Have you ever tasted Persimmon? Do you know what a Persimmon is? I’m going to show you how to eat a persimmon and do a persimmon taste test. There are a lot of varieties of persimmons but the two most popular varieties, especially the ones we get here in the United States, are the Hachiya and the Fuyu. The Hachiya looks kind of like a heart-shaped fruit, and then the Fuyu, which looks kind of like a tomato.
Persimmons mainly come from China. China grows most of them and they originated from that area but they’re grown in Japan in South Korea in Brazil in Spain and California grows them and other places in the United States.
There are also native persimmons to the Eastern United States commonly referred to just as “American” or “Common” Persimmons (Diospyros Virginia). They are smaller than the Asian varieties and closer to the size of a plum. Chances are if you live in The midwest and East of there to the Atlantic coast and visited a farmer’s market you may have seen an American variety there. Depending on where you live in the States will depend on what variety you have access to. For example, the Hachiya and Fuyu, both Asian varieties, are the only ones I can find where I live, which is in Arizona.
They are a fall crop. So that’s when you can find them in the stores. They’re not super expensive, I get mine at my Ranch Market for three of them for $1. At my normal grocery store, they were a dollar each.
These particular persimmons, shown above, are both products from the United States. Sometimes they are imported. There are some differences between these two varieties, besides the shape. The main differences are the Hachiya is an astringent fruit and the Fuyu is a non-astringent fruit.
What that means is you can’t just eat the Hachiya at any time. Well, you can but you’re not supposed to until it’s fully ripe, because it contains tannins, kind of like acorns have tannins in them.
What happens if you eat it before it is fully ripe? If you eat it with the tannins it’ll have like a chalky taste and is not good for you so you want to wait until it’s nice and soft and fully ripe before you eat it.
Now the Fuyu is a non-astringent fruit, meaning it still has a little bit of tannin in it but not enough to be harmful. You can eat this in two stages when it’s fully ripe or not quite as ripe when it’s harder like an apple. Depending on the texture that you want, pretty cool.
Fun fact, the Fuyu persimmon variety was introduced to the United States in the mid-1800s.
What are some health benefits of Persimmons?
Here is a list of health benefits for both varieties of persimmon. They’re super high in nutrients. Just one of these fruits has about 118 calories. They are full of fiber vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin b6, potassium, copper, and manganese. Persimmons are full of antioxidants. And then may benefit heart health, may help reduce inflammation, and they support healthy vision. You can find more information on their health benefits here.
How to eat a Persimmon?
Here are some ways that you can eat it a persimmon. You can eat it fresh or you can dry them like other dried fruit like apricots or you can bake them and then drizzle like honey and powdered sugar on them. You can also make pudding with it. And then there’s a variety of other uses that you can do with them.
All right so how do we eat one? Well, there’s a lot of variety of ways that you can eat it. I just like to eat them fresh. With the Fuyu, you could just cut off the top if you want. Sometimes you can dig the little stem part off with your finger if it’s soft enough. One thing that’s neat about these is there are no pits in the middle. You can eat this like an apple. Or if you want to just cut it in half. The inside reminds me of a plum.
Then just cut them into wedges. That’s a common way to serve them fresh. Another way that you can eat persimmon is when they’re really soft you can just scoop them out of the skin with a spoon. Cut off the top and just scoop it. As I mentioned earlier you can eat the Fuyu persimmon when it is crisp. The ripe ones will look different on the inside. They will be darker.
I also want to cut into the Hachiya and show you what that one looks like. Sometimes you can’t pull out the top or it’s just too hard so you can just cut around it. A lot of people will just cut it down the side. This variety looks almost the same. Look how cool that star is on the inside, isn’t that pretty neat? You can cut them flat and then dry them out in a dehydrator if you want.
Or just put it in the oven in two halves and bake it. Then drizzle honey on it, pretty awesome. The Hachiya needs to be super ripe before eating it fresh. Some people will cut off the top and then just scoop out the inside with a spoon.
What does Persimmon taste like?
Time for a taste test. I will start with the Fuyu. Depending on the persimmon the skin is very edible. But it may be a little bit more hard or tough than others. Even if the skin is a little tough it’s still easy to eat it. But some people will just take the skin off. They are really sweet. Its texture is like a mix between an apricot and a plum. Persimmons have a very soft texture and are super sweet and very good.
Now I’m going to taste this other one that is crisper like an apple. The firmer Fuyu persimmon, the texture was closer to an apple as opposed to a mix between a plum and an apricot. Maybe like a pear texture but softer. It has a little crunch to it and is super yummy. It’s not quite as sweet as when it’s riper, however.
I want to taste the other kind, the Hachiya, and let you know what that one tastes like. This one has an instant chalky taste to it and that means it wasn’t quite ripe yet. I knew it wasn’t ripe enough but wanted to try it out anyway. If you have some Hachiyas that aren’t really soft, you’ll want to let them sit on the counter at room temp until they soften up and ripen. And then you can eat it. You’ll know that right away once you take a bite into it, your mouth will get all kind of chalky. And the taste is still there, it’s still nice and sweet, but it’s just not quite ripe yet and the chalky taste is unpleasant.
Persimmons are an amazing fruit. My recommendation is to just stick with the Fuyu ones those are the most common ones to find anyway here in the United States. The Hachiya persimmons are amazing as well but you have to make sure they are really ripe before eating them. If you accidentally eat one that is not quite ripe yet doesn’t worry about it the chalky taste in your mouth will go away after a little bit.
The bottom line persimmons are super delicious and super nutritious. If you haven’t tried one go out and see if you can find one and give it a taste. And let me know what you think down in the comments if you’ve already had one let me know what you think about them down in the comments. Happy fruit tasting!
Watch this video I made on how to eat a persimmon
Here are a few recipes and other topics you may like:
Just ate some persimmon today- it was lovely! Like a cross between a peach and a melon! A bit crisp but very edible!
So glad you tried it and liked it! 🙂
I live in Monterey Ca and got my yesterday at Luckys store and paid $2.99 for one !!!🤯
I use to shop at Luckys when I lived in San Jose! Wow that is expensive for one of them!
I just bought some and tried some for the first time. I got Fuyus. I realllyyyy wanted to give them a chance especially with all thr hype. But they are not to my liking in the slightest. They taste like an unremarkable mango, the texture makes my mouth dry up like cement and has this awful latex feel to it. I won’t be buying these again. Thankfully I didn’t order a tree and opted for a Japanese plum tree instead.
Hi Darius, you are eating them unripe! You need to wait for them to get ripe. Definitely try them again but wait for them to get soft and juicy. There will be absolutely no dry bitter taste.