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Dried longan fruits on a baking sheet just out of the oven
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How to Dry Longan Fruit

Dried Longan (long nhãn) is a tasty snack often used in sweet dessert soups as well as a herbal medicine with a relaxation effect. Learn how to dry longan fruit at home with your oven.
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time4 hours 30 minutes
Course: Dessert and Snack
Cuisine: Chinese, Vietnamese
Keyword: summer
Servings: 1 cup
Calories: 544kcal
Author: Sophie

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs fresh longan fruits (you can dry more or less fruits as you want)

Instructions

  • Peel off just a bit of the shell at the top of the fruit.
  • Push the tip of the knife into the flesh where it meets the seed.
    How to Shell Longan Step 2
  • Move the knife in a circular motion to separate the flesh and the seed.
    How to Shell Longan Step 3
  • After one full circle, use the knife to push the seed out.
    How to Shell Longan Step 4
  • Peel off the remaining shell.
    How to Shell Longan Step 5
  • Preheat your oven to 215°F (or 100°C) with fan on. Arrange the flesh of longan fruits on a wired rack over a baking tray.
    longan fruit flesh on a wired rack
  • Dry them for 3-3.5 hours. The exact time depends on the thickness of the flesh. Start checking regularly after 3 hours. Remove longan from the oven once it is dry and dark brown (or even almost black) in color.
    dried longan on a wired rack
  • Store dried longan in a tight jar or sealed bag in the refrigerator.

Notes

The quantity of longan fruits is just a suggestion. You can dry as much as you want. It can take about an hour to remove shell and seed for 2 pounds (900 grams) of longan.
From 2 pounds of longan, I get about 1 pound (450 grams) of the flesh only. After dehydrating, I end up with about 3.5 oz (100 grams) of dried longan, about a cup.
You will need a small paring knife with a sharp tip to remove the shell and seed of the fruit. It is best to watch the video in the post to see how to do this.
I use a convection oven and dehydrate the longan with the fan on. If you have a conventional oven, you may need to add more cooking time and rotate the baking tray once in a while. Or try increasing the oven temperature slightly by 10-20°F.
Usually the darker the color, the dryer the fruit and the longer you can store them.

Nutrition

Calories: 544kcal | Carbohydrates: 137g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 1g | Potassium: 2413mg | Fiber: 10g | Vitamin C: 762mg | Iron: 1mg