How to Prepare Hoshigaki - Dried Persimmon

I mentioned kaki fruit a while back, those wonderful orange sweet round fruits that ripened at the end of October. Now, the variety in season is the Hachiya persimmon, slightly oval shaped with a pointed bottom. They are also beautifully orange in color but the firm ones are too astringent to eat. These, we peel, dip in hot water (to counteract the tannin), string up and hang to dry. By the New Year, they will have a thick coat of sugary residue on them and a leathery texture. Bits can be eaten as a treat. So today, I prepared hoshigaki or dried persimmons. For string, we used the fronds from a palm type plant growing in the garden - most palm-like trees have very strong leaves that are a great substitute for string. The challenge now is to keep the hanging fruit from molding and already it has started to rain. The kaki that are too soft to peel are almost jelly-like. I scoop out the fruit and use this is cakes or bars. When Hachiya are this ripe, they are sweet. Some of the general recipes I use are similar to those found at http://www.epersimmons.com/recipes.htm