Da Lat is more than just a romantic destination, and visitors experience a variety of emotions depending on the season.
With rain in the summer, the mountain streets of the city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong may bore tourists. However, in the autumn, the orange color of persimmon will spread throughout the gardens. That means it's time to harvest the ripe fruit.
Walking down any road, one can easily come across persimmon trees laden with fruit. In the sunlight, the orange color of ripe persimmon looks like lights. Harvesting season begins in mid-September. However, the trees look their best in October, when all of the leaves have fallen and only ripe fruit remains on the branches.
Visitors to Da Lat during this season can visit gardens of ripe persimmons bathed in yellow sunlight.
Sweet persimmons can also be tasted in the gardens and brought home as gifts for family and friends.
Da Lat persimmons can be made into a variety of foods. Many people prefer to eat them fresh because they are sweet, soft, and juicy. Others, on the other hand, may prefer them crispy.
The best persimmons will be sealed in plastic bags for 10 days. The fruit can then be eaten with crispy bites. The persimmons with the most flaws will be chosen to be dried for further preservation.
In the past few years, many local farmers have applied Japanese technology to make dried persimmons.
First, people should select suitable fruit, which should reach a certain maturity where the fruit is big enough, tender, with an orange cover, and does not have any insect bites or bruises on the body.
The fruit should have a short stalk to tie a string on. Locals often choose oval-shaped or square-shaped persimmons from Don Duong area in Da Lat for this.
The fruits are peeled, except the stalk to tie the string on. They are then cleaned and tied up in a string. The fruits should be hung separately so that they do not scratch each other.
They may be then dried in an oven for three hours at 50-60 degrees Celsius.
Then the persimmons should be hung in a windy, cool area with sunlight but should be safe from rain and fog, free from insects and birds.
After 5-10 days, the persimmons will be softer and turn a dark orange and light brown colour. The workers should do gentle 'massages' on the fruits so they gather honey and avoid being hard outside or too soft in the middle.
After some three weeks, at 25-30 degrees Celsius in sunny, dry weather, the persimmons can be harvested. On average, some 7-8kg of fresh fruit will be condensed into 1kg of dried fruit. Hence, the price is fairly high compared to fresh fruit, some VND400,000 – 500,000 (US$17.2 - 21.5) for a kilo of dried persimmons.
According to food and health experts, persimmon contains a high amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and can supply 80 per cent of daily vitamin C need for the body. It supplies 20 per cent of the daily need for fibre, which is useful for digesting food. Persimmon contains a lot of other vitamins, including vitamin A, beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene and cryptoxanthin, all of which prevent fatigue and weakness in eyesight and muscles. Kali in persimmon can help prevent heart and vein diseases as well as high blood pressure.
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