Konnichiwa to you – which is a Japanese greeting for hello! It is an honour to have you here as our guest. Nashi is the Japanese word for pear. We once adorned the banquet tables of ancient Japanese Emperors and have a rich history. We look like a cross between an apple and a pear and have a crisp juicy flesh. In Australia, nashi has been commercially grown for over 25 years.
Also known as the Asian pear, we're related to European pears like Packhams, apples and quinces.
We're round, with greenish-yellow skin that turns yellow when we are over-ripe. Our skin feels slightly rough like a pear, rather than smooth like an apple. Our flesh is creamy-white, sweet, crisp and very juicy.
We're available February to December and at our most plentiful May to September.
8% of Australian household purchased fresh nashi, buying an average of 443 g per shopping trip.
Nashi is also occasionally referred to as Asian pear, apple-pear or Oriental pear because they are native to northern Asia.
Americans call us a Chinese Pear
We're usually generally sold in your greengrocer as nashi.
The main nashi variety grown in Australia is the Nijisseiki. It’s medium-sized and round with yellowish-green transparent skin. It’s also known as 20th Century pear as it was discovered in Japan in 1898.
We are a good source of soluble fibre that helps with your digestion.
Our main claim to nutritional fame is that we're sweet and juicy with much of our natural sugar in the form of fructose, the sweetest-tasting sugar.
We are naturally low in fat and kilojoules.
100g of nashi has 210 kJ.
Our parent tree is deciduous and about 3-5 metres tall.
In spring the tree is covered in masses of large white flowers which, after pollination, produce fruit – usually much more fruit than the tree can handle. It is therefore essential to thin out the crop to ensure that those fruit remaining grow into a bigger and juicier fruit.
We're very delicate and can easily be bruised and damaged so we must be harvested by hand and carefully placed in special boxes to ensure that we arrive at greengrocers in top condition.
Select plump nashi that feels heavy for its size. Ensure there is no bruising.
We're harvested ripe so store us in your fridge for up to 1 month.
Nashis are grown predominantly in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria.
We originated in China and Japan and, have only recently grown on a large scale in Australia. The Chinese brought us with them in the mid-1800's when they came to seek their fortunes on the gold fields in Victoria and New South Wales.
We were first planted commercially in Australia in 1983.
On our arrival into the greengrocers we were, at first, thought of as a weird apple-shaped fruit. However, over the last 10 years we have rapidly increased in the popularity stakes.
We're similar to the apple in shape and the pear in taste but have a crisper texture and white, very juicy flesh. We can be eaten raw or cooked
Add nashi to the school lunch box instead of an apple. Wrap in a piece of paper towel to protect it from bruising.
Add nashi to your fruit salad for extra crunch.
Serve nashi wedges with a slice of cheese for a healthy snack.
Thinly sliced nashi and add to salads and slaws.
Here are a few nashi recipes from Sydney Markets for you to try:
NASHI & GRAPE WALDORF SALAD
https://www.sydneymarkets.com.au/recipes-and-produce/recipes/nashi-and-grape-waldorf-salad.html
NASHI & FENNEL SLAW WITH FISH
https://www.sydneymarkets.com.au/recipes-and-produce/recipes/nashi-and-fennel-slaw-with-fish.html
CELERIAC & NASHI SALAD WITH SCHNITZELS