Emily Jung Miller
Fuyu Persimmons #1044
Second in a series of sketches exploring my Hakka Chinese heritage and personal family history through traditional foods and recipes. Fuyu persimmons are the flatter type that can be eaten when firm-ripe, unlike Hachiyas, which are ripe when very soft. Painting and eating these bright orange fruits was a fun variation on pumpkin-centered celebrations for the fall season.
I ate these like an apple, simple and fresh, but they are also traditionally made into fried battered cakes, dried whole, or made into tea. In Taiwan, Wei Wei Jia Persimmon Tourist Farm produces dried persimmons using traditional Hakka methods.
My first memories of eating persimmons were as a young adult, age nineteen, when I traveled from Kauai to visit my mother in northern California, in November. She had access to a Hachiya persimmon tree, and she made us oatmeal with cubed persimmons.
Persimmons are called 柿 shì or 柿子 shì zi in Mandarin. Persimmons are native to China, and have been cultivated there for over 2000 years. Persimmons were first introduced to the United States in 1870 when the United States Department of Agriculture imported and planted them in California and the southern states. Chinese and Japanese immigrants to the U.S. in the early 1900s continued to plant persimmon trees.
Persimmons are popular during the Double Ninth Festival and Lunar New Year celebrations, two festivals which bookend the autumn/winter persimmon season. They are given as gifts representing good luck and prosperity.
I ate these like an apple, simple and fresh, but they are also traditionally made into fried battered cakes, dried whole, or made into tea. In Taiwan, Wei Wei Jia Persimmon Tourist Farm produces dried persimmons using traditional Hakka methods.
My first memories of eating persimmons were as a young adult, age nineteen, when I traveled from Kauai to visit my mother in northern California, in November. She had access to a Hachiya persimmon tree, and she made us oatmeal with cubed persimmons.
Persimmons are called 柿 shì or 柿子 shì zi in Mandarin. Persimmons are native to China, and have been cultivated there for over 2000 years. Persimmons were first introduced to the United States in 1870 when the United States Department of Agriculture imported and planted them in California and the southern states. Chinese and Japanese immigrants to the U.S. in the early 1900s continued to plant persimmon trees.
Persimmons are popular during the Double Ninth Festival and Lunar New Year celebrations, two festivals which bookend the autumn/winter persimmon season. They are given as gifts representing good luck and prosperity.
Watercolor, 2025
4" x 6"
Original Painting Unavailable
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| 8x10 matted to 11x14" Art print |
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Commissions to create new original artwork are currently closed. I will be reviewing my commission schedule for possible openings in February 2026.
