Recipe tried out in April 2011
Pears are everywhere now! I don't want to miss this period to post so that you may be able to try these out too.
This is one dessert that you can serve your guests if you’ve having a small scale entertainment with a Chinese menu. Looks beautiful when serve with stem still intact or sliced if you want.
Lydia loved this, and asked for seconds the moment the one I shared with her got walloped up. My hubby who is not a floral person found this to be very nice and refreshing. My MIL loved it, but Lyanne puked it out the moment she ate it. Haha, so it’s pretty much up to the individual.
Osmanthus Double Boiled Pears
Recipe adapted from : MeishiChina
Portion Ratio is as follows
1 Chinese Duck Pear (Pyrus bretschneideri ), 鸭梨
3 red dates, seeds removed
Rock sugar to taste (15-20gm per portion)
1/3 tsp dried osmanthus flowers
1. Prepare a large pot or a wok. Put in a wide steaming rack, preferable not too high up. Fill with water 1 inch above the rack. Bring to a rapid boil.
2. Meanwhile, prepare a kettle of boiling water.
3. Peel and core pears from the base. Retain stems. Or just peel, core and slice thickly. Do whichever way you want.
4. Put one pear into one individual double boiler vessel or just use a ceramic drinking mug.
5. Put in 3 red dates into each vessel and put in 15-20gm of rock sugar. (the blue vessel I used 14gm, the white I used 16 and the black I used 20gm, because they were all in different sizes, and all tasted just right after steaming)
6. Put in 1/3 tsp osmanthus flowers into each vessel.
7. Turn the heat off the pot/wok. Carefully place filled vessels onto rack. Pour boiling water over pears until almost full. Make sure the water in pot in halfway up the vessel’s side. Make sure the pot’s water is not too high for the shortest vessel.
8. Double boil (lid on the pot) over rapidly boiling water for 30 minutes and later, low heat for another 30 minutes.
9. Serve chilled or warm.
Verdict: My MIL who was having cough found her phlegm relieved after she consumed a warm portion of this. The rest of us who consumed the chilled version found it very soothing to the throat. No medicinal claims though.
All these pears weren't the same pear put in different bowls, but different pears in different vessels, I only have one of each, so I steamed 4 pears in 4 different looking vessels. It's a blogger's obsession to collect different tableware, but I can't have too many of each type.
yum
ReplyDeletei want try this...look yummy..my house got pear and osmanthus flowers....
ReplyDeletehi wendy, my grandma said, ya pear is colder(凉), and nashi pear (xuelei) is more "润"(soothing) for coughing. hahaha, i'm not sure, but for sure nashi pear is more expensive.
ReplyDeleteskfong
gosh i have to look for some pears...
ReplyDeleteI can imagine the taste now. Must be very sweet. Heard is good for the lung
ReplyDeleteAh.. this dessert is good for cough :D I tried it before and it worked well. Can replace with apple too. Love it very much!
ReplyDeletevery refreshing dessert and i just bought some pears, but wonder where can find Osmanthus...
ReplyDeleteWendy, how long can this boiled pears be kept...must consume within a day?
Just cooked it yesterday. I added 南杏and北杏 to this dessert. After 2nd time taken this desset, my husband stop coughing.
ReplyDeletethis dessert looks refreshing! Hope to try it out :)
ReplyDeleteIs great dessert. Must be very refreshing after chilled. But thinking of steaming them for an hour... Do u think can shorter the time?
ReplyDeleteyeah, i cook this many times with chopped up pears, no osmanthus..but presenting the whole pear here is very attractive and so classic looking..why didnt i think of that??
ReplyDeleteI like to make double boiled pear soup as an autumn treat(: but usually with white fungus, which is also very good for the throat I heard. i'll try to get hold of some osmanthus the next time I go to chinatown! sounds like a miracle cure!
ReplyDeleteThat looks so cooling. Hope you are enjoying your break.
ReplyDeleteoh wow, really new recipe to me I think I need to try too; yesterday my husband went to fresh market and bought this type of pears,but I don't really like the taste at all. But with your recipe,must be a different story :) TFS,wendy
ReplyDeleteThanks for this recipe. I know I am going to love this.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought poached/boiled pears looked really pretty, and yours is definitely no exception!! I've never had them before though, and haven't particularly wanted to try (since I love pears anyway) until I saw this- it looks delicious! haha...it's so true- ever since I started blogging, I've sort of started collecting tableware. Even my mum looks out for pretty dishes/bowls for me!
ReplyDeleteI can imagine how fragrant this is with the osmanthus! Very refreshing!
ReplyDeleteNoor Harfidaus,
ReplyDeleteYumyumyum
Hody,
the osmanthus flowered oredi? Wah, so syok la u.
SKfong,
Err... actually I dunno leh. I just used the cheapest pear that I find, which is the duck pear that I don't like eating. I actually never thought my MIL's throat will get better, she just told me., I just made this as a casual after dinner dessert, with no medicinal expectations. Thanks for telling me, greatly appreciated
loveforfood,
gogogo
Small kucing,
Is it? Thanks for telling
Yvonne,
OOO..... apples sounds good too
Sherleen T,
No la, keep until it smells bad lor. Hahaha. I tried keeping for more than 1 week, ok ah.
Osmanthus can be bought at Tea Shops, or certain herbal shops.
搵到食,
that's good!
Ah Tze,
ReplyDeleteoh yes, the throat feels very nice after drinking
Vivian,
It won't be as nice. I tried simmering over direct fire for half and hour, it tasted not that "smooth" and mellow. But maybe I compared it to the double boiled version.
lena,
Try it with osmanthus, it adds a different dimension to it. I can pass you some osmanthus the next time I see you.
Shu Han,
Oh no.. I never said that it will cure. My MIL just told me it made her felt better, but then again, it may not be the same issues.
daphne,
The kids enjoyed it more than me, haha,
thanks
fitri,
oh yes, I hate eating this pear too, but when made into a dessert, it transforms itself into something different. Maybe you can use orange blossom water if you can't get osmanthus. Osmanthus gives it a "apricoty" or "peachy" aroma
Mel,
I hope u do!
Von,
Haha,... that's addictive right? I have to stop myself from buying. But lately I've toned down a lot
pigpigscorner,
oh yes, very!
wow...this looks amazing! it's going to be in my list of things to try!
ReplyDeleteI cooked this before, minus the osmanthus flowers (recipe from a local magazine). I think with the flowers added, it will be more flavorful. But ain't going to buy a pack just for this. I bought the smallest pack last time but used up less than 1/6 for a few recipes. Kept for 2 years in the fridge and end up in the trash bin.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy, where can I buy osmanthus in Subang Jaya? Can I buy them from medical halla?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Cindy
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteYup, tea shops and herbal shops.
I saw some in the huge herbal shop in LG One Utama, at the old new wing link
Thanks will check it out....you really food angel ..
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Cindy
Thx for this yummy recipe! I made for my family yesterday. My son likes it so much! I hv difficulty to core the pear. U got used any tool to do it? Even my red dates also sink, unlike u, so nice presented. Think cox i cut it to half in order to tk out the seeds..hehe..
ReplyDeletePinnky,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliments and for trying out the recipe. Glad u liked it.
I used a apple corer to dig the hole :)