Dried persimmon


Dried persimmon is a type of traditional dried fruit snack in East Asia. Known as shìbǐng in Chinese, hoshigaki in Japanese, and gotgam in Korean, it is traditionally made in the winter, by air drying Oriental persimmon. It is a popular snack food in East Asia, and is also used to make wine, and in creating other desserts.

Production

Dried persimmons are made from various varieties of Oriental persimmon. Persimmons, when fully ripe, are thin-skinned, soft and sweet. Persimmons used to create dried persimmons are harvested when they are under-ripe, firm, astringent, and bitter.

China

In China, the persimmon fruit are peeled and dried on wooden trays after harvesting.

Japan

In Japan, the fruit are peeled and then suspended by strings from their stems. They are massaged daily after they have started to dry. This gives the dried persimmon from Japan a distinctive shape and texture that is different from those from China and Korea.

Korea

In Korea, the persimmons are peeled and dried, tied with saekki and hung in sunny, well-ventilated place, for example to the eaves of the house. When the color turns brown and the outer part hardens, the seeds are removed and the persimmons are sealed again and flattened. After around three weeks, when the fruits reach 75% of their original weight, they are covered in dried rice straw and stored in a box in a cool place until the drying process is completed, and a white powdery crust of persimmon sugar forms on the outside. Sangju in North Gyeongsang Province is famous for its dried persimmons.

Nutrition

Korean gotgam usually consists of 32% moisture, 6.3% protein, 0.44% fat, 44.8% carbohydrate, 15% fiber, and 1.99% ash.
calories : 75.8kcal

Culinary use

In Korean cuisine, dried persimmons can be consumed themselves, or used as an ingredient in other foods. For example, gotgam-ssam is made by wrapping a walnut with dried persimmon. Dried persimmon with pine nuts inserted are served with suksil-gwa or fresh fruits. Dried persimmons are also one of the main ingredients for sujeonggwa.

In popular culture

The Korean folktale "The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon" features a tiger scared of dried persimmon.

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