Hoshigaki (Japanese Dried Persimmons)

Video Source: Marron Recipe, SF Chronicle, Root Simple

Ingredients: Astringent Persimmons (like Hachiya) with stem attached or with stainless steel screw driven in through the top

Directions:

1. Cut around the stem, taking off the top leaves and skin
2. Peel the persimmons vertically from top to bottom
3. Save the peels and dry them in the sun for a few days, Storing them in an air tight container large enough to fit the dried persimmons
4. Cut long pieces of string and loop (if the stem has a T) or tie each end to the stem of a persimmon. If there is no stem, they can flipped stem side down to dry
5. Hang over a rod in a sunny spot, making sure they don't touch each other
6. Point a fan at the drying persimmons for the first  week so they don't develop any mold
7. After a week massage them to break up the hard inner pulp, avoid any soft spots
8. Massage every other day for 3-5 weeks until the insides are no longer liquidy, but not fully dried and still pliant.
9. Untie and bury in between the dried persimmon peels to bring the sugar to the surface. Continue massaging daily so the persimmons don’t become hard

2016 Notes: I was able to find persimmons with their stem attached at the San Mateo farmer's market. These were SOOOO good, even better than the ones we buy dried at the farmers market. I started them on Dec 19, 2016 and they were finished on Feb 18, 2016. 

2020: Reduced time because they become too hard if left to dry too long. Didn’t dip into boiling water and will keep fan on for 2 weeks

2021: Following Liziqi (Chinese aesthetic countryside videos), I dried the persimmon peels are stored the mostly dried  persimmons with them in an air tight container and the sugar really came to the surface. Really be sure to pull the hoshigaki before the insides become too hard. Also, massage everyday at the very beginning or they will be too gooey and won’t firm up at all. Massaging daily near the end is totally fine.

2022: I forgot to save and dry the peels so I just placed the mostly dried persimmons in an air tight container and the sugar does come to the surface in ~2 days but I feel like it’s less than if you use the peels. I read that in Japan they use rice straw to bring the sugar to the surface so maybe it serves the same purpose. The one stall at the San Mateo farmers market has great stems. K&J didn’t have any at the SF farmers market. I bought some organic hachiyas without stems at Sigonas and used toothpicks I shoved through the shoulders to tie a string to (it was a pain in the ass). Next time I will dry them stem side down on a tray. Another video ref

2023: Bought Sigonas and K&J. K&J were just a little better than sigonas despite being $5/lb. I dried a few stem side down and it worked fine. Definitely pull while the persimmons are a little squishy. It takes a week or two for a lot of sugar to appear. Used desiccant packs from pill bottles in the container to ensure the peels and persimmons didn’t get too much moisture. Started late Oct and done mid December. I think I could pull early December so they are softer