Nashi Pear

Why nashi pear is rated high

Nashi pear is high FODMAP at 1 fruit (150g), and it is high for two reasons rather than one. It carries excess fructose, meaning more fructose than glucose, and it carries sorbitol, the polyol that runs through pears generally. Those two arrive together in the same crisp, juicy fruit, which is why a single nashi lands where it does. The published data tests one serving for nashi pear, 1 fruit (150g), and that serving is high, so there is no lower rung on the ladder and no tested portion that comes in under the line.

What changes your risk

• Two subgroups in one fruit Excess fructose and sorbitol both sit in nashi pear, so there is no single lever that takes care of it. Removing one does nothing about the other.
• Only one tested serving 1 fruit (150g) is the whole ladder for nashi pear and it is high. No smaller amount has a published level, so there is no tested portion to name.
• Peeling changes nothing The fructose and sorbitol are in the flesh, not the skin, so peeling or coring a nashi does not shift the load.
• Juice concentrates it Nashi is often juiced or pressed into marinades, which puts several fruits into one measure and leaves the fibre behind, so the drink or the sauce runs higher than the whole fruit did.
• Stacking runs in two directions The sorbitol adds to blackberries, apricots, plums, peaches and sugar-free gum or mints. The excess fructose adds to honey, agave syrup, high fructose corn syrup, apple and watermelon. One meal can reach both.
• Poaching does not soften the load Cooking does not break these down. Whatever moves out of the fruit and into the poaching liquid is still there when the syrup goes into the bowl.

Swaps

What nashi gives you is crisp, watery crunch and clean sweetness, and the swap depends on which half you are after. For crunch in a salad or on a platter, cucumber, bell pepper strips, carrot sticks or green beans do the work, and for sweet crunch, grapes and kiwi are the closest fruit to reach for, with mandarin or orange segments and cantaloupe rounding out a fruit plate. In a Korean-style marinade where nashi is doing the sweetening, maple syrup or rice malt syrup with garlic-infused oil and the green tops of spring onions gets you there. Ordinary pear and apple are not milder versions of nashi and are not the answer here, because both bring sorbitol of their own.

How to lower the load

Nashi turns up under several names, including Asian pear, apple pear, sand pear and Korean pear, and the label at the shop is not always the one you are expecting. It is also a workhorse ingredient in Korean cooking, where grated nashi goes into bulgogi and galbi marinades to tenderise and sweeten the meat, so the fruit can be in a dish with no visible trace of it. When ordering Korean barbecue, that marinade is worth asking about, and at home a marinade built on maple syrup, soy, ginger and garlic-infused oil covers the same ground. On a shared fruit platter, nashi slices are easy to mistake for apple once they are cut, so it helps to keep them on their own plate.

Common questions

is nashi pear low fodmap

No. At the only tested serving, 1 fruit (150g), nashi pear is high, driven by excess fructose and sorbitol together.

how much nashi pear can i have

The data tests one serving, 1 fruit (150g), and it is high. No smaller amount of nashi pear has a published level, so there is no tested portion to quote.

is nashi pear the same as asian pear

Yes, nashi is sold as Asian pear, apple pear, sand pear or Korean pear depending on the shop, and the rating is the same whatever the sign says.

what can i use instead of nashi pear in a korean marinade

Maple syrup or rice malt syrup with soy, ginger and garlic-infused oil gives the sweetness and savoury depth. Regular pear and apple are not substitutes, since they carry sorbitol as well.