Dragon's Eye Pie

Dragon's Eye Pie??   What is this, Game of Thrones gourmet cooking class?  We'll get there... just keep reading.

Lady Sally called after work the other day to tell me that she'd been gifted with a bag of lychees, and wanted to know what I could make with them.

But when I opened the bag I didn't see the familiar red pebbly globes. Rather, the fruit looked sort of like a miniature kiwi – medium brown – but with a firm rind rather than a soft skin.

Longans!

Longans? You ask? Yep. One of three tropical fruits from the Sapindaceae or Soapberry family of flowering plants, which also includes lychees, maples and horse chestnuts. The third fruit is called Rambutan.  All three summer-season fruit are grown commercially and in backyards throughout southwest Florida.  

All three have very subtle flavors, mildly sweet, and somewhat aromatic when fresh.

Longan, or lóng yǎn in pinyin Chinese, means literally "Dragon Eye because it resembles an eyeball when the fruit is shelled and the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris. Can you see where this is going yet?  

Lychee (Litchi chinensis) is native to China, and is now cultivated in many parts of the world. The lychee has been cultivated in China for over 4000 years (yep four thousand).

Rambutan is native to Indonesia and Malaysia. The name is derived from the Malay word rambut, meaning “hair”. In Vietnam it is called chôm chôm, or "messy hair".

With the rind removed, all three fruits look very similar – like a peeled grape, if you will; and contain a single hard, dark pit which is easily removed. Although the taste and aroma are unique to each fruit, from a culinary standpoint the three can be interchanged in both sweet and savory recipes.

Longan pits.  Anyone who grew up in The Buckeye State (Ohio), as I did, will see the resemblance to Buckeye/Horse Chestnut seeds.

All three are Super Fruits.  Seems like everything except Apples and Oranges is a Super Fruit these days, doesn't it?  All three contain significant amounts of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Likewise, all three have been used in folk medicine--  and many of those usages have been supported by reliable medical research. That's OK – they still taste great!

Alright.  Like me, you've scored some Longans, Lychees or Rambutans. What do you do with them?

All three are actually best eaten fresh at room temperature. Pinch the rind and peel it away, pop in your mouth, spit out the pit, and there you are with a mouthful of flavor! But if you have a couple pounds of fruit there are some wonderful things you can make in both sweet and savory recipes.

Can't find fresh Soapberries? All three are available, to some extent, as canned fruit in your local Asian/Indian market. Canned fruit loses much of the delicate aroma of fresh, but that's not so critical when cooking the fruit.

Soapberry Fruitsicles

Freeze any of the soapberry fruits whole and unpeeled. Don't thaw, just peel and eat – careful of the pit!

Soapberry Smoothies

Combine any of the soapberry fruit with other subtle-flavored fruits like dragonfruit, cheremoya or passionfruit.  Since the soapberry fruit are very firm, you'll end up with a texture similar to those drinks with the giant tapioca pearls in them...

Soapberry No-Cook Jam

4 cups fruit,  peeled, seeded, and chopped, with juice
1 cup sugar (or to taste – start with a half cup and work up)
1 packet freezer pectin (not the regular pectin)

Combine fruit, juice, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the pectin, and stir for 3 minutes. Fill plastic freezer jars or snap-top plastic containers. Rest for 30 minutes before use! Keeps in the refrigerator for a month, or store in the freezer for up to a year.

Creamy Soapberry Pudding

Reminiscent of rice pudding but a bit more aromatic.

1/2 oz Gelatin granules (2 packets)

5 oz Water

1-1/2 cups chopped Fruit

1 can Sweetened Condensed milk

Soak the gelatin in cold water for about 5 minutes, then gently warm and stir the mixture until the gelatin dissolves.  Combine milk, gelatin mixture and fruit. Pour into pudding molds, papered cupcake pan, or a bowl and chill for 4 hours, or until set. Also delicious as a tart in a Graham cracker crust.

Well, I had longans so I had to call this next recipe...

Dragon's Eye Pie

½ oz Gelatin granules (2 packets)

2 cups peeled, pitted, chopped longans

8 oz softened Cream Cheese

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

9” Crust – sweet or pre-baked savory

Finely powdered cardamon for dusting

Soak the gelatine in 1/2 cup of cold water for 5 minutes. Gently warm the mix and stir until the gelatin dissolves. Reserve.

Combine cream cheese and milk. Add bloomed gelatin and fruit, and stir to combine. Pour into pie crust and dust with just a hint of finely powdered cardamon. Refrigerate 4-5 hours or overnight. Serve cold.

 

A good dessert needs to follow a great meal. Sally's Mum said she hadn't had this in years. So for lunch this Sunday I made...

Beef & Mushroom Pie

1-1/2 lbs Beef for Stew cut into bite sized pieces

8 oz Button Mushrooms, some sliced, some whole

2 frozen, rolled up Pie Crusts

3 Tbsp Bisto Gravy granules

1 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp 24/7 type general seasoning blend

Season the beef with the 24/7 spice blend, put it in a pot and simmer for about an hour a pound. You want the meat really tender.  Drain, reserving 1-1/2 cups of the liquid.

To the reserved liquid, whisk in 3-4 tablespoons of Bisto(tm) brand gravy granules, bring to a low boil stirring the whole time.  If you've not tried it, Bisto makes the best quick gravy on the planet.  You can find it in the British foods section of your local megamart.  

Saute the mushrooms with a splash of oil and the Worchestershire sauce, an essential British flavor.

The preceding steps can be done a day or more in advance.

On “Pie Day”, preheat the oven to 350F.

Thaw the pie crusts according to package directions, and put one in a 9” deep dish pan. Dock the bottom with a fork. Add the cooked beef and mushrooms. Pour the gravy over all, until the crust is nearly full – “there's no such thing as too much gravy”. 

 Add the top crust, cut a couple slots in the top to allow the steam to release, and bake 45 minutes to an hour, until the top crust is nicely browned. Allow to rest for 15 minutes or so before slicing and serving, to allow the gravy to thicken a bit. I served this with a side of peas & pearl onions.