Tea-Poached Pears

By on February 14, 2011 in She Interviews, She Simmers, She Veges

poached pear recipe
While the traditional wine-poached pears will not be easily dethroned, pears poached in liquid infused with oolong tea leaves deserve the same level of attention. These smoky and subtly-perfumed pears are great by themselves; they’re also great with panna cotta or vanilla or coconut ice cream/gelato on the side. Not that these tea-poached pears came out of a need to avoid cooking/baking with alcohol, but the booze-shy among us may find this alcohol-free variation worthy of being added to their repertoire.

These tea-poached pears have been inspired by a similar recipe I’ve seen in O Magazine. It was made with oolong tea leaves.

poached pear recipe
 

Tea-Poached Pears
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 3 large Bosc pears (choose very firm ones), peeled, halved, and cored
  • 4 cups water
  • 1¼ cups sugar
  • ⅓ cup loose oolong tea leaves (Jasmine tea works great too.)
Instructions
  1. In a large saucepan, mix the water, sugar, and tea together; bring the mixture to a boil.
  2. Gently lower the pear halves into the liquid, making sure they’re fully submerged.
  3. Simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.
  4. Fish out the pears; set aside, covered.
  5. Strain the poaching liquid; discard the tea leaves. Put the strained poaching liquid back on the heat and reduce it over low heat until syrupy.
  6. Plate the pear halves and drizzle the syrup on top.
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6 Responses to Tea-Poached Pears

  1. The Last Touch February 14, 2011 at 11:15 pm #

    That looks delicious! I love tea in my desserts and this is something on my to-do list!

  2. anna February 17, 2011 at 6:03 am #

    Mmm, tea-poached fruit is so lovely! I find that apricots are perfect poached in any tea but pears sound delicious too.

  3. *Just Fran* February 17, 2011 at 7:45 pm #

    Beautiful! I can’t wait to try this.

  4. Kelly @ Evil Shenanigans February 17, 2011 at 11:16 pm #

    I am not a big pear fan … it is a texture thing … but, I LOVE poached pears. The poaching makes the texture of fresh pear, which I find grainy and not nice, mellow, soft and oh so lovely! I have never had tea poached fruit before. Your pictures are lovely!!

  5. Mei Teng February 20, 2011 at 7:44 am #

    This is something interesting to try out. I love poached pears.

  6. Arwen from Hoglet K February 20, 2011 at 8:46 am #

    That does look stylish sliced into a whorl. I’m a fan of red-wine pears, so a tea variation sounds lovely – especially with coconut icecream!