Crazy Fruit Adventure: Asian Persimmon

I'm back with yet another crazy fruit to try. I have had persimmons before but American persimmons are fairly different from Asian ones. Before I go to my first impressions of the Asian I wanted to do a comparison of the two. 

Unlike the Asian persimmon the American  is very wrinkly when ripe and much smaller in size. I have very fond memories of stopping on the side of the road to eat these wild in the colder months when these are in season. They can be a kind of gross texture but they taste really good. Kind of sweet, maybe similar to what I would imagine the love child of a raw fig and a date to taste. Usually very creamy but on occasion a little mealy. If I remember right they do have pits and the skin can be pretty tough. Still yummy eats and thinking about them makes me wish I had some.

In this picture you can see the Asian Persimmon is about the size of a medium tomato. It feels similar to a tomato when ripe as well. A little bit of give but not squishy at all. There were no seeds and the flesh was very firm but very slimy. The skin was very tough, so much so that I peeled it with a vegetable peeler. So they do have similarities but both are unique.

Taste wise, it's almost identical if maybe a tad less sweet. Texture is good with almost a gelatin like feel with a nice firmness. As I mentioned before it's very slippery with out its skin so it's best to eat with knife and fork in my opinion. I had mine room temperature but I think the flavor and texture would be even better if I had chilled it for a bit before eating. They are a little expensive at almost $2 each where I live but still worth it for a special snack. A delicious treat which I would happily have again.

Hope this inspires someone to try some Persimmons no matter which variety. They are both super tasty. Bye!