Dessert

Poached pears in spiced honey syrup (baesuk)

Name: Poached pears in honey syrup (baesuk) recipe
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 200g honey; 1/2 tsp black peppercorns; 15g ginger; 2 lemon slices; 1 cinnamon stick; 2 nashi pears, peeled, halved lengthways (see note); Vanilla ice cream (optional), to serve; Sliced lemon (optional), to serve

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Poached pears in spiced honey syrup (baesuk)

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by Eun Hee An

Jul 18, 2024

"Traditionally, in Korea, if you see baesuk, the peppercorns are embedded into the pear pieces. If you’d like to serve this the traditional way then that is how we do it, but I just put the peppercorns into the poaching liquid, because when they’re pressed into the pear you have to remove them to eat the pear!" – Eun Hee An

1/2 cup (200g) runny honey
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
3cm piece fresh ginger (15g), sliced
2 lemon slices
1 cinnamon stick
2 nashi pears, peeled, halved lengthways (see note)
Vanilla ice cream (optional), to serve
Sliced lemon (optional), to serve

Method

1.

Combine honey, peppercorns, ginger, lemon, cinnamon and 700ml water in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, add pears and poach for 6-8 minutes, until pear is just cooked through and tender when tested with a fork.
2.

Remove from the heat, transfer to a heatproof container and refrigerate until chilled. Strain, reserving syrup and pear.
3.

Serve chilled poached pears and a generous amount of poaching syrup with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a slice of lemon, if using.

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Recipe Notes

When selecting nashi pears, look for fruit that is firm, with smooth skin and no blemishes or bruises. Unlike traditional pears, which soften as they ripen, nashi pears maintain their crispness even when fully ripe. Choose fruit that feels heavy for its size, indicating juiciness. When cooking with nashi pears, their crisp texture and relatively high water content can affect cooking times, so it’s important to make sure they are tender when tested.