In Search Of...The Yali Pear

Hi all. The season for one of my favorite fruits of all time is rapidly approaching. I've been known to eat upwards of 15 of these things in a day, and am convinced they have some sort of addictive chemical in them.
http://www.specialtyproduce.com/spNetwork.ASP?Item=2549&WCI=Frameset&WCE=Main

My best description -
Texture: Super crunchy and juicy like a honey crisp apple, but the texture of the flesh is even lighter than a honeycrisp.

Flavor: Vernor's ginger ale TO A TEE!

Three years ago, I found them in endless supply during the season. Two years ago, I couldn't find any. Last year I did find a small supply here and there. I'm hoping this year will be another bumper crop. If there are any sightings, please post if you can remember to.

Random website quote:
"In southern Indian mythical art, the Yali is a creature with the body of a lion and the tusks of an elephant. Although the Indian version of Yali sounds frightening, the Chinese fruit version is much more delicate. Jeff, our distribution manager, describes eating a Yali pear like this: "It is the lightest Asian pear, crispy but not crunchy, extremely juicy, not watered down but like a cool refreshing drink. The smooth pale skin has a hint of clover and soft ends of honeysuckle. It's like drinking white tea-calm and mild. It is a quiet field-mouse walking lightly over fresh snowfall." The poet has spoken. Enjoy and be fruitful!"

I also do remember reading about these being "outlawed" until only a few years ago. If you see any, please let me know.

Where have you found them in the past?

Don't take my word for it, but I may have seen these at Chicago Food Corp. I'm not sure if it's exactly the same as what you're looking for but the shape seems very similar.

3333 N Kimball Ave

Oriana the Pear Lady has them at Green City Market, though I don't know if the season is over.

gleam wrote:Where have you found them in the past?

Last year, they had some at Stanley's on Elston, and I also found some at that International Food Club (the one JUST south off of I-55 around Pulaski?.) Three years ago, I was getting a steady stream of them from a joint on Ogden and Harlem - Berwyn Fruit Market for like 89c /lb where I would load up every week.

Hey m'th'su - thanks for the intel. The season should just really be starting. Any recollection on a price?

Have you tried H-Mart? I think I've seen them there.

--gtgirl

I'm with gtgirl - I know I've seen them somewhere, and considering my recent shopping history, H-Mart is a good bet. I bet if you called first, they might have good intelligence on them even if they're not in stock.

I've seen them at Stanley's pretty frequently. I'm almost positive that they had some when I was there last weekend.

I should also mention that I have never really cared for the Yali pears that I have gotten there; however, I don't know if that is simply because I don't like them in general or because they don't have high quality examples of them

I think I've seen them last year at Valli's in Hoffman Estates. You may want to call them to see if they have it.

benscanlon wrote:...I should also mention that I have never really cared for the Yali pears that I have gotten there; however, I don't know if that is simply because I don't like them in general or because they don't have high quality examples of them

DITTO! I loaded up on them when I saw them last year, and they were NOT the ones I was used to. MUCH greener in color, but they still had a slight "yali" taste to them. I wondered if they were some sort of hybrid, but they were definitely not the great ones I've had before.

I could have sworn they are out of season right now. They, along with Korean Asian pears, were on sale months ago at Super H-mart for weeks if not months. They were as inexpensive as 4/$1.

Hm... maybe I'm mistaken... I'll have to dig up my old digital pics to see when I snapped pics of the box of Korean pears I bought at Super-H.

The original post on this may have been a mistake on the season. I think the season is late winter early spring. I just saw some at a local fruit market. I was just going in for some bread. What a nice surprise. Walked out with 7 lbs. of these things. I had one so far, it wasn't super sweet, but juice was practically bursting out with each bite. Like basically taking a drink of juice. The really good ones kind of remind me of a honeycrisp apple. Light, but amazingly crunchy and juicy. The flavor, however, reminds me exactly of Vernor's ginger ale. If you're a pear person, or an apple person and you see these, give them a try.

try some fragrance "li"----in Chinese that means "pear", if you like yali. BTW, I believe yali is originally from China too,though they are grown in California now.

You can still find the Yali pears in the Asian grocery stores. I like going to the Wing Lee grocery store in Chinatown on the corner of Alexander Street and Wentworth Avenue for fruit and produce. They still had the Yali pears, fragrant pears (xiang li), Hosui, Shinseki varieties. Try Richwell Market on Canal or Chinatown Market on Archer. I'm sure that H-Mart probably still carries them even though I haven't visited it recently. But given H-Mart's large Chinese customer base, they probably still carry them.

Seebee, have you tried Seckel pears? They're not very common but I like them much more than the usual Comice and Bosc varieties. I haven't tried the Yali yet, but I will be looking for it now.

Cogito wrote:Seebee, have you tried Seckel pears? They're not very common but I like them much more than the usual Comice and Bosc varieties. I haven't tried the Yali yet, but I will be looking for it now.

Since yoyu're in houby - Justice Produce on Ogden had them a few days ago. where can I find a Seckel?

I don't know. The last time I found any was at Caputo's a couple years ago. But I haven't seen any since then. I used to have a couple Seckel pear trees in the yard and they were great. But I lost that source. They are smallish with a golden orangish skin when ripe, and are very sweet.

I just ate the last of the "Ya Pears" I bought at Oakton Market a couple of weeks ago. They came individually wrapped in paper with that white netting around them. These sound similar to what you are talking about. They were very juicy and mild with apple-like qualities. I didn't get the Vernor's taste comparison, though

When searching the web, I have seen sites that say that the Ya and Yali are the same pear. What you describe is how they do come packaged. These are pale yellow with tiny brown spots. I have given a few to people and asked them if the flavor was familiar. They had a "eureka" moment when I named Vernor's as a possible flavor comparison. There's kind of a clove-y essence to them when they are really sweet. Maybe that's what it is? When they are really sweet, that's when I notice it the most.

seebee wrote:There's kind of a clove-y essence to them when they are really sweet. Maybe that's what it is? When they are really sweet, that's when I notice it the most.

Maybe so. To me the essence of Vernor's is ginger, and I didn't get that form the pears.

Marketplace on Oakton had quite a bit of interesting produce today. I noticed the sign for "fragrant pears," which were all buried underneath protective styrofoam webbing. I pulled one out, and to my amazement, was smacked in the nose with perfume something like orange-flower water - fragrant is an understatement. I picked out a few and took them home to try. It's delicious - a watery in the way that a watermelon is watery, sweet and cold and thin-skinned. Apparently these are one of two Chinese pears - Yali being the other one - allowed into the US.

I don't live in Chicago, but in NYC. What I have found here is that almost all of the big Chinese supermarkets carry Yali pears in the white netting. Quite good. I would assume that the Chinese supermarkets in Chicago would probably do the same.

Went to the Jimenez in Buffalo Grove a few days ago, and to my surprise, I saw a bin with a "Pers De China" sign on in. Closer inspection, and I saw the little guys snug in their white netting. 1.69/lb. If you like these things, be on the lookout. The lines at the registers were insane, so I didn't partake, but will be back there soon.

I have not seen Orianna at Green City yet but she and her pears, Yali among the varieties she sells, will no doubt be there soon and are highly recommended. She's also at the Botanic Garden in Skokie, whenever their farmer's market is.