Watch Eva Pau's Asian Christmas on the 22 & 23 December on RTÉ One.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 15mins
Cook Time: 45-60mins
- 4 Chinese nashi pears
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 6 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 6 cardamom pods
- 3 slices of fresh ginger
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 100g caster sugar
- 500ml Japanese Plum Wine, Red
- 500ml water
Ginger Cream
- 200ml Double cream, whipped
- 70g Ginger nuts in syrup
- 2tbsp of ginger syrup
- 1/4tsp vanilla bean paste
Garnish
- 4 sprigs of fresh mint
Method
- Prepare your spiced sugar syrup by boiling 500ml water into a pot. Add the orange, lemon, cloves, star anise, cardamom, ginger and cinnamon. Stir and simmer for 2minutes, before adding the sugar. Gently simmer for a further 5minutes, allowing the flavours to infuse.
- Strain your sugar syrup into a different pot and add in the Japanese plum wine.
- Peel your Chinese nashi pears and add this into the infused plum wine. Depending on how big your pears are, you will need to cook them for 50-60mins on a gentle simmer until they are soft. Use a knife to poke through the middle of the pear to test.
- When the pears are soft, take them out of the liquid and reduce the liquid on medium heat for 15-20mins until it becomes syrupy and thick.
- To make your ginger cream, add the ginger nuts, syrup and vanilla bean paste into a blender for 4-5mins. Fold this paste into your whipped cream and set aside.
- To assemble, place a tablespoon of the plum sake syrup on the base of a dessert bowl, add 2 tbsp of ginger cream, set your poached pear on top and pour another tablespoon of plum sake syrup on top of the pear. Garnish with a sprig of mint.
Watch Eva Pau's Asian Christmas on the 22 & 23 December on RTÉ One. Catch up on RTÉ Player.
