保鲜袋 (freshness-preserving bag), and put them in the refrigerator. Use low temperature and high humidity (2 to 4 degrees Celsius, 90% to 95% humidity) for storage. Squeezing out as much air as possible from the bag can reduce the oxygen content to slow down the oxidation process and improve the preservation effect.The Secret to Enjoying Them
To peel a lychee intact without damage, you can pinch along the suture line on its skin, and it will naturally split in two.
Lychees have a sugar content of up to 20%. However, consuming a large quantity of lychees while eating very little can easily trigger acute hypoglycemia. This is especially noteworthy for people in professions like machine driving.
Every 100 ml of lychee juice contains up to 70 mg of Vitamin C. However, lychees are considered "heaty" in nature, and there's a saying that "one lychee is like three handfuls of fire." A popular folk remedy is to drink an appropriate amount of light salt water or honey water.
Lychees are rich in vitamins. Eating them in moderation can promote blood circulation in the capillaries, enhance the skin's antioxidant capacity, prevent freckles, and make the skin smoother.
In cooking, lychees are generally paired with "white meats" like seafood or poultry. This is partly for color considerations, and partly because these "white meats" are easily complemented by the flavor of lychees. Among them, seafood is the most suitable, as its "cool" nature can help balance the "heaty" nature of lychees.