Longan

Browse All Longan Recipes

Name Variations

 * lungan
 * dragon's eyes

About Longan
Wikipedia Article About Longan on Wikipedia

The longan (Simplified Chinese: 龙眼; Traditional Chinese: 龍眼; Hanyu Pinyin: lóngyǎn; Cantonese long-ngan; Vietnamese long nhãn - literally "dragon eye") is an evergreen tree native to southeast Asia from southern China south to Indonesia.

The fruit is edible, and is often used in East Asian soups, snacks, desserts, and sweet-and-sour foods. They are round with a thin, brown-coloured inedible shell. The flesh of the fruit, which surrounds a big, black seed, is white, soft, and juicy.

Longans and lychees come out in around the same time of the year. Dried longan (Chinese: 圓肉; Hanyu Pinyin: yuánròu; literally "round meat") are often used in Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine. It is considered to possess a nourishing property. Contrary to the fresh counterpart, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black.