Excuse, excuse … : How to make Kakishibu, and I have not tried it!

 

So, here is the process to make Kakishibu, and my EXCUSE not to make it by myself.

1. 

First we have to collect unripen fruits of bitter persimmon. Bitter persimmon? Yeah, it’s a variety of persimmons, but not suitable for fresh eating. It has an elongated shape and is hard to find these days in gardens of our suburban houses. As the variety contains more tannin, it is suitable for making persimmon tannin. To eat it, we have to dry it in cold wind for weeks from late autumn to early winter. The end product is REAAAAALY sweet treat for Christmas and New Year. It requires certain level of artisanal technique to produce this level of dried fruits, and hence not common for suburban houses. It comes normally USD 6-10 for a fruit. Reasonable price, I think.

<Reason 1 why I did not make persimmon tannin by myself> 

I don’t have a bitter persimmon tree.

Dried bitter persimmon.
Our family buys a couple of dozen
at the end of December from
a farmer in Yamanashi Prefecture
and freezes some
that are not consumed during the holiday season.
In this way, we can enjoy them in mid-summer.
Natural defrost is enough to eat.

2. 

Smash the gathered unripen bitter persimmon on the day you harvest them. Never wait for the next day as the tannin will be depleted rapidly as the fruits dried. Mash the smashed bits in a mortar, or strong food processor, for obtaining “paste.” If you find the bits too dry to make a paste, add a bit of H2O but never too much of it to avoid diluting tannin. At this stage the tannin juice from the fruit is VERY strong. So

2.1 For work, don’t forget to wear durable rubber gloves and apron or some overall clothing. The tannin stain cannot be removed once it’s on your clothing (; more to this point next week).

2.2 Never use iron utensils for the process. In yesteryears, people used wooden pestle and mortar. In the 21st century, food processors with ceramic or stainless blades would do the job. BUT please wash the tools thoroughly after use.

Sweet persimmon, early fall.
Yeah, it’s green, but does not contain that much tannin.

3. 

Move the mashed bitter persimmon from the pestle to a glass, ceramic, or enameled container. Never iron or metallic jar, please. Add H2O for the amount more than covering the mash. I mean, if H2O is just enough to cover the mash, it is too little to make Kakishibu. On the other hand, if the water is more than enough, it will make Kakishibu too thin for use. “Just enough of H2O” is the key.

4.

Leave the container for 3-4 days in the shade. The mixture of mashed persimmon and water starts fermentation. Around 3rd or 4th day, it begins to smell like alcohol and turns the liquid color green. From this stage, leave 3-4 more days for further fermentation. Well, of course, the H2O will evaporate during the process, but we want to keep Kakishibu juice moist enough. So the amount of water in the Process 3.

5.

Strain the mixture to separate the mush and liquid. Add half the amount of H2O compared with the process #3, and leave it again for about a week. Meanwhile, preserve the first liquid in a non-reactive bottle.

6. 

Mix the second fermentation and the liquid from the first fermentation stored during the process #5. Leave the mixture in a non-reactive container for at least 2 YEARS. During the process the gas emitted from the reaction of tannin and O2. If you store the mixture in a, say, PET bottle, there is a high possibility for the bottle to be burst. Never use a container of tight sealing for Kakishibu fermentation. Also, the smell coming out from such chemical reaction is UGLY. Some of my senior forest instructors once tried the process and stored the fermenting container in their shed surrounded by ordinary suburbia. It became a HUGE neighborhood scandal. They had to deal with a difficult local “politics.” So,

<Reason 2 why I did not make persimmon tannin by myself>

I don’t have enough ample space to avoid such politics.

i.e. When we cook Kakishibu in a traditional way, the product must be smelly. Nowadays, professionals find ways to remove such odors. Store-bought version does not have a stink, and we enjoy usage of the liquid without turning our noses. There are several ways we, non-artisans can use it for our craft. Nex week, I tell you the way we Niiharu Lovers tried. We used Kakishibu for natural dyeing. It was fun!

One of the products Niiharu Lovers made
with Kakishibu dyeing

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North
北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Green Environment Bureau
横浜市みどり創造局

Phone: 045-353-1166
FAX：045-352-3086
email: mk-hokubukoen@city.yokohama.lg.jp