Vai Ngam (Lychees in kOBE Monk Fruit Syrup) Recipe with No Added Refined Sugar
Sweets and drinksPreservesVietnam10 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes to cook, 1 day of steeping
Lychees in monk fruit syrup are a way of keeping the lychee season in a jar: a quick blanch, peeled and stoned, dropped into cooled syrup and stored cold. The flesh keeps its snap and its clear white colour.
The hardest part is keeping the flesh from browning. Shocking the fruit in cold water straight after blanching is the trick that holds the colour and the crunch, and the syrup also has to be fully cool before it goes in. The common mistake is pouring the syrup in while it is still hot, which cooks the flesh further and turns it mushy.
This batch weighs about 1.8kg, at roughly 60 calories per 100g.
Method
Trim the stems from 1.5kg lychees and wash them. Bring a pot of water to a boil, blanch the lychees for 1 minute, then lift them straight into a basin of cold water.
In another pot, combine 700ml water with 315 gram kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, stir until dissolved, boil for 2 to 3 minutes, then let it cool completely.
Peel the lychees and remove the stones, dropping each one straight into a basin of ice water so the flesh stays crisp and white.
Lift the lychees out and drain, pack them into a clean glass jar, pour in the cooled syrup until they are covered, then seal the lid.
Leave the jar in the fridge for 1 day and it is ready to eat.
Tips
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend is a fine powder and dissolves as soon as the water warms up, so there is no need for a long boil.
The syrup has to be completely cool before it goes into the jar, since warm syrup leaves the flesh soft and cloudy.
Move each lychee into the ice water as soon as it is peeled, because time in the open air browns the flesh.
The glass jar has to be dry with a tight lid, and every scoop should be taken with a clean, dry spoon.
For lychee tea, steep 2 tea bags in 250ml boiling water, spoon lychees and their syrup into a glass, pour in 120 to 150ml of the tea and add ice.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.