MMMMM----- Meal-Master - Recipe via MMFIND (uf) v0.95
 
       Title: SOO JEUNG KWA (PERSIMMON PUNCH)
  Categories: Fruit, Punch, Cold, Korean
       Yield: 1 Gallon
 
       1 ga ;water, cold
     1/4 lb Ginger, fresh; rinsed,
            -sliced thin with skin on
       2 oz Cinnamon sticks; 8-10
       2 c  Sugar; or to taste
       6    Whole semi-dried persimmons;
            -cut into 1″ triangles
 
   1. Bring the water to a boil with the ginger and cinnamon sticks.
   Cook over moderate heat for 1/2 hour. Strain the liquid and discard
   the ginger but leave the cinnamon in the punch.
 
   2. Add the sugar while the liquid is still hot, to dissolve it. Add
   the persimmons to the lukewarm liquid and cool. The color of the
   punch becomes an old rose shade. Refrigerate the punch and serve
   cold.
 
   Serve whenever wanted with any Asian food.  Makes 1 gallon.
 
   NOTE: The Korean persimmon (Diospyros kaki) used in the punch is the
   large, orange, egg-shaped type. It is eaten when fully ripe -- very
   soft, orange-colored and with a creamy texture. In Korea, the unripe
   persimmons are picked in the autumn when the fruits are becoming
   ripe. The fruits are peeled and strung together but spaced like the
   lights on a Christmas tree. The strings of fruit are then attached to
   the persimmon tree to dry. Cool nights and warm days accelerate the
   drying, but during the week that it takes to dry, certain microbes
   that are floating freely in the garden air attach themselves to the
   peeled persimmons. After several days, the persimmons wilt and each
   one is then pushed together by hand to flatten on the drying string.
   When a white mold appears the fruit is dry enough to be packaged and
   sold, to be used in the punch. This procedure is a good illustration
   of the Korean ingenuity used in preserving their seasonal fruits and
   vegetables. It may also explain why dried persimmons are so expensive
   and uncommon.
 
   Source: “The Korean Kitchen” by Copeland Marks
 
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