You are most probably here because you do not exactly know how to eat longan. Well, today is your lucky day as you have landed on the right page! In this article, we will discuss all the things you need to know about longan – what exactly it is, its benefits, recipes, and the right way to eat it. So, continue reading through this article as we feed you sweet information all about longan.
For an overview, longan is neither a berry nor a nut. Instead, it came from a soapberry family, where rambutan and lychee are also related to. From the way it looks, it is sometimes called a “dragon’s eye” due to its unique appearance when opened, considering also its size that likely represents a dragon’s eye. For also the same reason, many people are struggling with how to open and eat it. Hence, let us now more dig into the deeper things about it!
What is Longan?
Longan or Dimocarpus longan is a fruit that came from the soapberry family where lychee and rambutan also came from. Hence, these three are closely related to each other as well. Longan is native to Southeast Asia as the plant requires tropical weather for growth. Its appearance varies from green to yellow, indicating its maturity and does not come beyond the size of a grape. It also has this small black seed inside that needs to be always discarded when eating. As for the longan taste, it tastes incredibly sweet and contains this musky flavor. Its flesh is also very juicy and will leave your mouth with intense sweetness right after finishing it. In fact, this is something you will like if you have not tried one before.
How To Eat Longan
For a fact, longan can be eaten in many ways – simply as a fruit or an ingredient for healthy dishes. However, many people still ask how to eat longan the right way because often, they tend to accidentally damage the peel and ending punching the flesh, causing for sticky texture. So what is the right way to eat longan?
First, of course, you still have to rinse it with water even though you are peeling it. Second, crack the shell by holding the pressure near to the top corner of the fruit. Finally, enjoy the flesh but do not forget to discard the seed inside. You do not want to end up eating it though.
Longan Nutrition
Longan fruit has been linked to many health benefits and has been used as herbal medicine. Hence, let’s take a look further and discover what is behind the claims by look through longan nutrition.
Just like any other fruits, longans are naturally low in calories and carbohydrates and having 0 fat. Longan contains mainly vitamins and minerals namely – vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin B12. All of which helps in boosting the immune system and helps fight oxidative stress due to its antioxidants.
Longan Benefits
When you eat longan, it is almost impossible to eat just one due to its undeniable unique sweet taste, thus leading to you eating almost a branch of a grape! Aside from the taste, longan also brings you surprising health benefits. Below are some of the prominent health benefits that you can get from eating longan:
- Improves Tissue Health
As longan is rich in vitamin C, longan helps to produce your body collagen that is vital to your muscles, skin, bones, and cartilage. Vitamin C also helps in repairing wounded tissue that came from cuts and wounds. It is also responsible for keeping your gums and teeth healthy as well. All thanks to mighty vitamin C!
- Better Hearth Health
Longan is known to have a reasonable amount of antioxidants. With this, it reduces the stiffening of arteries which causes cardiovascular disease. Generally, the vitamin C content on longan is mainly responsible for protecting the heart.
- Regulates Blood Pressure
With longan’s potassium content, it helps to maintain your blood pressure under control. Some studies have found that having imbalances or deficiency in potassium causes hypertension or high blood pressure. When not kept under control, hypertension often leads to stroke.
Longan Recipes
Now that we have discussed the facts that you need to know about longan, you might be thinking about what else can you do with this sweet fruit. Well, worry no more as we have also prepared some good longan recipes just for you!
Longan Juice
Ingredients:
- 5 longans (peeled and seedless)
- 1 cup coconut milk or water
- 1 banana (sliced into small pieces)
Procedure:
Simply combine all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Serve it with ice for a better experience.
Longan Lemon Lime Drink
Ingredients:
- 6 to 7 dried longan
- 250g Attap seed in syrup (palm seed)
- 220g Sugar
- 50g Lemon juice or add to taste
- 50g Lime juice or add to taste
- 8 cups of water
Procedure:
In a pot, add the water, dried longan, and sugar then bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pot from heat then add attap seeds in syrup, lemon juice, and lime juice. Stir well and leave until cold. Serve them with ice.
Conclusion
Longan or dragon eye is known to be a popular fruit in tropical countries. Its unique juicy flesh with a little musky taste but with incredible sweetness has made everyone consume more than just one berry. Longan is also associated with many health benefits and it has been used by the Chinese as their traditional herbal medicine against many diseases, mainly because of its prominent antioxidant content – vitamin C. Indeed, vitamin C helps in many ways that we can think of.
Hopefully, by this part, you can now be able to tell the taste, some good facts, and most importantly, the right way on how to eat longan. Just always remember to discard the seed as it is small enough to block a child’s air passage so might want to take a precautionary on that. Other than that, enjoy eating the sweet fruit!
