Yummy Persimmon Nog!

[Lauraw]

Persimmons are still in season and on sale where I live, so I wanted to share this yummy twist on a holiday favorite. The persimmons give this nog an indescribably thick, creamy texture...and the nog is a beautiful shade of light coral. Adapted from John Larsen's Persimmon Nog recipe, page 148, The Complete Book of Raw Food (Thanks, John!):

2 Cups almonds, soaked
3 Cups purified water

Blend the above in a blender to make almond milk (strain through fine mesh, saving the pulp for other recipes). Pour the milk back into the blender and add:

6 dates, pits removed (I like to soak them and remove the skins, too)
3 ripe persimmons, peeled and seeded (Be SURE to peel them!!! Seeding, IMO is optional; I didn't do it.)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cardamom
dash or two of sea salt (to taste)
agave nectar, honey, or more dates (to taste)

Blend for 30 seconds. Taste and adjust saltiness and sweetness as needed. Makes enough for 2-4 people, depending on your portion size. I like to serve it chilled or over ice. Cheers!

[Cinnamon]

Thanks Lauraw for this recipe! I've seen persimmons in the store and have never tried one and also didn't know how to prepare it... peel and/or seed. So you've also answered that question for me. I will try this out!

[Lauraw]

OMG...you'll never miss egg nog at the holidays again. We made some persimmon nog this morning, having decorated our Christmas tree last night. With the smell of everygreen in the background, this was heavenly nog. Lightly spiced, thick and rich! I'm going to buy some more persimmons tonight...

[Live Free]

It was awesome. I had to cut back the portions a little because my I only had two ripe persimmons, but it was still tasty.

And if my two year old drank it, it had to be good.

Thank you for sharing. I just didnt know what I was going to do with all those persimmons my husband bought.

Teresa

[Zaphirah]

This so SOOOO good. 5 outta 6 of us LOVED it! I made it for us after we decorated the tree. There was a little leftover the next morning and I thought it was even better the next day after the flavors had a chance to marry.

[Lavendula]

I sounds awesome, I have never like the nog out of the carton anyway, but always made it from scratch when we decorated the tree. What a sweet memory. I just love persimmons, Fuyu the best. I haven't bought any fresh yet this year, I don't see them in the midwest too often. I had some pulp from last years in the freezer, and I mixed up what I hope will be great cookies tonight, I will put them in the dehydrator tomorrow. I used to bake persimmon cookies every holiday season. I have a dear friend in CA, who used to bring or send me a box of persimmons and nuts every year, from her family's farm. More sweet memories....... Thanks

[musicbebe]

When I made mine it had a very extremely strange bitter taste to it and it stuck all in my mouth in the weirdest way. Was it because I left the persimmon seeds in??

[apower2me408]

When I made mine it had a very extremely strange bitter taste to it and it stuck all in my mouth in the weirdest way. Was it because I left the persimmon seeds in??

Persimmons will give you this cotton mouth feeling unless they are overlyripe. That is the only way to eat them, as they have tannins.

"Astringent persimmons contain very high levels of soluble tannins and are unpalatable if eaten before softening. The astringency of tannins is removed by ripening by exposure to light over several days"

[musicbebe]

Since I already made the persimmon nog out of the unripe persimmons, is there anything i can do to salvage it? I'd hate to throw it all away.

[tinystrawberry]

i was just wanting to try this. i gotta find some persimmons! it sounds soo good.

[musicbebe]

Make sure your persimmons are RIPE. You can tell they are ripe when their skin is getting translucent and they look like they are turning bad--THAT'S when they are actually ripe! I found this out the hard way. I had one ripe persimmon that I thought had gone bad. I tasted it and it tasted great! So I threw it in for persimmon nog and then added two other UN-ripe persimmons that were firmer. They ruined the whole recipe. They made it so astringent that the nog completely dried my mouth as I tried to drink some. It was like tasting the tannins in red wine only a hundred times worse.

[kaleidoscopeeyes]

What is cardamom? Can it be made without it? And which type of persimmon?

[spicyfull]

Thanks for Sharing.............

[GypsiAnsara]

Haha - now I have a name for my breakfast drink! I've been drinking basically this same concoction for the last 2 weeks :)

The only difference is that I use a banana and no additional sweetener. And I find that salt is essential for some reason. I've never put salt in any other smoothie.

I've been working my way through 3 giant grocery bags of hachiyas! I might turn orange.

New to persimmons?
There are 2 kinds of persimmons - a squat kind called the Fuyu, which you can eat like an apple (or peel it and cut it into wedges if you don't want to eat the skin). The other kind, most likely to give you cotton mouth, is the hachiya and it is pointy on one end. Set it on the opposite (leaf) end to ripen on your counter. Another trick is to freeze and thaw to ripen. Make sure you freeze for at least 24 hours. These have to be really so ripe that the skin will just split open when you gently poke it. You can scoop out the inside with a spoon.

[Stina]

I've never successfully bought one that was unripe that successfully ripened at home after many heartbreaking attempts. But, goodness, to get a good one is just so good!

[Joy & Delight]

This is also awesome if you use fresh young Thai coconut meat & milk blended up instead of the nut milk! Thanks for the recipe!

[greenday]

Made the Persimmon Nog this morning. OMG SO GOOD! My 3 persimmons looked ooky outside sort of brown and bruised, but inside the flesh was tender and sweet - no seeds though :confused: . I also bought cardomom (green) in the pods and opened and ground the seeds with a mortar and pestle. The finished drink was AWESOME. Sweet and thick very similar to the eggnog I remember from years past. Thank you sooooo much for posting this recipe!