October 2018. Found this Bae-suk recipe online when I was looking for Korean home remedy for husband who had cough & flu. Husband dislike to see a doctor or take medicine whenever he is feeling not well so I often look for Korean food or home remedy that can help in fast recovery. Turns out it works like a charm and he recovered very quick after consume the baesuk. Same goes to my Korean Chief who also coughing badly, almost instantly relief from cough (cough lesser) after he consume the baesuk that I made and brough to office for him. And I no longer hear him cough the next day.
What is Bae-Suk?Bae-suk 배숙, means cooked pear, where "bae" is pear and "suk" is cooked. It is made with pear, honey, ginger, pepercorns, jujubes and pine nut (optional). Pear helps with digestion, coughs & sore throats, while ginger has warming & soothing effect. Therefore it can relief cough and cold related symptoms! It's similar to Chinese cough remedy - steamed pear with rock sugar (冰糖雪梨).
There are 2 methods of making baesuk :
1) 배꿀찜 Bae-kkul-jjim
Steam the pear in whole (which I am sharing with you here).
Ingredients : Pear, honey, ginger, jujube, pine nuts
2) 향설고 Hyang-sol-go
Cut the peeled pear into pieces, simmering until tender.
Ingredients : Pear, honey, ginger, peppercorns, pine nuts
The different is method of cooking, and also jujube or peppercorns are use here as different method. Bae-suk can be eat as dessert when you don't have cough or flu.
Ingredients (1 Serving)
1 Korean Singo Pear
1 Tsp - Grated ginger
2 Tbsp - Honey
3 Jujube (or Chinese Dates)
*If you can't find Korean Singo Pear, you may use Chinese pear or bosc pear.
How to cook :
Step 1
Slice off top 1/5 of the pear to make a bowl and a lid.
Step 2
Remove the core using a tea spoon or fruit baller to make a pear bowl. Beware not to remove too much of flesh of the pear or dig too deep. Too thin may cause the pear bowl collapse as pear will turn soft during steaming process While too deep, there might a hole at the bottom that may not able to locked the honey and grated ginger inside the peal bowl during the steaming process.
Step 3
Fill the pear bowl with 1 teaspoon of grated ginger as base.
Step 4
Top with 2-3 jujubes (or Chinese red dates) - either sliced or in whole.
Step 5
Fill in about 1-2 tablespoon honey, enough to cover up the pear bowl but not overflow.
Step 6Cover up with the lid, place in a bowl and put it into a steamer. Steam for at least 45mins to one hour on medium high heat until the pear turn soft and it is done.
It can be consume when it is hot (if you have flu or cough) or served cold (as dessert). Just chill it at refrigerator and it can be a nice and sweet dessert to smooth your throat.
