How can you tell that persimmons are ripe?

The winter is here and strange orange fruits started to appear in shops and markets. Yes, we are talking about persimmons. This fruit is also known as kaki persimmon, Chinese plum or Sharon fruit and thanks to their excellent taste many of us include persimmons in their diet. But before you eat them make sure that they are really ripe. We shall explain you how you can tell that persimmons are fully ripe and how to best enjoy this exotic fruit.

How can you tell that persimmons are fully ripe?

Persimmons taste great but only if they are really ripe. They are harvested unripe and come from faraway places such as California, China or Japan. Ripening occurs during the time of transport, and depending how long the transport takes, you can still find pieces that are not fully ripe. If you have fruits like that let them ripe for additional time if necessary. Even for up to 14 days.You can tell that your fruit is ripe if it is soft to touch. Unfortunately, you cannot get fully ripe persimmons from trees in our corner of the world.

Photo: Pixabay

Peeling

If you have an unripe persimmon, the skin will most likely be very bitter and virtually inedible because of the high content of tannin. If you crave persimmons and cannot wait, peel the skin with a potato peeler or knife. You can also remove the tannin from the fruit if you put the fruit in a refrigerator for a while. If you do, you can eat it even with the skin. Another option is to cut it in half and scoop out the pulp with a spoon. But if it is not fully ripe, the flash will be rather stiff.

Photo: Pixabay

Consuming persimmons with the skin

When persimmons are fully ripe, the pulp is soft and resembles marmalade. An incredibly sweet marmalade. You can eat persimmons raw or you can add them to various fruit salads. Persimmons are frequently added to various desserts too and are very popular because they have no seeds.

Preview photo: Pixabay