Hoshigaki - Dried persimmons

While at a festival in November (Farmers & Kids Festa), my son was able to make hoshigaki, a dried persimmon.  We both really enjoyed it and wanted to make more. 

Dried persimmons are a real treat here in Japan.  It is something I don't have much experience in, but they are quiet spendy at the grocery store in part because they take so long to make, but also because they are beloved.  They are full of health benefits, too.  They support your immunity with tons of vitamin C, control blood pressure with ample potassium, and aid digestion with a good source of fiber.

I did a bit of research and found out you need a special kind of persimmon, hachiya or an astringent persimmon, to make hoshigaki.  I asked at my organic produce shop and at first they didn't have hachiya.  But the owner kindly sought them out for me and I happily bought 20 persimmons to dry. 

You wouldn't want to eat these persimmons fresh, as they do not taste good at all.  However, I do have a friend that told me if you soak the stem in sake for a while (not sure how long) that they would sweeten up and be edible.  I tried some that her mother prepared this way and they were delicious!

That night, I brought the hachiya persimmons home and sat down at the dining room table and peeled them.  I left the stem, which left me something to hang the fruit from.  I then tied a short piece of string to each stem.  I boiled some water and dipped each persimmon in it for about 3 seconds.  I only did this to kill any potential germs.  After dipping them, I tied them to a towel drying rack.  These can be hung outside, but I didn't want to take the chance of feeding a bird or another animal.  I'm too greedy for that.  My husband wasn't too impressed with me borrowing his towel rack, but he knew I really wanted to not take any chances with making the hoshigaki.  I then put the rack in the sunniest place in the house - the office!

After the first week, the persimmons had a nice thick skin on them and were ready for massaging.  Every couple of days, I would give them a gentle squeeze. 

It took about a month, but they were finally ready to eat!  I actually think I let them get a bit too dry. The ones I have bought from the store were much more tender inside.  But they were delicious all the same and my son won't stop eating them!

I definitely will be continuing this Japanese tradition of drying these fantastic gems every fall to enjoy all winter.  It is so easy and interesting to watch them do their thing.