I’ve never had an asian pear before. They’re usually to expensive and I admittedly tend to shy away from new fruits when I can’t tell how to pick a good one or when it’s ripe. Compared to what’s shown up the passed couple of weeks, I was surprised to see asian pears at the CSA pick up this week.

My first thought was “cool, a new fruit!” Which quickly turned to “wait, how do I tell if it’s ripe and what do I do with it?” I scanned over the recipes included in this weeks haul and came across one for asian pear slaw. It recommended a firm pear, so I figured firm meant it was good enough to eat and cut a slice off.

Oh.Em.Gee. It was love at first bite. My first thought was: This is like the perfect marriage between an apple and a watermelon. It’s relatively small, compact, and single serving sized, but sweet, crunch, and bursting with juice when you bite into it.

The only similarities between the asian pear and your average pear is the somewhat grainy texture. It’s about the size and shape of a large apple, and has the juiciness and high water content like you would expect from a watermelon.

I’m in love.

word on the street: stays good up to one week at room temperature and up to 3 months in the fridge. They prefer cool temps and should be firm when ripe.

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