Progress can sometimes be a double-edged sword, bringing with it regrettable food trends like 2021’s glut of nearly identical hard seltzers and those unhygienic butter boards we were glad to leave in 2022. But one thing we wholeheartedly approve of is the ever-expanding supermarket produce section. Just think, back in the mid-20th century, bananas were a big deal and mangoes were almost unknown. However, one issue we sometimes face now, in light of today’s abundance, is that we’re not always sure what to expect from each new offering. It can be particularly puzzling to differentiate three similar fruits that seem to be increasingly popular these days: the tropical trio of lychee, longan, and rambutan.
All three of these fruits belong to a botanical family with the not-too-tasty name of soapberry. Interestingly, soapberries themselves are toxic to humans, although they can be used for washing. Other family members include the toxic horse chestnut and the guarana, a caffeine-laden Brazilian fruit that’s often used in energy drinks but is considered dangerous to consume in large quantities. Lychee, longan, and rambutan, however, are all perfectly safe to eat, not to mention quite tasty, and all three have long been popular in Asian cuisines. Each fruit consists of an outer rind or husk surrounding sweet white flesh with a seed at the center, but they do have some notable differences.
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Lychee
bunches of red lychees growing on a tree – Johner Images/Getty Images
The lychee, sometimes spelled litchi, lichi, or lichee, has been cultivated in China for thousands of years. One long-ago emperor is said to have set up his own lychee delivery service, kind of like a cross between DoorDash and the Pony Express, to ferry the fruits from southern growing fields to his palace in the north. While lychees remain an important commercial crop in China, the fruit is now also grown in other areas of Asia (including India), and there are even lychee orchards in Florida. Lychees, whether imported or domestic, seem to have gone pretty mainstream in the U.S. by the mid-2020s, since Dunkin’s 2024 spring menu featured a lychee and peach-flavored energy drink.
Lychees are round and covered in thick, reddish, bumpy skin, earning them the nickname “alligator strawberries.” While fresh lychees may still be on the list of fruits that are hard to find at the grocery store, it’s getting easier to do so. (At one time you might’ve only found canned lychees in heavy syrup, like the kind that go into those ’90s-style lychee martinis.) And there isn’t a steep learning curve for figuring out how to eat fresh lychees, as the husks peel off pretty easily, while you can eat around the seed the same way you would a cherry pit. As for the flavor, it can best be described as sweet, tart, and slightly floral. If you can imagine a strawberry-pear blend, or citrus-spiked watermelon with perhaps a hint of rose, this might give you some idea of what lychees taste like.
Rambutan
five whole and one opened rambutans on a stone countertop – Karl Tapales/Getty Images
Rambutans have a much more eye-catching exterior than lychees. They’re twice the size, for one thing, but what really makes them stand out is the network of curly orange and green spines covering the rind. These spines are what gives them their name, since “rambut” is the Malay word for hair. Rambutans have been growing wild in Malaysia and Indonesia for centuries, but these days over half of the cultivated fruits are grown in Thailand. There’s a possibility, however, that any fresh rambutans offered for sale in the U.S. may have been imported from Central America.
Rambutan flesh is somewhat creamier in texture than that of the lychee, and the flavor is sweeter, too. These fruits are usually eaten raw, and are not at all difficult to peel — unlike the spines on a prickly pear, a rambutan’s spinterns (for such is the official name of the spikes) aren’t sharp, and won’t hurt to touch. In addition to being eaten plain, rambutans can also be used to make smoothies, fruit salads, sorbets, or jams, and some cooks even add the fruit to spicy curries, as its sweetness helps to temper the heat.
Longan
a pile of longan fruits still on their stems – Widya F Images/Shutterstock
The longan, like the lychee, has a cute nickname — it’s called “dragon’s eye,” supposedly because underneath the skin it resembles an eyeball. (This is true of lychees, as well, hence the lychee “eyeballs” that were a 2023 Halloween trend.) The longan one-ups the lychee, however, by having its own Chinese legend: A man named Longan is said to have battled a dragon to the death. During the battle, the dragon produced longan fruits from its eye sockets. Longan, who also succumbed, was buried with these fruits, and the first longan trees were said to have grown from his grave. Apocryphal though the story may be, longan trees have been cultivated in China for thousands of years, and are now grown in such far-flung spots as Australia, Mauritius, and the Philippines (and domestically in California, Florida, and Hawaii).
Despite the mythology surrounding the fruit, longans have the dullest exterior of our soapberry threesome. Their size and shape is similar to lychees, although the exterior isn’t quite as bumpy, and the color ranges from beige to greenish. Longans are eaten in the same way as the other fruits: peel off the skin, then nibble around the seed. While the taste isn’t too different from either lychees or rambutans, longans tend to be more tart, and some compare their flavor to that of musky grapes. While longans have yet to be featured in a trendy cocktail, they’re used as an ingredient in a Malaysian dessert soup called tong sui and a medicinal Chinese tea that combines them with red dates.
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