Just got a box of beautiful fall hachiya persimmons from a friend’s backyard. Now, what are the best ways to use and enjoy them? Thanks…
I remember a fabulous british style steamed persimmon pudding i once had at a restaurant, more like a cake really. It had some warm spices to it and was dark and dense
These persimmons are also great in quick breads and muffins, or cut in half and freeze, then eat the innards semi frozen like an all natural sorbet.
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Once they are very ripe and sweet, one of my favorite things to do is to spread some creamy ricotta (whisk or machine-blend with a little cream to make a so-so ricotta better) on grilled or toasted bread, then dollop the persimmon on top.
They’re good in salads too, especially with chicories and bitter greens. Kale, persimmon and pomegranate is a classic combination that usually calls for Fuyu persimmons, but I prefer the sweetness of the Hachiya. The texture is much softer with the Hichayas, but I actually prefer that smooth slipperiness with the crisp kale.
And there are tons of cookie recipes out there. In quick breads, you can substitute Hachiya purée for applesauce. Or the purée might might be nice in a gelato, if you still have your ice-cream maker out.
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persimmon negroni
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I bought some Kaki Fuyu persimmons. I’ve never used any persimmons before.
2 looked a little different than the rest.
What is going on with these? Moldy, bad, bruised or underripe?
Would you use them or compost them?
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I eat a lot of persimmons and get ones with internal dark bruises from time to time. I did look it up before, worried about eating mould. Apparently it’s OK to eat. One of the factors that results in internal browning is oxidation of tannins.
Recently ate a dozen of them in Japan. They have a sign stating the ripeness in numbers.
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My good woman, did you realize there is whole area of scientific research on this very issue.
Yes, we have trained scientists, from real universities, studying this.
Just for you, no doubt. 
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I was just about to ask about persimmons! But I have fuyu.
I once tried to make the sugared and dried ones. I don’t recall how it went, but probably not well.
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Careful who you say that to you and articulate carefully. Very carefully.
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I love fuyus and eat at least 2 a day during the season. I make Suzanne Goin’s famous persimmon-pomegranate-walnut-arugula salad a couple of times, but mostly I just appreciate them sliced into 8ths and eat out-of-hand. I think they might be my #1 fruit because they are portable (unlike other greats like peaches and raspberries), they don’t rot quickly, and they are all good if not great. You can get a mealy apple, a bad peach, or blah berries, but even a not-perfect persimmon is still good.
As for dried, I bought some once at a Korean market. They were quite expensive, and I was unfortunately underwhelmed. They weren’t what I’d hoped; probably an acquired taste or a taste you have to grow up with. Not bad, but I didn’t get the prized status.
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Good one! 
I think I also sliced and oven dried them once, but just used them for show.
Like this
@maestra , that’s encouraging! Any suggestions for ripening or knowing when they are ripe? The Japanese patient who gave them to husband says we should hold onto them a bit.
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We have a hachiya tree, and every year we dry them. I mean, there’s only so much persimmon bread and cookies you can make! The traditional (Japanese) method of drying them calls for peeling them whole, then hanging them outside to dry. Eventually they shrivel and look like a chicken drummette, but they get really sweet. They’re ready when they yield to gentle pressure but are firm and dry on the outside. Prepared this way they’re known as “hoshigaki”, and are a common New Year’s gift. Making hoshigaki is a PITA.
We slice and dry them in a dehydrator, much like in your photo. Drying either way - hanging for hoshigaki or slicing - requires that the fruits be firm with no soft spots at all. Drying them completely eliminates their astringency, too, no matter how green they originally were.
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My favorite with hachiya is freezing whole–slice the top off and eat like sorbet. With fuyu, sliced into salad (but has anyone mastered a way to get them pretty while removing the seeds?)
With Thanksgiving coming up, some of you may want to try this if you can obtain enough puree (any variety will work–I use a food mill). It is like a pumpkin pie but way better!
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There are seeds? I’ve never encountered seeds (either that or there’s a forest of persimmon plants growing in my tummy now 
)
I peel Fuyus — don’t like the texture of the skin, though I’ve eaten it a few times because it feels like a cop-out.
If you get to them just-ripe, they peel and slice very neatly. Just on the other side, it ain’t pretty, but it’s still tasty.
(I bought a pile the other day at a chinese market because the big ones were 2.49/lb instead of $3 each, so it’s going to be a race against ripening to eat them before squish-stage )
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I’d say 1 in 40 that I’ve eaten over the years has large black seeds. Interesting that others have seen a higher ratio.
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That sounds like chikoo / sapota seeds. Never come across them yet in persimmons, maybe I’m buying ones where they’re been bred out, like grapes.
In the Fuyu I would say I have seen the bigger brown seeds on occasion, but more often I see what I would call “vestigal” seeds; maybe they are immature or not pollinated. Or maybe it’s just the little fibrous case where seeds would be.
Check this out!
Every Sunday from 7 AM to 2 PM there’s a combination farmer’s market and flea market quite near the house of a friend where I’m currently staying in Tokushima (on Shikoku Island). I went last Sunday and saw a basket of 6 large fuyu persimmons (hachiya persimmons were also available) for 200 yen (=$1.34).
I told the vendor I wanted them and either because she had a glut of them or because she was intrigued by the fluent Japanese-speaking westerner who likes persimmons (both rather rare in these parts, I think), she proceeded to keep putting more and more in the bag as “service” to me. I finally had to stop her because I feared that I would have too many to eat and too many to store (the friend whom I staying with doesn’t like them).
When I counted them there were 18 in the bag! They’re of various sizes, stages of ripeness and quite homely looking, but yummy. I love to eat fuyu persimmons for dessert and are certainly better for me than eating some chocolate or cookies instead!
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