5 Ingredients or Fewer

Caramelized Asian Pears

by:
October  5, 2011
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0 Ratings
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

A few months back, a dear friend of mine brought me a real treat: Sucre roux a la Coriandre. Basically, it's a coriander-infused sugar, and it's scrumptious. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, initially, but since, I've used it in a fig-poaching liquid as well as to caramelize Asian pears. Both are real delights.
Last night I served the caramelized pears atop homemade spiced apple butter -awesome- and last week I put them on pan-roasted salmon. Also delish. Though I've not tried this with other pears or apples, I suspect the result would be equally tasty. I started with Asian pears because I like their crunch and thought they'd hold up well during cooking. They do.
This sugar is made by Terre Exotique. I think you could approximate it by whisking some freshly ground coriander into unrefined sugar.
Enjoy. —em-i-lis

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Ingredients
  • 1 large Asian pear, washed but not peeled
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1-2 tablespoons coriander sugar
Directions
  1. Slice the Asian pear into thin rounds and slivers- about 1/8" thick- working around the core.
  2. In a 10" skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. When it's bubbling, sprinkle the sugar over it and then layer in your pear rounds and slices; they can touch or slightly overlap but make sure they have room to really caramelize and cook.
  3. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook, flipping occasionally, until the pears are fragrant, cooked through but still a tad firm, and have taken on a golden brown hue.
  4. In the photo above, you'll see that I served these with some homemade spiced apple butter as a side dish. They're also quite nice on pan-roasted or grilled salmon; in that instance, place them atop the salmon before cooking or midway through so that they adhere slightly to and share their fruity, sugary goodness with the fish.

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1 Review

Stephanie H. March 10, 2020
How long do u cook the pears for? It doesnt show!!??