Hachiya Persimmons at Seward Co-op.
I first tried a persimmon in my early twenties during my first autumn living in Japan. I had neither heard of nor seen a persimmon before, and I was excited by the chatter of the locals who were eager for persimmons – Japan’s national fruit – to reappear as the temperature dropped and the fruits were harvested.

When the persimmon display went up at my local market, I knew nothing of how to select a ripe persimmon. I chose a firm and unblemished fruit and as a result bit into the most bitter, astringent and distasteful fruit I had ever tried. Rashly and naively, I swore off persimmons after that first taste.

Although some varieties of persimmon are native to North America, the varieties we most often see commercially are Japanese persimmons. The flatter fuyu persimmons resemble a tomato in shape, are yellow-orange in color, and may be eaten firm as an apple and still have a mild sweetness. The persimmon I first tried was likely a hachiya – one of a few astringent varieties that must “blet” (a state of softness or decay brought on by over ripening) to bring them to their prime. The hachiya is more elongated than the fuyu, its skin a deeper orange, and when ripe, it has a honeyed sweetness with notes of apricot. Hachiya persimmons are ready to eat when the skin has become leathery and the flesh jellied. The softer and more water balloon-like the hachiya feels, the sweeter the fruit will be.

In the Midwest, we begin to see persimmons in the late fall and in November there is a flush of both fuyu and hachiya varieties. A few years back when I started working at Seward, I was reintroduced to persimmons and in the spirit of knowing the produce we carry, I pushed aside my reservations and tried them again. This time I was prepared – and delighted.

Persimmons may simply be eaten out of hand. While they are delicious on their own, I prefer scooping out the flesh of a fully bletted hachiya persimmon and serving it alongside Donnay chèvre to spread together on slices of bread or crackers. Persimmon of either variety can be cooked into chutneys or frozen whole and eaten as a simple sorbet.

In Japan, they are available fresh as I found them but the astringent varieties are also hung to dry for weeks to become the delicacy known as hoshigaki. The under ripe persimmons are peeled, dunked in boiling water or alcohol to disinfect the surface and then are hung on cords for several weeks. In Japanese homes and shops, the strings of persimmons are hung outside from the eaves of buildings (see below). Here they could be hung inside in a sunny window to protect from frost and squirrels. After a few days of hanging, the persimmons are gently kneaded or massaged every other day. After a few weeks, the sugars will rise to the surface of the fruit as a white, powdery finish. In 4-6 weeks, the persimmons should be shriveled with a chewy texture and a sweetness comparable to dates – a treat well worth the wait and effort.

Hoshigaki drying in Japan. Photo by Laura Bell via Creative Commons License.