the.com/longan
the lychee's smaller cousin that looks like an eyeball staring back from the bowl
means A small round tropical fruit with brown leathery skin, translucent sweet flesh, and a single dark seed, closely related to the lychee.
from From Cantonese 龍眼 (lùhng-ngáahn), literally 'dragon eye' — a name earned by the dark seed glimpsed through the pale, translucent flesh, like a pupil in a peeled eyeball. The fruit and its name traveled out of southern China and into English, where 'longan' preserves that Cantonese pronunciation.
- dragon eye
- Chinese name means dragon's eye, for the seed showing through
- soapberry kin
- Family includes lychee, rambutan, and toxic ackee
- dried medicine
- Used dried in traditional Chinese tonics for centuries
- tropical native
- Originated in southern Asia, thrives in subtropical heat
- translucent flesh
- Sweet, glassy pulp wraps a single shiny black seed
longan fruit thailand — southeast asian tropical fruit, thailand produces ~300,000 tons annually, major export crop
longan tree dimocarpus longan — native to southeast asia, cultivated commercially in china, thailand, vietnam since ancient times
dragon's eye variety — popular cultivar named for its resemblance to a dragon's eye when cut open, grown throughout asia