Making Hoshigaki - Japanese Dried Persimmons

The craft and art of making hoshigaki, japanese dried persimmons.
Truly a craft of patience, hoshigaki making takes 3-6 weeks of careful tending to produce a tender, sweet, delicious dried fruit. Learn how in this short video.
Learn more about artisanal gardening and other soul enhancing activities at dennisklocek.com.

[@dokapin100]

When I was a kid, I helped make dried persimmons with persimmons from the mountains.

[@amoraamora3653]

Wow its nice sound

[@Margotyvy]

Thank you so much for sharing your method! ❤ I can't wait to try it.

[@clairecassan]

Thank you, I was able to successfully dry my persimmons. Lovely snack when hiking in the Pyrenees (France)

[@tashabeauchamp9760]

Gorgeous! What a beautiful process. And so yummy!

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

It really is!

[@devious1876]

👏🏿 👏🏿 thank you for this video

[@charliebucket9110]

Thank you so much for this video! Your demonstration for making hoshigaki is by far the most helpful!! 🙏

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Thanks Charlie!

[@MiaUy]

That is very interesting, I would love to try that method for my Persimmons too.

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Let us know how it goes! They are such a treat when prepared this way, and last through the spring.

[@JoeTheJew]

So THATS where Kisame came from

[@mayboomcompany8714]

Like it

[@tomislavgulic4051]

Thanks for the video. I have a kaki tree and i think it gives probably 100 kg of fruits. Half of it went lost because we didn't know how to preserve it. We tried to make jam but didn't went good.

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

This is a wonderful method, but is time consuming for a whole crop. I've done up to 150 in a season, but that hardly made a dent in the total fruit from my local tree and took quite a long time a fair amount of space. To be fair, my tree is over 30 years old, so it's quite a large tree with lots of fruit. Making them this way is by far my favorite way to enjoy hachiya persimmons. I prefer to eat fuyu persimmons straight off the tree like an apple.

[@kinexkid]

Its harder to get good cooking/hachiya persimmons like these where im from, but we do have a lot of locally grown fuyu persimmons. Would this process workvfor them as well? Or do you think they're too firm for this method?

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

@kinexkid I have done it with both types and since the fuyu are less sugary, you have to let them get more ripe first which makes peeling them harder. Both ended up being delicious, although I prefer to eat fuyu raw like an apple.

[@AwoooOga3503]

Can I dry this in winter time in my balcony or the kitchen? I'm just wondering what's the best conditions are to drying them.

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

@AwoooOga3503 If your balcony is dry and environment is not humid, it will work outside, otherwise I advise in the kitchen with good circulation. The risk is that they will grow mold.

[@kimkonami5685]

Hi, Great video. Do you reuse the same Bourbon?

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Yes, I just put it in a short jar with a lid.

[@acuetoPrietto]

what if you will be gone doing some part of the drying?

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Hi ac, that's a great question and a tricky one. Avoid leaving them unattended if you can. I've done that several times and they are worse off for it. Making hoshigaki depends on a balance between warm/cold, wet/dry. So much of it depends on when in their process you plan on leaving. Initially, you need good airflow with warm-ish temperatures, so the skin forms. They are most vulnerable to mold at this stage. Once the skin forms, humidity is less of an issue and massaging the pulp to move the water to the surface becomes more important. Warmth speeds the process, so they will need more regular attention if in a warm house. If you leave them unattended during this stage, the skin can become thick and tough while the insides are still soft. Cooler temperatures with less airflow can slow things down. Once the skin is well formed and they've been massaged a few times, you can leave them for a bit. This is the longest window you can leave them, but you run the risk of having them dry too much. Good luck, and let us know if you have any success with different techniques :D

[@annietoh3857]

❤ Arigato

[@-8_8-]

hi there, does this work with non astringent types?

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

It works best with hachiya persimmons (tear drop shaped), but I've done it successfully with fuyu persimmons (apple shaped) as well.

[@shellygenevievee]

Is there a way to make something with the peels? Or are they too astringent?

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Hi Shelly, I haven't tried, but it makes sense that you could.

[@charliebucket9110]

@@SoilSoulandSpirit I have seen in other videos that the dried skins can be used in teas. 🍵

[@hannajane]

I'm making these for the first time, but I dried the peels at a low temperature (~150F) in the oven and they are pretty sweet, not astringent at all.

[@dookypants]

when attempting to dry the persimmons, do you leave the windows open for ventilation or no?

