Persimmons

[ludja]

persimmon sorbet

[Redsugar]

amccomb wrote: “…there were persimmons everywhere at the farmers market. They were those small mushy ones, not the large, shiny, firm ones.”

Possum in a ‘simmon tree,

Raccoun on de groun’.

Racoun ask de possum

To shake dem ‘simmons down. (Excerpted from an old folk song)

Generally, three main types of persimmons are marketed: Hachiyas & Tamopans are soft when ripe, whereas Fuyus remain crisp.

One large soft persimmon yields about ¾ cup purée. (But 4 oz., according to the Chef’s Book of Formulas, Yields, and Sizes, p. 238.) Be sure to let persimmons fully ripen at room temperature in a losely closed bag, turning the fruit occasionally, until they yield to gentle pressure. They can be eaten out-of-hand, skin, seeds and all.

Persimmons are most commonly used in cakes, salads, puddings, and sorbets. Referring to my journal, I see that I’ve used Hachiyas to make quick bread, drop cookies, *sorbet (1 cup pulp + 1½ Tbsp lemon juice + simple syrup), and to enrich an old-fashioned buttercream-iced yellow cake. Also, a baked pudding whose ingredients comprised:

2 cups persimmon pulp

1 cup grated sweet potato

3 beaten eggs

1¼ cups granulated sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

freshly grated nutmeg

minced gingerroot

1½ cups milk

4 oz. melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

orange-liqueur whipped cream, for garnish

You could viably substitute an equal amount of peeled, sliced Fuyu-type persimmons (mixed w/ lemon juice) for the apples in a double-crust pie.

Consider a fruit salad: kiwi, pineapple, bananas, Fuyus, seedless grapes. Serve w/ honey-yogurt dressing.

*Papaya, persimmon, and kiwi sorbets together would make a lovely tricolor combination on a sampler plate.

[Sobaicecream]

I have to admit that although I don't dislike persimmons, I've always found them rather sweet and bland. I wonder if this is because I've never eaten a really good persimmon.

So my first question is: does an extraordinary-tasting type of persimmon really exist or is the persimmon really just the mild, unassuming fruit I believe it to be?

Second, I've only eaten raw persimmons. Does cooking them enhance the flavor...or perhaps even bring out new notes that are not ordinarily discernable?

[Carrot Top]

Some of the persimmons that are bred to come to market are bland and tasteless...just as all other produce, particularly soft fruits, can be.

But I must tell you, I had to stop myself a bit earlier from adding an extra post to this thread that said only "There is no such thing as too many persimmons."

My favorite fruit. Glorious, they are, when 'right'!

(I am searching on the left for the 'clickable smilie' that has a drooling happy face but can not find it....)

[kitwilliams]

I once made a Persimmon Chiffon Pie with a ginger snap crust. Looked through my file of clippings and can't find it. Think it was in the LA Times a few years ago. Mellow in flavor, but the combination of that ginger snap crust with the fluffy filling was pretty damn good. One of those pies where you wish there was more crust.

[Redsugar]

Kit: A recipe for Persimmon Chiffon Pie, contributed to the Los Angeles Times by Marion Cunningham. (Although, this particular recipe doesn't use a "gingersnap crust," as you had indicated.)

[kitwilliams]

Thanks, Redsugar. I found this recipe online too and although I'd like to think I had the idea for the ginger snap crust (because it was the best part), I know I didn't. And I don't recall the lime in the filling either however I think it would be an excellent addition. So my vote is for Lime-Persimmon-Gingersnap-Chiffon PIE!

[dockhl]

I have never eaten a persimmon ...........not cake, pudding, jam, etc. Now I am in a new house and I can see that I'll have a huge crop when they ripen.

How do I know when they are ripe? What then?

[sanrensho]

I've never been lucky enough to have a persimmon tree, so I have no advice on when to pick.

Once they're picked, however, I prefer a persimmon that is ripe yet still slightly crisp. I'm not a fan of completely mushy persimmons. My favorite way to enjoy persimmons is fresh and in the simplest way possible. Chill, peel, and squeeze some lemon juice on top. The lemon juice really balances out the sweetness of the persimmons.

Persimmons would also be a nice addition to a salad, as long as they aren't mushy.

Edited August 28, 2005 by sanrensho (log)

[dockhl]

I've never been lucky enough to have a persimmon tree, so I have no advice on when to pick.

Once they're picked, however, I prefer a persimmon that is ripe yet still slightly crisp. I'm not a fan of completely mushy persimmons. My favorite way to enjoy persimmons is fresh and in the simplest way possible. Chill, peel, and squeeze some lemon juice on top. The lemon juice really balances out the sweetness of the persimmons.

Persimmons would also be a nice addition to a salad, as long as they aren't mushy.

←

Thank you ! These are are the conical ones called Hichaya (?) I think. I wonder if they have to be very ripe to be palatable..........

[sanrensho]

The correct spelling is "Hachiya." Here's a link to some information.

I haven't had a hachiya persimmon since I was in Japan, so I can't help you much there. We usually get the Fuyu (round) persimmons as it is more commonly available where we live. Going by memory, hachiya persimmons are softer when ripe, which the link also mentions.

I do have to warn you that you might get the occasional astringent persimmon. To put it mildly, you'll know it when you taste it. There's not much you can do with an astringent persimmon. so I usually just chuck it and move on to the next one. Don't let the occasional astringent persimmon put you off.

In Japan, the other common way to preserve and eat persimmons is as hoshigaki, which involves peeling the fruit and hanging them out to dry. The fruit develops white sugar crystals on the outside. Do a Google search using "hoshigaki" and "persimmon" and you'll find lost of information, such as this article. Here's a Japanese Web page with pictures of the process and final product. I suppose they are the equivalent of our dried figs (the goods ones, not the tough/hard ones that come in rounds). Yum.

