Lychee 荔枝

Late spring and early summer (May/June) is lychee season in Taiwan. Lychee (荔枝 Lìzhī), pictured on the right, are a reddish fruit on the outside, attached to sticks. To eat them, peel the outside off and eat the sweet, white fruit inside. Spit out the black seed.

A larger, sweeter type of lychee comes first in the season, followed by the regular variety.

Dashu has a pineapple/lychee festival each year, too, which sells pineapples, lychee, and other fruit-related products.

Custard apples (a.k.a. Budda-head fruit) 釋迦

This is a custard apple, also known as the Budda-head fruit (釋迦 shì jiā). It's a soft fruit (much like custard) that is grown a lot on the east coast (near Taitung in the southeast). They typically cost 50NT per fruit or less and there's a couple of varieties, including "original" and the pineapple custard apple, which is a sturdier version of the fruit. Look for them in the wintertime at the markets (and perhaps other times of the year, too, if you're closer to the east coast). To eat it, I cut it in half and dig out the white fruit with a spoon, spitting out the seeds. Try it!