Bae - Korean Pear
Other Names: Apple Pear, Chinese Pear, Asian Pear, Nashi Apple or Pear, bapple, papple, sand pear
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Korean pears ARE NOT a hybrid of apple and pear. They are a very firm, crisp fruit with a texture similar to apple. They are sweet, juicy, and tart, and are best when ripened on the tree.
Bae are most often eaten raw, or sometimes steamed and served in a light syrup with peppercorns (baesuk).
As an ingredient, bae is used as a sweetener/tenderizer in marinades. or as the sweet element in some sauces.
I noticed a few young trees growing very close together in my back yard, and being a tree lover I moved them apart to give them a chance to grow. They grew rapidly and in just a couple of years flowered and produced fruit that turned out to be delicious large Korean pears. My mother in law apparently had eaten some Korean pear that had been given to her by a friend and she tossed the cores (with seeds) into our garden area, gifting us with "accidental" pear trees.
