Tsuru Noko "Chocolate" Persimmon

These chocolate persimmon are seasonally available Nov-Dec

These are some of the sweetest, juiciest persimmons I've ever had farmed by Dragonberry Produce in Oregon.

Tsuru Noko or "chocolate" persimmons are not widely available - many people accidentally think their brown speckles and bits of brown flesh mean they are rotten when in fact their chocolate brown-ness equals amazing flavor! 

Specialty Produce explains: 

The Tsurunoko persimmon is the fruit of a deciduous and evergreen tree of the Ebenaceae (Ebony) genus...Small quantities of alcohol exude from the seeds which cause tannins in the flesh to clump together and lower the astringency. This turns the pulp brown giving it its nickname "chocolate". 

This is the one time when you want to eat brown fruit.

The fruit can be eaten when the flesh starts to feel soft and tender, somewhere between a firm fuyu and a super soft hachiya. I picked mine up at a local Whole Foods.

Lovely orange skin!