Dimacarpus longan is a unique little tropical fruit that has gained popularity in the US. Related to lychee, it’s one of the soapberry fruits. Heh, soap and berry don’t seem like good bedfellows, but folks gobble these up.
https://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2016/03/30/06/49/longan-1290167_960_720.jpgPixabay
# The Eye of the Dragon
Longan literally means “dragon eye”, which one can imagine once you see the flesh. Fruit is about the size of a large cherry (1″ or 2cm+) with a paper-thin shell around it. The shell surrounds and is against the flesh, but not really attached. Inside the flesh is a dark pit, less than centimeter in diameter. The pit is attached to the shell at the stem connection.
I’ve heard people say that you can just squeeze these and pop them out of the shell. Perhaps mine were a little over-ripe in that regard, because the skin was slightly soft and didn’t want to crack. But once it was cut
