nearly ripe Hachiya Persimmon, ready to be peeled and hung to dry
Looking up at the persimmon tree’s wild constellation of fruit still languidly dangling, you’d hardly know we already picked over two bushels for drying. Ene recently discovered the Japanese art of Hoshigaki, a technique of drying fruit by a combination of open-air hanging and hand massaging. The fruit is picked before it fully ripens, with a section of branch left attached, then it is peeled and hung for several weeks, gently squeezed daily after a skin develops; the massaging brings out the sugars. Our studio is rimmed with drying persimmon, adding to the season’s festive atmosphere.
peeled persimmon are hung to dry, still attached to the branch
our Hachiya Persimmon tree is still loaded with fruit
i thought this was a practical joke – never heard of such a thing in my life!
Do you have any problems with fruit flies?
Hi Jazmin-
No, we’ve had no problems with flies, probably because the fruit is drying inside, hung by south-facing windows. We did have some problems with mold, though, during an especially wet week, the fruit with the least exposure developed mold.
Thanks for your comment!