The Fruit I Wait for All Year Is Finally Back in Season

Growing up, my family rarely had dessert after dinner: we had cut fruit. Who needed dessert anyway when you had Hachiya persimmons? Hachiyas—beautiful oblong fruits—are soft, squishy, and sweet when fully ripened. Open them up like treasure pouches to reveal vibrant orange, honey-like flesh.

These days, whenever I see bright and beautiful orange persimmons for sale at my local Asian supermarkets in Seattle, I think of my father. While Dad never explicitly said so, I’m pretty sure persimmons were his favorite fruit—whether boiled and dried as a snack or sliced fresh for an after-dinner sweet.

I can still picture Dad peeling and biting into a Hachiya. When he delighted in the soft autumnal fruit, I think it reminded him of his happy childhood in Hanoi. 

Despite being so delightfully sweet when ripened, Hachiya persimmons are quite astringent and unpleasant when freshly picked and unripe. These fruits require your patience, but they’re worth it, bursting with a sticky sweetness once they are water balloon-soft to the touch.

You can bite directly into them like my father did or scoop out the jelly-like flesh with a spoon to savor the fruit like a dessert.  

Hachiya vs. Fuyu Persimmons

Like my dad, I’ve always enjoyed a good Hachiya, but my favorite type of persimmon is the firm, crisp Fuyu. For me, texture often trumps taste, and Fuyu persimmons have the bite of an apple or white nectarine but with less juice and more toothsomeness. It’s almost like crunching into a carrot, but less dry and sweeter. Unripe Fuyus have a lingering astringent aftertaste, but ripe ones have a gentle sweetness milder than Hachiyas.

When buying persimmons, look for intact fruits with smooth, unblemished skin sans bruising or cracks. Fuyu persimmons should be firm but not rock-hard. Hachiya persimmons should be soft, but if you can only find firm ones, you can wait for them to ripen fully at home.

How To Enjoy Persimmons

My mother used to add diced Fuyu persimmon to her egg salads to balance the savory flavors of the dish with fruity sweetness and to add texture. I, too, like adding pieces of Fuyu persimmon to salad, yogurt, and overnight oats, but to nourish my inner child, I eat them plain, sliced up as a snack or dessert. 

As I slip into my cozy sweaters every autumn, I look forward to Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons returning to the markets. Filling my pantry with these fruits brings me so much joy as they’re more than just a seasonal treat for me. Whenever I bite into a ripe persimmon these days, it’s like Dad’s right next to me at the dinner table again, and we’re savoring the fleeting sweetness together.