Persimmons with Kinako Dressing and Black Sesame Salt
State Bird Provisions, San Francisco
State Bird Provisions, San Francisco
"State Bird Provisions: A Cookbook"
“When fall comes and persimmons hit the markets, plates at State Bird become a canvas for the fruit. We turn it into a sauce, the fruit’s heady sweetness taming the richness of duck confit. Nicole turns the Hachiya variety, whose flesh becomes pulpy when ripe, into cold, delicate granita. And it’s during the fall that we make hoshigaki, an elegant Japanese preparation that requires hanging peeled persimmons from strings for weeks and massaging them daily with your fingertips until they’re fully dried, intensely flavored, and have a remarkable chew.
Yet it’s our simplest treatment of the fruit that I wanted to share with you here: wedges of the raw Fuyu variety sprinkled with cracked black sesame seeds and set on a cool sauce made from kinako, ground roasted soybeans (available at Japanese markets or online) that have a buttery, toasty quality. In the summer, substitute crunchy cucumbers for the persimmons. In spring, swap in cherries, pitted and then warmed in brown butter.” —Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski with JJ Goode in their 2018 Beard Award–nominated State Bird Provisions: A Cookbook.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup kinako (roasted soybean flour), plus more for sprinkling
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
- 6 ripe Fuyu persimmons, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
- 2 tablespoons Black Sesame Salt
Method
Combine the kinako, kosher salt, and ground ginger in a medium mixing bowl and stir well. Slowly pour in the grapeseed oil, sesame oil, and vinegar, whisking constantly until the dressing is well combined.
Pour the dressing in shallow serving bowls, arrange the persimmons on top, and sprinkle on the black sesame salt and a generous pinch of kinako. Serve right away.
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Reprinted with permission from State Bird Provisions: A Cookbook by Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski with JJ Goode, copyright © 2017. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Yield
4 to 6 servings
