October 11, 2009

Sunday Story: The Fruit of the Gods

One of my favorite fruits is the persimmon.  You can't find it readily available here, but in Korea, it is a lot more common.  People bring boxes of these to people's houses if you've been invited over for dinner, for instance.  It is said to have really high medicinal value.  People will take dried persimmons (we call them gaam) and brew tea with it to help with stomach troubles.

Ah, but for me?  I like to eat dried ones straight out of the freezer.  No joke.  My mom will buy [a very expensive] box of dried persimmons when she goes to Chicago (great place for Korean food, by the way) and put the box in the freezer.  And every once in a while, i'll be digging through her kitchen, rummaging for food, and i'll break into the box, grab a persimmon, and eat it as a snack.



Yeah, i kinda already took a bite out of the side of this one before i remember i should take a picture of it.  YUM.  It tastes like a sweet fig without all the seeds.

The most delightful thing about a persimmon is it's big seed pods.  Inside, there are these large pods that would later hold a seed (these were picked before seeds had time to grow inside, or so i think).  These pods are fabulously delicious and have the most wonderful texture.

This is a bit tougher to taste and find on a dried persimmon, but if you ever get your hands on a fresh one, OMG it's so delicious.

But to every good side, there is also a bad side.  If you eat a fresh persimmon before it is properly ripe....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

....the fruit will paralyze your entire mouth.  It numbs your tongue and makes it feel like you've dipped it into wax.  It is not pleasant.  You will regret everything you ever did wrong, you will repent your sins on the spot, and want to take sandpaper to your mouth to get that feeling to go away.



That's another reason why i prefer the dried ones.  These are 100% made from properly ripened persimmons.

Have a good Sunday, y'all. ;)

Oh, and stay tuned.  Tomorrow I'll have another Korean food recipe! 

6 comments:

  1. Very interesting....I can't wait to try one..although, I'm kinda afraid. I do love your site...great recipes, great directions with pictures...just a fantastic blog!!

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  2. that's so sweet of you to say!! thanks for being such a faithful reader, and for leaving fun comments for me to read...i love them so much!!

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  3. Oh...I love it too!!!
    I haven't had one for a very long time. It's not very common in Hong Kong, it's not hard to find in the right season. You remind me of that sweet lovely taste! :)
    It's usually pretty safe to have persimmon in Hong Kong since fresh one out in the market are already ripe (or maybe it's my luck :P). We have two kinds here, similar in taste but different in texture. I think the one from Korea is very soft and sweet (those brought from Korea by my korean aunt are as such). Then we have also a stiff ones which taste less sweet. Both kinds are as delicious.
    I saw dried ones here, but have never taste one. Maybe I should get some and try.

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  4. Hi Ruby!! Oh, i didn't know it wasn't common throughout asia. Yeah, I know the two kinds you're talking about...the hard kind is more like the textures of a hard nectarine. The soft kind is like...heaven :)

    but YES you need to go get yourself some dried ones! I'll bet they're quite a bit cheaper to buy over there than the imported ones we buy here in the states.

    Miss you!!

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  5. Ah, Sunny, you are spot on with this. My family eats this all the time. We call it "hoorma".
    They must be SOOO ripe before I will even go near them. The whole mouth paralysis is not pleasant at all.

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  6. hahaha yana, i love that you appreciate and understand what i mean by mouth paralysis. that makes me feel not so alone in the world :)

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