Dried Red Persimmons

Hachiya persimmons prepared in the traditional hand-dried way of Asia.

In Japan the dried fruit is called hoshigaki (), In China it is known as shi-bing (), In Korea it is known as gotgam (hangul: ), and in Vietnam it is called hng kh.

by Gary Westendorf Fall 2012
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Hachiya Persimmons

Hachiya persimmons are prized by some for when they are eaten at the peak of ripeness, the fruit turns in to a succulent sweet pudding. This fruit is translucent on the outside and the gelatin on the inside can be eaten with a spoon.

Harvest Season
Harvest takes place during October and November while the astringent fruit is still hard. Here leaves are beginning to turn color.

Picking
The persimmons are removed from their branches using pruning shears. Cutting branches with multiple fruit higher
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up and pruning away wispy branches will strengthening next years growth. Pruned away all but 1/2" on both sides the stem, leaving a "T" which will be used to hang the fruit to dry. Fruits can be stored in fruit crates for several weeks if kept in a dark, cool, dry place. Ethylene gas is a product of decaying fruit and will accelerate the ripening process, along with other gasses like alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Pealing
Here I leave a quarter to dime sized peal on the tip of the fruit. I am told this will prevent the ripening juices from dripping out during the drying process.
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Hanging
Using a fairly heavy weight string (13lbs test), I tie a knot about every 6".

This results in about 16 loops per string when hung from the eaves in the back of my garage. The exposure here is Westerly and with the winter sun low in the sky, there is very little direct sun exposure. The fruit can tolerate some sun but most of all need air, lots of it.
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Drying Process
After the fruit are hung, they are gently messages by hand every few days to break up the insides and smooth the outside. In about 45 days, they form a white residue on the surface called the bloom. This when we like to serve them on a wine and cheese platter. Paring which wines and cheeses will have to wait.

Summary
The results are not in for this years harvest. I have picked and processed some 800 fruit. I expected to have some loss due to varmints (squirrels, raccoons, skunk, and yes my trusted dog Jester) to eat some. What I found very interesting is that although Jester has taken quite a liking the raw persimmons, he does not have an interest in the pealed hanging fruit. I read somewhere that due to the astringent nature of the fruit, a pealed persimmon forms a second skin that seals in the sweet ripening fruit and somehow
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renders the fruit less appealing to prey, both insect and mammalian. Now after 2 weeks, I have lost only a few fruit. Overly ripened or wounded fruit drop off their stems into a sizable "SPLAT".

That's all for now!

The challenge is to gure out how to post a PDF document on Facebook?

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