Ginger Hot Pepper Asian Pear Chutney

[Vanda lover]

Our neighbour gave us a load of Asian pears this year. This is what I should have done with them. I find them pretty bland as a fresh fruit. I think mangoes would be nice with this recipe too.

[catherinecarney]

Hadn't thought of mangoes--I'll have to try it next year....

I find that some cv's of asian pears are very bland, such as Yoinashi (I usually end up using its fruits for the sheep). Nijiseiki/20th Century are OK, but my favorite is Chojuro--stronger flavor, still crisp-sweet with a butterscotch taste.

The batch I made was mostly Nijiseiki with some Chojuros thrown in.

Catherine

[Vanda lover]

I have tried Asian pears from grocery stores, neighbours and garage sales. Some are better than others, but I think making chutney makes sense. I can eat a few but prefer regular pears.They produce so heavily sometimes.

[catherinecarney]

European pears have a completely different taste and texture when compared to asians. Regular pears get used for pear pies and pear bread around here (sort of like banana bread but with pears). Asian pears sometimes have "sandy" or "gritty" spots to them that stay that way with cooking, so not the best choice for baked goods. That grittiness seems to go away during the long slow cooking required for chutney.

Pears of any sort seem to be boom or bust for me no matter what kind--some years I get few to none (2012 was that way) and some years I can't keep up with them (this year). Chutney just seemed to be a good way to use up a lot of fruit and store it without taking up space in the freezer (which was already full anywards).

Let me know how your chutney experiments turn out!

Catherine

[NYCorchidman]

I think you had some wrong varieties.
The ones with a sticker that says Asian Pear or Apple Pear can be good or not so good.
In general, I don't buy them after I tasted Korean Pears, which is only available in the Korean grocery at least here in NYC.

It is the same round fruit with that tan color, but usually much much bigger and taste very sweet.
Winter seems to be the main season and I'm loving them!!! a bit pricy though. oh, well..

[Vanda lover]

Originally Posted by catherinecarney

European pears have a completely different taste and texture when compared to asians. Regular pears get used for pear pies and pear bread around here (sort of like banana bread but with pears). Asian pears sometimes have "sandy" or "gritty" spots to them that stay that way with cooking, so not the best choice for baked goods. That grittiness seems to go away during the long slow cooking required for chutney.

Pears of any sort seem to be boom or bust for me no matter what kind--some years I get few to none (2012 was that way) and some years I can't keep up with them (this year). Chutney just seemed to be a good way to use up a lot of fruit and store it without taking up space in the freezer (which was already full anywards).

Let me know how your chutney experiments turn out!

Catherine

I know what you mean about boom or bust. This year my brother's trees only had a few. Last year there were far more than he could handle. They are a problem here because the bears come a lot in the fall for fruit. Pears are one of their favourites. People are expected to keep their fruit cleaned up. We have large numbers of bears here.

[catherinecarney]

I grew up in the Adirdondacks, so I know what you mean about bears--we would see them occasionally in the high country, and not something I'd want to attract to my place. Beekeepers used to have problems with bears ripping into the hives for brood (spring) and honey (summer/fall).

And I agree that the pears you find in the store marked as "asian pear" give no idea of variety. I have not tried korean pears yet, although I have seen the trees listed in nursery catalogs and keep thinking I should add one....I run into the same sort of thing with apples--unless you know what cv's you're getting (and what those cv's are best for) you may have a great result or a miserable one....IMO most of the sweet/dessert apples (Fuji, Delicious, etc) produce sauces and pies that are bland to insipid--Winesap, McIntosh, and so on are my go-to's for those uses....I suspect the same thing is true with pears and putting cv's to uses for which they are not suited is part of the reason why some of my experiments don't turn out well. Sigh. At least the sheep and poultry aren't picky eaters and are always willing to clean up my mistakes....

Catherine

[Vanda lover]

Yes Catherine, you are certainly right about apple varieties. There are a lot of them and they also vary a lot all over the country. Here where it rains a lot, some varieties do a lot better than varieties that we ate in Ontario. I miss spy and russet apples. They are hard to find here, but there are varieties here that we didn't see in Ontario too, like Ambrosia or Pink lady