Edited August 28, 2005 by sanrensho (log)

[Hiroyuki]

In Japan, the other common way to preserve and eat persimmons is as hoshigaki, which involves peeling the fruit and hanging them out to dry. The fruit develops white sugar crystals on the outside. Do a Google search using "hoshigaki" and "persimmon" and you'll find lost of information, such as this article. Here's a Japanese Web page with pictures of the process and final product. I suppose they are the equivalent of our dried figs (the goods ones, not the tough/hard ones that come in rounds). Yum.

←

Don't forget about sawashi gaki!!

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=718187

[sanrensho]

Don't forget about sawashi gaki!!

I'd never heard of that, nor have I had one! Unless one of my relatives fed it to me without telling me.

Interesting, I may have to try it some time. Will any alcohol work?

[SuzySushi]

Hachiya (the pointy shaped) persimmons are ripe when they're slightly soft. Until then, they're pretty astringent. Fuyu (tomato-shaped) persimmons can be eaten when they're still hard; they're crisp and juicy inside.

Besides eating persimmons as-is, or drying them, you can mash the pulp to use in puddings, cakes, and even ice cream.

[Hiroyuki]

Don't forget about sawashi gaki!!

I'd never heard of that, nor have I had one! Unless one of my relatives fed it to me without telling me.

Interesting, I may have to try it some time. Will any alcohol work?

←

I did a google search and found that any alcohol with a proof of 35 percent or greater will do. You can use whisky, for example, to make "Western-style" sawashi gaki.

[sparrowgrass]

I too have a bumper crop of persimmons coming on, but mine are the American wild ones, Diospyra virginiana. They are NOT eaten when unripe--my Pittsburgh dad used to talk about visiting my Missouri mom's family farm for the first time, and my mom fed him an unripe 'simmon. He said his mouth turned inside out. They are extremely astringent.

I don't care for persimmons, so I leave them for the deer and the coyotes and (especially) the possums, but some folks gather them for pudding.

American persimmons are orange, very gooey and sweet when they are ripe, and full of hard seeds. If you split a seed horizontally, you can tell what kind of winter you will have. If you see a white spoon inside, the snow will be deep. A knife means bitter cold. A fork means changeable weather.

/naturalist mode

[torakris]

I can't wait for persimmon season to get here!

there are quite a few ideas in this thread.

[dockhl]

Wowee ! All sorts of info.......you are the best !

I'll check out the links and have some fun with it.

And, if any of you are around Paso Robles, CA when they get ripe........and want some...........

Kathy

[dockhl]

The persimmon tree is loaded. How do you tell when they are ripe?

[kiliki]

Wow! I'm jealous.

They are ripe when they are quite soft, almost squishy (the inside will have almost a jelly/pudding like consistancy). But, as I've never picked them off a tree I wonder if you want to leave them on the tree until they are that ripe, or maybe harvest them when they are slightly firmer and ripen them inside?

[Mottmott]

The persimmon tree is loaded. How do you tell when they are ripe?

←

How beautiful they look. But dont eat them yet! These are my favorite fruit, and I find that they taste best when they look worst. The skin becomes translucent, sometimes a bit wrinkled, and they are very soft to the touch. Heavenly. Just cut and spoon it out, slurp slurp slurp.

I don't think you need to leave them on the tree til they are absolutely ready to eat as they will store well at a cool temperature. I never refrigerate them as buying them in the store it's a matter of waiting for them to ripen, hovering anxiously. Perhaps if you have a big crop, you may be more into retarding the ripening and then selectively readying them to eat.

Above all, do not eat them out of hand til the skin at least begins to be ranslucent. How I envy you your treee!

[torakris]

that tree is beautiful!!

Just like it has been said wait until they are very soft, the worse they look the better they taste.

My oldest daughter was a persimmon tree for halloween, we taped leaves all over her body and tied (real) persimmons up and down her arms....

I will make them into a persimmon bread today.

[FoodMan]

The persimmon tree is loaded. How do you tell when they are ripe?

←

How beautiful they look. But dont eat them yet! These are my favorite fruit, and I find that they taste best when they look worst. The skin becomes translucent, sometimes a bit wrinkled, and they are very soft to the touch. Heavenly. Just cut and spoon it out, slurp slurp slurp.

I don't think you need to leave them on the tree til they are absolutely ready to eat as they will store well at a cool temperature. I never refrigerate them as buying them in the store it's a matter of waiting for them to ripen, hovering anxiously. Perhaps if you have a big crop, you may be more into retarding the ripening and then selectively readying them to eat.

Above all, do not eat them out of hand til the skin at least begins to be ranslucent. How I envy you your treee!

←

I second this advice and I am VERY jealouse they look beautiful! I have not had a decent persimmon since leaving Lebanon. The one you have look perfect. Pick them and store at room temp in a paper bag. They are reasdy when very soft, the insides will have the texture of jelly. A non-ripe Hachiya (like the ones u have and the ones we have in Lebanon) persimmon is very astringent and is really inedible. Eat very well chilled.

[dockhl]

HOOOOOOOORRRRAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

I can't wait.....I've never had one!

But the tree is so beautiful...........

OK, anyone who wants some has to come to Paso Robles to get them

[dockhl]

that tree is beautiful!!

Just like it has been said wait until they are very soft, the worse they look the better they taste.

My oldest daughter was a persimmon tree for halloween, we taped leaves all over her body and tied (real) persimmons up and down her arms....

I will make them into a persimmon bread today.

←

So clever---I'll bet she was adorable !