On the Menu | Why the ‘Hermès’ and ‘Chanel’ of Chinese lychees are so sought-after

If there is one good thing about these sticky, sweaty summers in Hong Kong it is the sweet promise of lychee season, with bunches of the ripe fruit stacked high on every market corner and grocery store.

Such a sight would probably have pleased the great Chinese poet and gourmet Su Shi, better known under his pen name Su Dongpo, who famously gave his name to the famous pork belly dish he so loved. He was also a lychee fanatic – he declared once that he would not mind being a southerner if he could eat 300 of them a day. Same, Su, same.

The only thing stopping me from demolishing dozens of lychees in one sitting is the traditional Chinese medicine principle that sees the fruit as highly yang – warming and drying.

The saying “one lychee equals three torches of fire” is no joke. The belief is that consuming too many lychees can lead to ailments like sore throat, nosebleeds, pimples and ulcers. As someone prone to breakouts and scratchy throat, I will these days have no more than a mere handful before resisting the temptation to eat more.

But that was before I came across xian jin feng, a delicate, honeyed variety brought back from China by a friend.

Colloquially known as the “Chanel of lychees” from a ranking created in 2023 on Chinese social media channels, it is as elegant as you would expect, with a crisp, clear sweetness and no tangy aftertaste, its tiny seeds encased by juicy pearlescent flesh.