# What food is that? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 6, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529 "2010-03-06T14:37:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/1 "2010-03-06T14:37:49Z")
At many Chinese buffet restaurants, at the dessert bar, you will find amongst various sliced fruits (in their juices) these white balls that appear to have been pitted. What are these? They’re about the size of cherries. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/2 "2010-03-06T14:48:07Z")
They sound like lychees. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/3 "2010-03-06T14:48:46Z")
Could be peeled [Lychee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychee). See the picture [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Litchi_chinensis_Luc_Viatour.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/4 "2010-03-06T14:55:01Z")
Lychees are somewhat larger than cherries, though. [![](https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/531614130_89bb138ef9.jpg) ](https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/531614130_89bb138ef9.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/5 "2010-03-06T15:28:14Z")
And they’re so delish! Try them next time. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/6 "2010-03-07T00:14:38Z")
Ok, it could be lychees. Cherries were the only thing that came to mind. They don’t look appealing, but they’re really delish, eh? They almost look like small eyeballs to me… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/7 "2010-03-07T00:41:33Z")
Oh yes. Try them, they’re good. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/8 "2010-03-07T00:57:35Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > They don’t look appealing, but they’re really delish, eh? They almost look like small eyeballs to me… They do look a little like eyeballs. Not so salty though. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/9 "2010-03-07T01:13:17Z")
Lychees are absolutely delicious, but if they’re pitted and floating in juice, they probably came out of a can, and are not nearly as delicious as fresh ones. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/10 "2010-03-07T01:46:46Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Lychees are somewhat larger than cherries, though. > [http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/531614130\_89bb138ef9.jpg](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/531614130_89bb138ef9.jpg) Could also be longans, which are more cherry sized. > **[Longan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longan)** > > Dimocarpus longan, commonly known as the longan (/ˈlɒŋɑːn/) and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambutan also belong. The fruit of the longan is similar to that of the lychee, but is less aromatic in taste. > The longan (from Vietnamese long nhãn or Cantonese lùhng ngáahn 龍眼, literally 'dragon eye'), is so named because the black seed within the shelle... ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/11 "2010-03-07T03:15:31Z")
Rambutans look somewhat similar too [Fluffbuff: Rambutan](http://www.fluffbuff.com/2006/10/rambutan.html) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/12 "2010-03-07T10:57:40Z")
Yeah, nice attempt to get **Jinx** to try the dog eyeballs, folks 😛 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-is-that/531529/13 "2010-03-07T11:18:21Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Ok, it could be lychees. Cherries were the only thing that came to mind. They don’t look appealing, but they’re really delish, eh? They almost look like small eyeballs to me… [Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company will build a replica of its Stratford-upon-Avon theatre in New York for five 2011 performances.](http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/09/2814371.htm) > [@](#): > > Props also likely to make the trip include four prosthetic wounds and five tins of lychees that are used as eyeballs, the company said. Yes, the lychee is the standard crushed eyeball in Shakespearean theatre.