Fruits of Viet Nam: Long Nhãn (Longan, Dragon Eye Fruit)

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Overview

Long Nhãn (means in Vietnamese Dragon Eye) grows in many provinces in the Viet Nam. The Long Nhãn is a close relative to the lychee. Long Nhãn fruit is about 2 cm in diameter, with brownish and brittle peel. The peel only has to be ...

Description

Long Nhãn (means in Vietnamese Dragon Eye) grows in many provinces in the Viet Nam. The Long Nhãn is a close relative to the lychee. Long Nhãn fruit is about 2 cm in diameter, with brownish and brittle peel. The peel only has to be slightly removed to reach the whitish pulp, enclosing the glistening black hard inedible seed. To eat: use your fingernail or a knife to cut the skin a little and then peer off the tough skin and pop it in your mouth (remember: the seed is inedible!). The translucent pulp tastes similar to that of a lychee but a little sweeter and not as juicy.

There are many varieties of Long Nhãn in Viet Nam. The most renowned variety of Long Nhãn is the “Cage-Longan (Nhãn Lồng)”. The name “cage-longan” comes from the technique of covering the Long Nhãn with cages to protect them from the birds. There are varieties that have a thick pulp and a very sweet taste called pulp longan. Water longans have a thin watery pulp and a fresh sweet taste. In the South, the longan of Chau Thanh (Dong Thap Province) is very renowned throughout Viet Nam. This variety has a watery pulp, a very sweet taste, a perfumed scent, and small black seeds, which is why it is also called Nhan Tieu (pepper grain longan). Long Nhãn is also used to prepare a delicious dessert: “Chè (sweet soup) Long Nhãn with lotus seed”. In Viet Nam you can often find dried Long Nhãn cooked in water to make a dessert drink called “Nước long nhãn”.