fruit Archives ⋆ Jenn's Japanese Journey

It’s finally fall in Japan! It’s no longer scorching hot outside, the trees are all changing color, and all my favorite foods are in season. That includes persimmon (柿).

What are persimmons

Maybe I was too overwhelmed with all the delicious fruit options back in Florida (you haven’t lived until you’ve had a fresh, sweet, juicy mango off the tree) or maybe it’s just not common in the states, but I had never tried a persimmon before coming to Japan. My first fall, I went to the supermarket to find all these strange, orange fruits by the entrances—and I left wondering if they were some kind of smooth pumpkin for Halloween. I mean, there are weirder ways to celebrate Western holidays in Japan…

So what are persimmons? The most common varieties you’ll find in stores are the flat, seedless ones, which are sweet and can be peeled and eaten like an apple (you don’t have to peel them, but if you don’t you might get some strange looks), and the small, oval-shaped ones, which are hung to dry before eating. There are many varieties and they’re all delicious! Just make sure if you choose an oval one that says 渋柿 (astringent) or はちや柿 (hachiya) that you don’t eat it unripe, or your tongue will be in for a nasty surprise.

Persimmon can usually only be found in November, with expensive ones sold throughout late fall and winter. You have to act fast if you want to enjoy this fruit!

Ways to eat persimmon

sliced persimmon — *There are so many varieties, and they all look and taste different!*

The moment I tried my first “kaki,” I fell in love. Now I get boxes of them from my in-laws every year. Sometimes it’s hard to finish them all when I’m just eating them cut into slices, so I’ve found other ways to eat persimmon. One of my favorites is eating it with cured hams (or 生ハム). The sweetness just goes so well with the saltiness of the ham, similar to prosciutto and melon dishes in Italy. I’ve also tried putting it in curry. I figured, since Japanese curries are usually made with apple, why not? It goes great in salads, which I have surprisingly come to crave after being faced with the sad strips of cabbage and boiled egg that pass for salads in Japan.

However, today I will introduce to you a dessert recipe! It’s almost unbelievably simple: you only need two ingredients.

Persimmon pudding

All you need are a persimmon and milk to make this persimmon pudding! The calcium in the milk reacts with the pectin in the fruit, kind of like when you make jam. Actually, although Japanese recipes all call it “pudding,” the texture really is closer to that of a smoothie. If you want something more solid, try adding a thickening agent like gelatin.

Peel the persimmon and place it in a blender. Add about half as much milk, blend, and you’re done! You can add some honey or vanilla as well, but it should be sweet enough as it is. Pour it into a bowl or cup and stick in the fridge for a few hours to thicken. (Or, put it in the freezer to turn it into ice cream!)

Let me know if you have any other recipes using persimmon! And be sure to subscribe so you’ll be notified when I write about other Japanese seasonal foods.

Considering the two countries are on opposite sides of the Earth, an American like me is sure to find many differences upon moving to Japan. It’s always funny, though, when Japanese people ask me about culture shocks. They assume I would have problems with things that actually never bothered me (or most other foreigners) in the first place.

“Was it hard getting used to chopsticks?” I’ve been using them regularly since I was eight, so no.

“It must be weird for you to take off your shoes indoors.” I have never worn shoes in the house in my life, and it’s much more hygienic this way!

“Can you eat natto?” Dude, have you ever eaten blue cheese? (I honestly can’t understand why people find natto repulsive when there are so many other foods with weirder tastes, smells, and textures…)

Anyway, the real culture shocks I’ve experienced are quite mundane, making them all the more surprising.

Smoking culture shock — *“タバコ，お吸いになりますか？”*

Restaurants

Something that I noticed on my first night was how restaurants still had smoking sections. Many aren’t separated at all, and even when they are, the smoke tends to spread throughout the restaurant anyway. I hadn’t seen someone smoke indoors since the 90s, yet here it was, still seen as a completely normal thing. (With the new legislation introduced for the Olympics, it is slowly starting to be phased out… Hopefully…) Needless to say, I very quickly picked up the kanji for “no smoking” (禁煙).

Adults playing games culture shock — *“最初はグー…”*

We’re all adults here… right?

A really funny culture shock I had was the first time I saw fully-grown, 100% adult office workers playing rock-paper-scissors in public. I had almost forgotten the existence of that game, having been so long since I last played it. Now I see adults here playing it all the time! It turns out that it’s used a lot whenever people don’t want to make a decision. A bunch of friends get together for a movie? The winner gets to choose what to watch. Only one piece of fried chicken left on the table? Rock-paper-scissors to find out who gets it. I also like how the Japanese version has a built-in tie-breaker: just “あいこでしょ” until there’s a winner.

Washing hands culture shock — *Lather, rinse, repeat.*

Personal hygiene

One difference that continues to bother me on a near-daily basis is the lack of soap in public bathrooms. And everyone always says, “Japan is so clean!” I’m not saying no one ever washes their hands, but even when I worked in Japanese offices ~~and despite having spent a significant amount of time shirking work by hiding in the bathroom~~, there was only one or two occasions where I ever saw someone use soap, let alone properly lather and rinse… My jobs have also all been in the medical field. They should know how germs work. Theoretically.

Fruit culture shock — *To peel or not to peel?*

And the prize for biggest culture shock goes to…

By far, the most memorable moment of culture shock I’ve had in Japan is… also probably the dullest one.

So, some people like to cut off the skin from their apples or peaches, while some leave them on. It’s all preference, right? I personally eat most things with the skin on because my mom always said it was nutritious (I’m actually just way too lazy to peel things). When I got to Japan, I was somewhat surprised to find that no one leaves the skin on anything. During a business trip abroad, my coworker literally said this about getting an apple on the plane for lunch: “It wasn’t even cut up or anything. I looked around and saw people biting chunks out of their apple, skin and all! Like animals!”

It’s not just fruits though. People here peel all kinds of vegetables—potatoes, carrots, asparagus—and rarely eat the skin on fish. The one example that really got me was when we visited my husband’s grandparents for the first time. Their prefecture is known for fruit, so they had bought us a bunch of expensive delicacies (see: fruit prices in Japan) to enjoy together. Out came the grapes. Right as I was about to pop one in my mouth, I hear a gasp—and look around to see everyone staring in horror at me as they all peeled their grapes.

I had no idea at the time, but it turns out that some Japanese grape varieties are bigger and sweeter than the ones I was used to, with a tough outer skin that you are supposed to peel away before eating.

Sometimes, it’s the little mundane surprises during our time abroad that stick out the most. What kind of culture shocks have you had in Japan?

This doesn’t come close to covering all my funny experiences, so stay tuned for more! Be sure to subscribe so you’ll get notified the next time I write about culture shocks in Japan.

Tag: fruit

Persimmon