Dessert soup: orange and lychee in ginger syrup

This is my recipe for the cold dessert soup, Loy Gaew, that I made for the garden lunch last week.

The name Loy Gaew literally means floating crystals (or gems), referring to the crushed ice floating in clear syrup. Loy Gaew is a very common way of serving fresh tropical fruits as a dessert course in Thailand. Just about any fruit could be cut up and added to sweet and ever-so-slightly salty syrup with a lot of ice. Prepare the Loy Gaew an hour or two before serve since mixture can use a bit of macerating time in the fridge before service.

Loy Gaew
Cold orange and lychee soup in ginger syrup
Serves 8

3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 5-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup tightly packed shredded fresh (or frozen and defrosted) coconut
6 medium oranges, peeled and sectioned
(You can use a mix of oranges and kamquats or any other citrus.)
2 1/2 cups peeled and seeded fresh lychees, or 2 20-ounce cans lychees, drained
Handful of chopped mint (optional)
3 cups crushed ice

1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, salt, ginger and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. In a skillet (or wok) over medium-low heat, toast the coconut, tossing until evenly toasted. Spread on a plate to cool.

3. In a large bowl, combine the oranges and lychees. Remove and discard the ginger from the syrup and pour the syrup over the fruit. Mix in the mint and chill.

4. To serve, spoon the fruit mixture into 8 small bowls. Add about 2 tablespoons crushed ice to each bowl and top with toasted coconut. Serve immediately.

Comments

[leonine19]

hmmm, it seems delicious!

[Mary]

I am amazed that I have all the ingredients for this soup at hand (I've even already got some ginger syrup in my fridge). I was planning on making your pad thai recipe for a friend this weekend (finally got my hands on the dried shrimps), this dessert will be a perfect ending. That must have been daunting cooking for Alain Passard, but I must say your food looked great and in the pictures he looks quite happy. Merci mille fois for posting this.

[Franco]

Lovely. Summer is coming and I'll be trying this recipe very soon. Thanks.

[Nai]

Thank you so much for posting the recipe. I can't wait to make it.

[CB]

WOW I can't believe I didn't discover this blog earlier...I love the photos and recipes! Have to try this dessert...

[arfi]

for some reason, lychee always reminds me of rambutan. do you usually substitute lychee with rambutan? is it a common fruit you can find in Thailand? this soup sounds really sweet.

[Laocook]

Hi Pim, great recipe, let us be the first to wish you an early "Sok Dee Pi Mai".

[Trig]

Not only is this a fascinating soup to read about, but it's also visually stunning, Pim.

I've began to realise that every time I go onto your blog, my eye is constantly captured by the photo on the left of Joel Robuchon's tuna tartare dish. Although incredible to look at, I must say it does look a little tricky to actually eat

[Mallika]

Lychees and rambutans are both indeed common fruits in Thailand. :)

[elham]

iam happy that i found this blog its really usefull, thanks. especially for dessert soup