A classic, soothing sweet soup dessert, elevated by serving it inside a whole pear for a stunning presentation.

Time: 3/5
Involves some passive time waiting for the pears to steam

Effort: 3/5
Grade school arts and crafts involved

Cold Weather Comfort

Winter is the time of year when the constant exposure to cold, dry air predisposes those possessed of more sensitive constitutions to suffer from an irritated, parched throat. It also happens to be flu season, depending on where you live, and that doesn’t play well with throats either. It’s times like this that I am reminded one of the folk remedies I learned growing up in a Chinese family.

I won’t even begin to pretend I have any idea how, but certain foods have ‘nourishing’ properties that help irritated throats and dry coughs. There’s a huge complicated body of knowledge with roots in theories of Chinese medicine, of which grandmas seem to have an intuitive grasp. My own mother’s beginning to exhibit such knowledge as well, having absorbed it through diffusion from the other moms in her proximity.

Asian pears happen to be one of these foods, along with several others that are often paired together in a sweet soup intended to fight off the harshness of winter. Whatever is happening under the hood, what I do know is that it is indeed very soothing to sip on some steaming hot pear soup on a cold evening, or when fighting off the flu.

Jujube, also known as red dates, are little wrinkly red things about the size of a grape. They’re the dried fruits of a certain tree native to south Asia, and a common ingredient in broths and sweet soups. Red dates are prized for the fruity and pleasantly musky aroma which they give off to the liquid they’re cooked in.

Another ingredient that may be unfamiliar to the Western home cook is snow fungus (雪耳; suet yee / xue er, literally “snow ear”). As the name implies, it’s a type of fungus that is whitish and transparent in colour. They’re sold dried, and sometimes snow fungus creeps me out when they’re like that because it kind of looks like a brain, what with all the folds and swirls on its surface and a big divide down the middle ( especially the larger specimens, which grow to about the same size …) Fear not, however, as it will melt down considerably when simmered and give the sweet soup a luscious, velvety, gelatinous texture which I find really soothing.

Apricot kernels are another common addition. It’s supposed to have some medicinal properties too, and some find its slightly bitter taste pleasant as a balancing factor against all the sweetness going on. I’m impartial to them and I didn’t have them on hand, so I left them out this time. All the ingredients mentioned so far should be easily found at the Asian grocer.

While a pear, red date and snow fungus sweet soup might be common fare for a Chinese housewife, I decided to elevate the presentation a bit by serving the sweet soup right inside the pear to give it a fancy restaurant vibe in parallel with fried rice in a pineapple or lobster thermidor. The edible pear bowl is delightfully tender. Feel free to serve it in a normal bowl like a mortal, but don’t say I didn’t show you how to earn those bragging rights on instagram.

Dramatis Personae

Pear – 1 each

Choose an Asian pear, or any variety with a snappy texture. The soft ones are absolutely delightful, especially when eaten cold on a summer’s day, but they lack the structural integrity to hold up to the prolonged braise. On a related note, leave the skin on if you want the pear to stay intact for presentation. The skin will soften considerably by the end of the braise and will be completely edible. The bigger your pear, the easier it will be to hollow out.

Red dates / Jujube – 1 to 2 pax

Red and wrinkly. They have a small pit, which you could remove if you like. It’s a nice gesture and not that hard to do, just halve them and dig the little seed out. Besides being an ingredient in a sweet soup, red dates make an amazing beverage when boiled in water, or steeped in tea as a sweetening agent.

Snow fungus – much less than it looks like you need

Break off a small chunk and let it soak in water. It will roughly double its volume as it hydrates. A several-hour long soak in cold water produces a better texture in my opinion, but you could speed the process up by soaking in hot water for half an hour. Rinse well before cutting into bite sized chunks, as the many crevices can hold on to a lot of dust.

Rock sugar

While any sweetener would work, rock sugar is the way I learned how to make this. It doesn’t have much flavour beyond sweetness, although it does give the sweet soup a light yellow colour. Any extra rock sugar leftover can be readily repurposed to sweeten cocktails and stews. You could substitute with white or brown sugar, or honey or whatever. Just keep in mind that anything that isn’t just sugar will bring its own flavours to the dish.

Executive summary

1. Wash snow fungus well, and soak in cold water for 3 or 4 hours, or 30 minutes in hot water
2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Wash and halve red dates
3. Slice the tops off of pears and reserve. Dig the flesh out with a knife or a spoon, leaving a rim about 1cm thick. Discard the core.
4. Stuff hollowed out pears with red dates, pear flesh and sugar. Replace the tops.
5. Steam in the serving bowl, over water at a rolling boil, for 45 to 60 minutes or until pears are tender
6. Serve hot. Take pictures.

Play by Play

Give the slightly creepy fungus brain a bath. Swish it around after the folds open up to make sure any dirt or dust is rinsed off. Discard the soaking liquid.

A close look at red dates, or jujube. You could totally leave them whole, especially if they’ll be cooked longer, but for our purposes today cutting them would increase the surface area-to-volume ratio and expediate flavour transfer. It also allows me to remove the pit so that the entire end product is edible, which is nice.

When hollowing out the pears, I found it easier to begin with a paring knife but end with a spoon. Stuff your ingredients into the pears and close the lid. I also put in a little bit of water to play it safe, but it was probably redundant because the pears will release plenty of fluids.

The pears go into a bowl, then into my pot. It’s the only thing I have that has high enough sides to accomodate the steaming rack, the bowl and the pear with the stem. Cover and steam for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the pears soften. Be careful, the steam is hot. Wrap your hands with a towel, wear mittens, or better yet get one of those specialised tongs for lifting things into and out of the steamer.

Serve hot.

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