Longans with Fresh Lotus Seed Filling in Syrup

• 1 kg fresh longans (big ones that can be easily de-seeded)
• 150 - 200 g rock sugar
• 200 - 300 g fresh lotus seeds (more or less depending on your preference)

1. I recommend big, thick flesh longans.
2. Prepare a knife with a sharp and small tip.
3. Rinse and dry the longans so you don't make their flesh dirty when peeled.
4. Lotus seeds: I often buy them peeled with the bitter green centers removed (available at supermarkets or markets).
5. Choose the old lotus seeds to avoid making them hard when cooked.
6. Pour the seeds into a basin, soak in 5-10 minutes then rinse.
7. Put the rinsed seeds in a saucepan and fill with 300 ml of water (about more than 1 bowl).
8. Add some salt.
9. Boil in 20-30 minutes.
10. When the water boils, lower the heat to avoid breaking the seeds.
11. Check the doneness: when the seeds are soft and friable, they are fully cooked.
12. Add 100g of smashed rock sugar into the saucepan, cook over low heat and wait until totally dissolved (about 5-7 minutes), pour the boiled seeds into a bowl to be quickly cooled off.
13. Put the saucepan back onto the heat, add 1 or 1/2 bowl of water and 50 g of smashed rock sugar, bring this to a boil until the sugar is completely dissolved, turn off the heat to let the syrup cool off.
14. (To have a sweeter syrup, add 100g of rock sugar).
15. The total amount of water we use for 2 times is 600-700 ml.
16. This dessert should be just a little sweet because the longans are already sweet.
17. While boiling the lotus seeds, peel the longans.
18. Use the sharp tip of the knife, cut rings around the tops of the longans to de-seed.
19. (Do not tear the flesh of the longans as the lotus seeds will fall out when you stuff them into the longans.)
20. Peel enough longans to use.
21. (We normally scoop 5-7 longans filled with lotus seeds + 10 extra lotus seeds in every bowl)
22. When you have enough peeled and deseeded longans, stuff them with lotus seeds.
23. Once the syrup is already cool, put all the stuffed longans and lotus seeds into the syrup and put them into a box and store in the fridge.
24. Scoop into bowls and serve.
25. Crush an ice cube and drop on top of the bowl if desired.
26. A LITTLE NOTE: Lotus seeds can become hardened when left overnight in the fridge.
27. Therefore when you boil them, you need to check their doneness: add sugar only when the seeds are totally friable and soft.
28. You may ask why you have to boil the syrup and the lotus seeds separately...
29. It's OK to pour enough water and boil only once, then add sugar only once.
30. But the syrup won't turn out as clear as the way I wrote above.

longans, rock sugar, lotus seeds

Taken from cookpad.com/us/recipes/244304-longans-with-fresh-lotus-seed-filling-in-syrup (may not work)