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Korogaki
YamanashiKorogaki
Classification (Large)
Agricultural products
Classification (Small)
Other processed agricultural products
Main ingredients used
astringent persimmons
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Region of inheritance
Matsusato area in Enzan, Koshu City, and Minami-Alps City
Product overview (special characteristics and types)
Korogaki is a kind of dried persimmon made by drying a large-sized variety of persimmon for a long period until its moisture content is reduced to about 25 to 30%. Its surface is covered with a crystallized sweet white powder, and its amber flesh can be seen through the powder interstices. Its moist and thick meat has a texture like yokan (Japanese sweet jelly made of adzuki beans) and a condensed sweetness, making it the premier dried persimmon. As a result, korogaki is popular as a year-end and New-Year’s gift.
Korogaki is made by drying, but is still moist because it is matured over time while getting a lot of sunlight in the daytime, then blowing in cold winds in the morning and evening, which keeps it moist. It can be said that the beauty and tastiness of korogaki are the result of the climate specific to the Matsusato area and the long history of production there.
In the Matsusato area in Enzan, Koshu City, you can see korogaki hung under the eaves of private houses or in gardens between November and early December every year. The persimmons look like beautiful orange curtains and are a special feature of Koshu City in late fall and early winter.
Persimmons dried to a moisture content of approximately 50% are called anpogaki, which are brighter in color than korogaki and have a jelly-like texture.
History and culture
It is said that production of korogaki as a preserved food spread thanks to the encouragement of Shingen Takeda, a warlord of Kai (now Yamanashi Prefecture). In the Edo period, it was considered one of the local specialties of Koshu and used as a gift to the bakufu (Japan’s feudal government).
When peeled persimmons are placed and dried on racks, they are rolled over and over to change their position so they are evenly exposed to the sun. It is said that korogaki was named after this rolling process (rolling something over and over is translated as “korokoro” in Japanese).
Usually, korogaki is made by using Koshu hyakumegaki, a variety of persimmon produced in Koshu City. It was originally called Koshu hyakumonmegaki, where “hyakumome”means approximately 375 g. As the original name suggests, it is a large astringent persimmon that weighs more than 400 g.
Until around 1965, women had been tasked with peeling persimmons, and a number of women living nearby used to get together and peel the fruits at night. There is a story that they would peel persimmons until around 12 midnight or 1 a.m., and then eat rice gruel with azuki beans before they went home.
Production method
In early November, persimmons that have turned red are harvested with the T-shaped stem left attached, then they are hulled and peeled. After fumigating the hulled and peeled persimmons, a kite string or plastic string is looped and the loop is tied around the T-shaped stem. The persimmons are hung from a pole and placed below the eaves like a curtain to allow them to dry in the sun for about 14 to 20 days. When they become anpogaki (where the surface dries and the inside becomes soft), the persimmons are rubbed lightly to cut the fibers connecting the flesh and the seed, then removed from the pole and placed on a flat surface to allow them to further dry in the sun. Over the next seven to ten days, the processes of rubbing and rolling the persimmons are repeated every day in order to allow them to dry and get them into shape. When they are adequately dried and the surfaces are covered with white powder, they are ready to eat.
Conservation and succession efforts
In the Former Takano Family Residence (also known as Kanzo Yashiki), which is an old house built in the late Edo period that is now used as a historical park, visitors can see korogaki hung under the eaves every year.
Korogaki is sold in shops that handle local specialties. It is often put in gift boxes made of wood, but there are also relatively affordable products that can be bought over the internet.
Main consumption method
Korogaki is commonly served with tea and eaten as is to enjoy its rich sweetness, but it may also be used as an ingredient for dishes. For example, it may be used as an ingredient for namasu, a carrot and daikon radish salad eaten as a traditional Japanese New Year’s dish, to make kaki namasu (kaki means persimmon in Japanese). If it becomes hard, it may be deep-fried in batter.
At-home recipes：Salad with korogaki
Ingredients
Korogaki
6 pcs.
Baby salad greens
1 bag
Cherry tomato
6 tomatoes
Yellow paprika
30 g
Salt and cracked black pepper
As needed
Extra virgin olive oil
As needed
How to make
Slice korogaki. Cut cherry tomatoes in half crosswise and slice paprika diagonally.
Arrange the ingredients in 1 above and the washed baby salad greens beautifully in a dish, sprinkle salt and cracked black pepper, and pour olive oil evenly over the salad.