An Impulse Buy

When it comes to shopping, I probably only have a few weak spots.  Perfect notebooks.  Pants long enough for my long legs.  And new fruit.  If I see a fruit that I've never eaten before, much less even come across in real life or pictures, I pretty much have to buy it on the spot.

So when I went to Chiang Mai's Walking Street last month, it was mainly for the purpose of spending time with my friends who would be heading back to the U.S. the following week.  I knew I didn't need any more scarves or paintings or gifts for family. I did end up buying a great pair of earrings after about 15 minutes of contemplating and choosing.  But what I did buy on the spot without hesitation was a half kilo of lychees.

I'd heard of this fruit for years, but  never stayed in Thailand past May to when they are in season.  For less than $2 (I think I paid 50 Baht), I took home a half-kilo.  I brought them out to the balcony to eat, because I had a feeling they'd be a little juicy and messy.  They're quite pretty to look at, I just had to figure out how to get them open.

I used my thumbnail as tool of choice.  Worked quite well, as the outer skin is dry and dense but thin, so I could pierce through it fairly easily.  As I guessed, it was nice and juicy!  But meaty, not mushy.  It was probably perfectly ripe, given that they are grown in Thailand (as well as China and Vietnam).  At this point in the "lychee experience," it was really reminding me of a rambutan.  Thinner shell, but similar texture, and a very similar-looking rubbery translucent white inside.

I know a lot of people really like rambutan.  I admit, the spikey red "hair" on the outside is quite attractive, but i don't think the flavor is that amazing.  And beyond that, I'm really turned off by the way the meat sticks to the inner seed/pit, so that when you try to maximize what you can chew off, you inevitably get some of the dry cardboard-like seed coating.  Lychee, on the other hand, does NOT have this problem!  The seed doesn't cling to the meat at all.

The seed has its own smooth outer coating, so it doesn't stick to the a bit.  And the taste?  Really flavorful, juicy, chewy but soft, not sour, not tangy.  Just sweet yummy satisfaction.

I do find it interesting that lychee is called ลิ้นจี่ in Thai, which is procounced "lin^chee\."  In Korean it's called 그 열매 , which is pronounced "gue yeolmae."  However, rambutan is called เงาะ in Thai, which is "ngaw/," but it's called 램부탄, "raembutan," in Korean.  Seems that we borrow, share, copy and differentiate as we please in the world of languages.  I will close with one word I hope we all can share: peace.