Tawei Liao

Sun Dried Persimmons Are Ready!

On November 20th, 2009 I wrote an entry about sun dried persimmons.  It has been three weeks and I am here to say that our first batch of sun dried persimmons is a complete success!  They are delicious!  Here is the before and after picture:

persimmons enjoying the sun

The finished “hoshigaki” (japanese for dried persimmons) may not look as appetizing as fresh persimmons, but they are just as delicious in a completely different way.  The “hachiya” variety persimmons are very very sweet.  And you eat them when they are completely soft.  The dried version is not as sweet, but the persimmon flavor is concentrated.  The texture of the dried persimmons is a little like gummy bears.

Here are the step by step instructions on how to make your own sun dried persimmons:

1. Use only the hachiya variety persimmons.  Pick or buy them when they turn orange and are still hard.  You cannot use gently soft ripening persimmons.  They have to be hard.
2. Wash them and peel the skin with a regular fruit peeler.
3. Tie the stem with a rope and hang it onto a cloth drying rack.  See the before photo above.  It may be hard to tie the stem.  If your have your own persimmon tree, I suggest that you clip the stem into a T shape so there’s support for the rope.  If you bought the persimmons you’ll have to do the best you can with whatever stem is there.
4. Leave the persimmons out in the sun in the morning.  Bring them back into the house after dark.  Try to put the rack next to a heater vent if you can when they are in the house.  We leave ours out drying in the front yard in the morning because our back yard is full of squirrels. 
5. When they start to shrivel, gently massage them with your fingers.  The purpose of the massage is to facilitate the drying process.  Remember they dry from the outside but the inner core is still wet and soft.  Massaging them bring the juice out to the outer layer where it can dry.
6. Do the massage every  2-3 days  in the first two weeks.  After about three or four weeks of drying your persimmons will be ready!  They should be a little hard and rubbery like gummy bears.

That is it!  It is a little labor intensive because you have to bring the rack in and out of the house and do a little persimmon massage.  But the end product is well worth it.