Lychee season

Around the end of May and beginning of June, not only famous lychee-growing regions like Bac Giang, Hung Yen , and Hai Duong enter their season, but also the entire northern countryside is bustling with the color of lychees. This year's lychee harvest is abundant, with early flowering. When the fruit's skin begins to turn reddish, it only needs a few more days of intense sunshine to become plump and ready for harvest. Some trees still bear green fruit, but after just a few days of intense sun, the fruit grows noticeably larger.

The lychee trees in our garden, though not as sweet or as large and round as those grown commercially, each fruit brings a joyful anticipation, fueled by the feeling of "homegrown," and completely clean because they are free from fertilizers and pesticides. The first fruits of the season are carefully selected for offerings to our ancestors. The rest are divided into bunches to give to relatives and neighbors, ensuring everyone gets a share.

The family whose lychees ripened first offered them first, and those whose ripened later gave them away as gifts. Then everyone compared which tree had sweeter lychees and which had bigger ones. The best part was the atmosphere on lychee-picking day: some climbed the trees, others helped at the base, plucking leaves and breaking branches, chatting lively while they worked, even though their shirts were soaked with sweat.

For families with children living far away, they always set aside a few branches from the tree. Sometimes, parents neatly trim them, pack them in cardboard boxes, and send them via passenger bus, traveling thousands of kilometers from North to South.

Eating lychees grown at home in the city, the taste is somehow different – even though the fruit is smaller and has a rougher skin, it's surprisingly sweet and refreshing. Perhaps it's because it's not just a fruit, but also a gift from home filled with love, a childhood memory, a piece of the soul of the countryside in the hearts of those who live far from home.

These days, the streets of Southern Vietnam are overflowing with the color of lychees. From traditional markets and supermarkets to street vendors, you can see bunches of bright red lychees everywhere. Vendors are constantly spraying water to keep the fruit fresh under the intense Southern sun.

Following the harvests of pink lychees from the Central Highlands, lychees from Bac Giang, Hung Yen, and Hai Duong provinces are also beginning to arrive in Ho Chi Minh City by truck. Connoisseurs patiently wait for these lychees: thin skin, thick, juicy flesh, small seeds, and a distinctly sweet but not overpowering flavor.

Besides being eaten fresh, in Southern Vietnam, lychees are also transformed into a variety of refreshing desserts: lychee tea, lychee yogurt, lychee shaved ice, lychees wrapped in lotus seeds, pickled lychees... Each dish has a gentle, pleasant flavor, perfectly suited to the Southern summer sun.

Lychee only has one season a year, a short period of just a few months. But this sweet fruit not only offers a sweet taste on the tongue, but also carries the lingering flavor of family and homeland. A bountiful lychee harvest brings a quiet joy, like the fragrance of lychees carried on the wind, touching the tongue and remaining deeply rooted in the heart.

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