What Is It And How Do I Cook It: Persimmons

It's fall in our corner of Japan!  The air is crisp, the night sky is bright, and my neighbors' persimmon trees are dripping with bright, orange fruit.  Persimmons seem like something Martha Stewart would showcase in a recipe for fall- difficult to find and nobody knows what to do with them. But on Japan's Kanto Plain, persimmons are everywhere. Grocery stores are currently piled high with this classic symbol of fall!  

I have to admit that in almost three years here, I've never gotten around to trying a persimmon; but, Little TF has a new book of Japanese fairy tales and in one of the stories, a monkey steals the fruit from a persimmon-loving crab.  Little TF insisted we buy a persimmon as soon as they arrived in stores so she could be a crab.  

Persimmons aren't just for storybook crabs, though! In addition to being beautiful, persimmons are high in fiber and Japanese studies suggest they may have anti-aging benefits.  Persimmons came to Japan from China, and the Japanese variety of persimmon was first introduced to the United States when Commodore Perry returned from his trip to Japan in 1852.  

After coming home with our persimmon, I began the hunt for persimmon recipes. An idea to make persimmon butter came from somewhere...probably Pinterest. During deployment, I am all about doing things the easiest way possible, and nothing is easier than my slow cooker. To that end, I googled "persimmon butter slow cooker recipes" and headed back to the store for more persimmons.

Persimmons are ripe when they are extremely orange and slightly soft to the touch. These squatty
persimmons are of the "fuyu"variety. Japanese grocery stores also sell acorn-shaped "hachiya" persimmons.

Spiced Persimmon Butter Recipe

1. Wash, peel and coarsely chop 20 fuyu persimmons.  I like fruit spreads that have a bit of texture, so I left the peel on my persimmons.  Peeling also takes the persimmon prep from 5 minutes to a long time, and who wants to do more prep?

Cut a persimmon in half so that you can admire its pretty center.

 
2.  Place persimmons in a slow cooker.  They should fill it a 3 qt. cooker nearly to the top.  Drizzle lemon juice over the persimmons and cook on high for two hours. Mash the persimmons and sprinkle with cinnamon and cloves and sugar. Set cooker to low and cook for eight hours, or to high and cook for five hours.


3.  Transfer the hot persimmon mixture to a blender and and puree in batches until smooth.

That's it.  Maybe the easiest thing I've ever made in my slow cooker.  And certainly one of the most delicious. I scooped some Haagen Daz Vanilla Bean ice cream and drizzled the hot persimmon butter over the top.  Oh. My.  Definitely not sharing with any crabs.

Celebrating the end of another deployment day!

If you're feeling extra energetic, hang your persimmons outside your house to dry.  Dried persimmons, or hoshigaki, are a traditional, New Year's gift in Japan.  If you wander around a Japanese neighborhood during autumn, you can see drying persimmons hanging from balconies or outside windows!


Ingredients:
20 fuyu persimmons                        1/4 tsp cloves
1 lemon, juiced                                1/4 cup, plus a few tablespoons granulated sugar.
1 tsp ground cinnamon


Notes: 
While the recipe calls for 20 persimmons to fill a 3 qt cooker, I nearly filled my 6.5 cooker with only eleven persimmons.  I wonder if persimmons are larger in Japan? 
The original recipe called for agave syrup instead of white granulated sugar.  I preferred to use the ingredients I had on hand, so I used an conversion table to get an approximate substitution amount with the sugar.

For the recipe with agave syrup and instructions on how to can your persimmon butter, click here.  The persimmon butter is so delicious, though, that you might eat it all before you get a chance!


Disclaimer:  I do my best to make sure all my information is accurate.  However, details may change or I may just be flat-out wrong.  Please let me know if something needs a correction.  Thank-you!