Fruit Maven » japanese http://fruitmaven.com Your guide through the wild world of fruit. Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:07:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Twentieth Century (Nijisseiki) Asian Pear http://fruitmaven.com/2009/11/twentieth-century-nijisseiki-asian-pear/ http://fruitmaven.com/2009/11/twentieth-century-nijisseiki-asian-pear/#comments Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:06:47 +0000 Fruit Maven http://fruitmaven.com/?p=857 If you have a tendency to drool a lot and you’ve been looking for some way to hide it, then this is the fruit for you!
APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Pale yellow, almost see-through skin with white to beige flesh.

AROMA 4 out of 5 stars

Mellow but full bodied smell, reminds me of apple and maybe nutmeg and maybe butterscotch though not sweet really.

TEXTURE 4.5 out of 5 stars

Crazy juicy – drips all over, makes a huge juicy mess! Grainy but in a good way – very very crunchy and crispy. Has a dry thin peel, almost like rice paper. The peel isn’t particularly bad, but I could certainly do without it and would love if some mom or dad somewhere would just show up and peel and slice it for me (and then leave) before I eat it.

TASTE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Mild sweetness with a prominent lemon note that isn’t acidic at all. Very rounded, full flavor though subtle.

OVERALL 4 out of 5 stars

I don’t tend to be a lover of Asian pears generally as they are all texture and juice with little actual flavor. This one is still mild, but much more interesting and it doesn’t have that annoying aftertaste that so many pears have. Completely lovely.

FRUIT

Asian Pear

VARIETY

Twentieth Century (Nijisseiki)

PEAK

Fall

ORIGIN

Japan

GROWN

Tottori, Japan

PURCHASED

Asian Specialty Market

NOTES

Typically southern California grocery stores and even vendors at the farmer’s market have one kind of asian pear and they have no idea what variety it is – just “Asian Pear”. So I went to the asian market hoping they would have more choices. They had tons of options with the variety names and where they were grown and everything! I was in heaven – Shinseiko, Shinko, Fragrant, Yali, 20th Century, Kosui, Hosui, etc. As I was drooling over the plethora of asian pear options, I turned around to look at their apple selection only to find a pile of “Green Apple” and “Red Apple”. Sweet.

RECIPES

Asian Pear Slaw with Chilies (scroll down for recipe)
Asian Apple Pear Wine

]]> http://fruitmaven.com/2009/11/twentieth-century-nijisseiki-asian-pear/feed/ 0