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Lychee Bubble Tea with Fresh Lychee
This lychee bubble tea recipe with fresh lychee is a spin off from my original lychee bubble tea recipe where I use canned lychee in syrup for flavor and convenience.
The fruit lychee
What exactly is lychee? Lychee belongs to a group of exotic fruits found in subtropical areas like China and India. It has the consistency of grapes, but it’s larger with a bigger seed inside.
On the outside, it’s a red-rose color with the texture of alligator skin. The flesh is a white, juicy, translucent ball of firm jelly-like meat. Inside is a shiny smooth brown seed.
The texture is like biting into a grape, with that sweet floral taste, like a strawberry or pear infused with a rose.
To eat it, you just remove the skin, bite off the flesh, and dispose the seed.
What can you do with fresh lychee?
Many desserts and beverages feature lychee. The fruit may be blended into a lychee bubble tea smoothie. Or you can make it into other drinks like lychee milk tea.
You can make it into a syrup and use it as a sweetener for cocktails, tea, and other drinks. It’s also fantastic when drizzled over ice cream or sorbet.
Health warning
Warning: do not eat lychee on an empty stomach. Years ago, lychees were being eaten on an empty stomach by malnourished children living near a lychee orchid in India. Unripened lychees and lychees that fell to the ground contained high levels of a naturally occurring amino acid derivative called hypoglycin, which lowers blood sugar. This caused the children to go into hypoglycemic shock since their blood sugars were already so low. Source here.
Health Tip: Don’t eat lychee on an empty stomach, especially if you are hypoglycemic. Consult your doctor for professional advice.*
What you need
Lychee, found at the fruits section at asian supermarkets. It’s in season in May or June and runs through the summer and ends in September.
Brown sugar syrup. You can make your own easily.
Coconut milk, or you can use soy milk or non-dairy creamers
Boba pearls with recipe here.
Or other toppings- lychee jelly, clear boba, coconut jelly, grass jelly.
Boba straws. Disposable or reusable options.
If you want to make a caffeinated lychee bubble tea, you will also need 2 green tea bags or 2 black tea bags.
Is my lychee ripe?
So you made it to the Asian grocery store. How do you tell the lychee is ripe? when the skin turns pink or red. Once picked, lychees do not continue to ripen. Choose fruit that is firm and springy, with lush red or pink skin.
How to make it
Peel and remove pits from 2 cups of ripe lychee. You’ll also want to add 2 tablespoons of lychee syrup or brown sugar syrup for sweetener. Blend and serve over boba.
Lychee Bubble Tea Recipe (Fresh Lychee)
Equipment
- 1 blender
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ½ cup fresh lychee
- 4 cups ice cubes
- brown sugar boba
Instructions
- Put all in blender, blend.
- Put boba in a cup.
- Stir and enjoy.
