Lychee Granita

Ingredients

2 cans of lychees in heavy syrup

1/3 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon sencha green tea or other loose leaf green tea, or 3 green tea bags

1 large lemon

1 large lime

fresh lychees, lime wedges, lime and/or lemon zest for garnish

Preparation

Make a simple syrup by boiling 1 cup of water with 1/3 cup of sugar until it comes to a boil and there are no granules remaining. Set this mixture aside to cool to room temperature.

Make a concentrated green tea by heating 1 cup water to 170 degrees F and steeping the green tea for 3 minutes, then remove the tea leaves. Set tea aside to cool to room temperature.

In a large, deep baking dish (8×12) or other similar container, drain off heavy syrup from 2 cans of lychees. Place the drained lychees in a food processor and process until the fruit is well blended, little bits of fruit will remain, which is fine. Add blended lychees to container with heavy syrup.

After the simple syrup and green tea have cooled, add them to the container or dish with heavy syrup and blended lychees. Zest lime and lemon and set aside in a small covered bowl. Juice the lemon and lime and add to the mixture.

Place container in freezer and mix and scrape the mixture with a fork every twenty minutes or so until you get light, fluffy ice crystals. Serve the granita in chilled bowls with fresh lychees, lime wedges, and lemon or lime zest.

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About

Lychee granita is a refreshing treat on any hot summer day. This is a recipe that showcases the lychee fruit’s beauty and delicate sweetness. This granita is simple to make and bright on the palette. I’ve added some Japanese sencha tea to make it even more refreshing. If you decide to make it, just make sure to hang around your freezer for 2 hours or so, otherwise you will end up with one huge block of lychee ice (which you can melt down and “re-scrape” if necessary). Every twenty minutes or so you will be “scraping” until you get a light, fluffy slush. Steeping the green tea in the fridge overnight and making the simple syrup ahead of time will make the process even simpler. More tea and tea food recipes at ThirstyForTea.com!