After searching I see there really hasn’t been more than vague mention of the ‘Nanguo’ pear here on the forum. I think it may be worth learning a bit more about this pear.
I do not grow this pear, but was fortunate enough to taste it along with many others a few years ago at a Home Orchard Society fall fruit event. While I tasted many pears that day, I only took pictures of a few which really stood out to me. Of the Asian pears, ‘Nanguo’ stood out both for flavor and appearance. While I’ve never had an Asian pear that I really didn’t like, I found myself drawn to the very few varieties which had more complex flavors compared to the average Asian pear. ‘Nanguo’ fit into this category, but part of what made it memorable was the fact that it had near red skin which is a trait I have not heard of in Asian pears.
I don’t really have any further knowledge to share about it at this point, but wanted to highlight it in hopes that more people will give it a try.
Pictures online indicate that the red blush of ‘Nanguo’ is on average less extreme than the specimen I photographed. I suspect the quantity of red is influenced by amount of sun exposure to the fruit during ripening. Regardless, it’s beautiful and tasty.
They had them in little individual pear holders in a tray at the Asian market. If you’re a person who normally dislikes Asian pears for being “boring” or “watery”, you might like these.
Also found loquats (pretty OK, I think they need to ripen on the table for a day or two), sweet limes (meh), and yuzu (smells very nice; haven’t tasted yet).
I have a Juicy Jewel coming in the mail later on this or earlier next year. No idea how those look aside from the photos they post from the nurseries but it looks like it looks European looking too