[@jianchengbao1859]

better with ventilation, I place it close to heat radiator

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

@@jianchengbao1859 I usually put a oscillating fan on them, but heat helps too as @jiancheng bao said.

[@dokapin100]

In Japan, it hangs outside the house. Birds do not eat because it uses astringent persimmons.

[@sofinersisyan7096]

But will they dry at cool weather?

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

@@sofinersisyan7096 They will dry in cooler weather, so long as it's not too humid. It just takes longer.

[@ibrahimustun6812]

Batırdığınız sıvı nedir?Elinize sağlık.👏

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Bourbon alcohol

[@visionpiping1048]

Can you substitute the bourbon with something nonalcoholic?

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Sure, but then you lose the sterilizing aspect. Most alcohol evaporates long before it's eaten if that is the concern.

[@goaskcarmen]

Do we have to use ripe persimmons?

[@dokapin100]

Use unripe astringent persimmons

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

I wait until they are mostly red, but still firm before picking and peeling. Bruising the flesh when peeling leads to mush spots and bugs, so firmer is good. The sugars develop while they dry.

[@svenlauke1190]

my persimmons are dangling now. I do hope they last longer than a month after being dried tho

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

I've eaten them up to 2 years after, but they start to get drier after a month. Storing them in the fridge can extend the time they are good, but like bread that's been in the fridge, it does dry them out a bit.

[@svenlauke1190]

@@SoilSoulandSpirit thank you. mine link a bit different from yours after 4 days. they have these tiny black spots (thatI have seen in fresh ones too). is this dependent on variety?

[@svenlauke1190]

@@SoilSoulandSpirit also, despite bourbon, dry air, and washing some have gone moldy. any tips?

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

@@svenlauke1190 I'm not sure about black dots, it might be a different types of mold. Is there a "skin" forming? For mold, it sound like you need to increase the airflow. I suggest a oscillating fan. Discard any with mold, as it can spread to the others.

[@svenlauke1190]

@@SoilSoulandSpirit the black spots sometime appear as soon as you bite into one (fresh), so I think its oxidation, but it looks very different from yours (or others I have seen on the internet). will increase air flow, thank you!

[@muhdhairul7140]

Yuri yami2 the bes

[@yiayialindaluzy]

They’re in the sun?

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Yes, and with adequate air flow as well.

[@acuetoPrietto]

Is there such a thing as too much massaging? I can't keep my hands off of them!

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

LOL, right!? So long as the skin doesn't burst, I'd say it's fine. Just make sure you have clean hands. :D

[@rukminikendre1177]

give mi seed ,, who is price

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Hi rukmini kendre, Can you clarify what you mean?

[@alainterrieur519]

@@SoilSoulandSpirit I think he wants persimmon seeds

[@ezgiergenay5889]

Ben tırabzonda yaşıyorum yani vurmanın memleketinde yani Türkiye dede ❤❤❤ enini vurma burada yinede çok güzel görünüyor afiyet olsun 😋

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Sanırım Türkiye'de "hurma" diyorlar. Bu ağaçlar sizde var mı?

[@ezgiergenay5889]

@@SoilSoulandSpirit evet var her ceşit var benim bildiğim 5 ceşit var neden sordunuz kurusu da var

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

@@ezgiergenay5889 5 tip! Bu harika. Burada sadece 2 tipimiz var.

[@5hp3nd1]

It is really necessary the massage. It is too complicated

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

@5hp3nd1 You can skip the massaging, but then the resulting dried fruit will be much harder, and dry unevenly. Try to enjoy the process of watching them develop and participating in their becoming.

[@qianle]

Very nice video which has healing energy! Thanks! But sorry that it really disturbs me when you call it is "Japanese" traditional cuisine art which belongs to Chinese culture and history (we can find hundreds of similar videos on yt but no one will be agree that it's from Japan... ) . Imagine if we say Tiramisu (Italy) is from Japan or Buddhism is from Rome. You can do it better(sure it's possible:) but please respect the Origin(at least when you address it in the title).

[@SoilSoulandSpirit]

Hi @qianle, thank you for your interest and the history lesson. From what I know, the Chinese method does not involve the hanging and massaging of the fruits. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dried_persimmon for the various methods.

[@burgeryoufoundbehindthegrill]

Well, it is Japanese. Get over it. Are you going to claim rice next? 😂

[@AmyFerguson]

bourbon!

[@lordsams]

that american food not Japanese they shouldn't get the credit 😅😅😅

[@burgeryoufoundbehindthegrill]

No