What does one do with a lychee?

[BarelyLiterate]

Aldi had lychees on offer today ; 89p (or some similarly trivial sum) for a small punnet. So I bought some. Now, they are in my fridge but I realised I haven’t got a scooby what to do with them, or how to tell if they are ripe. Do they need peeling? cooking?

All suggestions gratefully received. 😀

Peel & eat the fruit minus the stone.

Peel and eat but leave the stone in the middle. Also delicious with double cream and syrup or ice-cream.

Send them to me? I love a lychee. Peel the skin and eat the flesh away from the stone in the middle. They are delicate and a bit floral and delicious.

lychee martinis bloody gorgeous
https://www.thespruceeats.com/lychee-martini-with-homemade-liqueur-recipe-761097

If they are pink or reddish they will be ripe. Just crack them open and eat them. Ive never heard of them being cooked, they are a fruit. I guess you could make smoothies out of them but it's be a bit of a faff to remove the skin and pip to do that.

Ime do not throw the stone in an open fire..
Unless its 5th of November...

They are ripe when slightly squishy to squeeze with the skin on. Peel and off you go. I love a lychee!

Icecream

Yes!

Pretend they're dinosaur eggs. Make a nest for them. Then pretend you and any willing family members are velociraptors looking for lunch. Each grab an egg and devour.

Eat them all in silence. Do not tell DC. Hide telltale skins.

Mmmmm. Yum.

Thanks for the tips, everyone. We will have them for dessert tomorrow evening and if we enjoy them I will be back to Aldi for more. 😋

One throws them in the in and vows never to be lured into buying them again.

Vile things!

They’ve been a nightmare to get hold of for the past year (briefly popped up in September and then nothing) I don’t usually shop in Aldi so fate must have drawn me there, they’re my favourite fruit!

Eat them as described above.
Realise they are nice but a helluva faff and mess for not alot of fruit
Vow never to buy them again.
See them in offer in 12 months time and put them in your trolley.
Repeat.

This. With flippin bells on.
Fragrances eyeballs is what they are.

Snigger at how much they look like little ball sacs.

Inform DC that they are a special tropical fruit.
Peel at table. Show them the wonderful shiny stone. Have a competition for best stone.
Enjoy the fruit and sticky juice.
Become an amazing mum when you buy them when they are in season

As someone who grew up abroad where lycees are more common than in the UK:

I use a folk to pry open a small hold in the shell exterior. You can then peel the shell/outside skin off. It comes off similar to a satsuma- in uneven, shaped pieces. Fresher will come off in larger pieces and once older and dried, in smaller little pieces.
Once the outer, brown/red coating is off, you are left with a creamy, white eye ball shape. You eat the outer, creamy coating. Inside, you will find a brown, elongated seed which you throw away and cannot eat. You could try cutting the cream coloured flesh off the brown seed, if you wanted to eat with say ice cream though.
Fresher are always far better, but enjoy anyways 😋

Perl eat. Mind stone.
Make lychee martinis.

You can save the stones and plant them. Apparently.

I don't think they fare all that well out of doors in the UK though.

Do NOT put them on a meringue.

I can't remember where/who the recipe for this pavlova came from but i did it one xmas and it was hideous!

If you do plan to grow the seeds, as per previous poster suggestion, do so within a couple of days, they don't remain viable for long. They need heat, so you would probably want a heated propagator and definitely can't grow outside here for most of the year. Can be quite fun with kids though.

I bought lychee sorbet from Lidl today. A lot less faff than the actual fruit. You can also buy them tinned.

Peel them, cut off one end and scoop the stone out. Replace with a blueberry. Suspend them in red jelly and offer your DC eyeball jelly for tea.
Just me then? Perhaps more of a Halloween thing?