Lychees are much more than just small treats. You can conjure up a lot of great things from it. For example lychee liqueur. It's easy too.
Lychees have been popular in China and Thailand for thousands of years, not only for their nutritional value but also for their delicious taste. The spherical fruits with the red, prickly skin and the white flesh are finding more and more friends here too, who appreciate the exotic taste and the many possible uses.
In the kitchen, lychees are mainly used in fruit salads and in Asian dishes. But you can also process the little fruits into liqueur, which tastes great both pure and in cocktails and is easy to make. You don't even need a lot of ingredients.
Ingredients (for approx. 1 l liqueur):
- 500 g lychees
- 150 - 200 g candy sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 bottle of white rum or vodka
- 1 vanilla bean or 10 maraschino cherries to taste
Preparation:
Peel the lychees and remove the stone. Then put the fruit in a large glass together with the sugar and the cherries or a sliced vanilla bean and pour the alcohol over everything. Then close the jar airtight, shake the contents once and then leave the mixture in a room-warm place for four weeks. During this time, shake the jar a little once a week to mix the flavors and sugar well.
After the four weeks you must pour the finished mixture through a cheesecloth into a clean screw-top bottle and store the liqueur in a dark and cool place for another four weeks. This allows it to mature and develop its full aroma.