Persimmon Salad with Mozzarella and Jamón Ibérico

Persimmon is in season now! I fell in love with persimmon during my visit to Japan many years ago. It was during fall/winter months, perfect time to enjoy persimmon. To make it even better, all the persimmons I had when in Japan were from Michelin-starred restaurants, so one can imagine the quality and sweetness of the fruit were superb. 

I became a persimmon fan ever since, and must have my share of top-notch persimmon when the weather becomes chilly, when the fall months begin. Persimmon is great by itself, but do you know that you can also turn it into a dish? Similar to stone fruits, persimmon can be a great ingredient in salad.

Persimmon salad with mozzarella and jamón Ibérico - 

Ingredients?

• 1 persimmon (sweeter the better)
• 125 grams solid weight mozzarella ball
• 20 grams jamón Ibérico
• Some extra virgin olive oil
• Some salt
• Some fleur de sel or salt flakes (optional)
• Some black pepper

 

How?

I got an imported Japanese persimmon at the grocery store. A bit pricey but I only eat like no more than three persimmons per year, a little indulgence seems fair. 

Peel and slice the persimmon to irregular chunks. Mix that with some salt, cracked black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Scatter the persimmon onto a serving plate.

Drain the liquid from the mozzarella ball package. Tear the cheese with your hand and scatter onto the serving plate.

Do the same for jamón Ibérico, arrange the ham among the persimmon and mozzarella.

Crack more black pepper on top and sprinkle some fleur de sel or high quality salt flakes. Of course you can use regular salt but I think bigger salt crystals can better help drawing out the sweetness from the persimmon.

Also drizzle a bit more extra virgin olive oil as a finishing touch.

It's really important to use the sweetest persimmon you can find for this salad recipe, especially I didn't use any additional sugary ingredients here. Only sweeter persimmon carry equal power to the salt we used and the umami-packed jamón Ibérico.

I can imagine adding a few pieces of mint leaves in the salad works too, but I'll leave that to you. The herbal note form the extra virgin olive oil is enough for my liking. 

Other salad recipes:

• Salsa salad with roasted chicken and baby greens
• Cucumber and mint salad
• Pear and Danish blue cheese salad with red wine vinaigrette 

Bottle Gourd and Carrot Pancake 瓠瓜煎餅

Not sure about other countries but in Taiwan, bottle gourd usually comes in two color styles, one with homogeneous light green color all around, and the other intertwined with darker and lighter green patterns.

Usually I would prefer the fancier-looking bottle gourd, but the smallest one I could find at the market was the other kind, so I just went for it. To make the pancake, we'll only need about 1/3 of the medium sized bottle gourd, so try to source the smaller variety if you get to choose.

Bottle gourd and carrot pancake 瓠瓜煎餅 - 

Ingredients?

• 2 cups bottle gourd strips 
• 1 cup carrot strips
• 1 tablespoon dried shrimps
• 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine 
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder
• Some salt
• 2 tablespoons preferred cooking oil

How?

Peel and cut the bottle gourd to strips. We'll need about 2 cups total and that is about 1/3 of a medium sized bottle gourd.

Transfer the bottle gourd strips to a bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Give the strips a gentle rub in order to evenly blend with the salt. Let it sit for 10 minutes, the salt will start drawing out some moisture.

Once ready, drain and squeeze but not break the bottle gourd strips. Perhaps use a paper towel to wipe-off excess liquid.

Use 2 tablespoons of Chinese rice wine to soak the dried shrimps. Once softened, drain and finely chop the shrimps.

Peel and julienne the carrot. We will need about 1 cup of carrot strips, and that's about half of a medium carrot. Beat two eggs in a separate bowl.

Combine prepped bottle gourd strips with carrot strips and chopped dried shrimps in a big bowl. Also add two beaten eggs, 1/2 cup of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper powder. Give it a gentle mix till evenly blended.

You might have to adjust the consistency either by using more flour or perhaps add one more beaten egg in order to get a gooey batter in the end.

Non-stick pan will make the job easier, otherwise make sure to heat up other type of pan before searing the batter.

So drizzle two tablespoons of preferred cooking oil to the pan and switch to medium heat. Wait till the surface turns hot then pour in the batter. Flatten out the batter as soon as it hits the pan then stop moving it.

Wait till the bottom has been set and maybe even a bit golden browned. Flip and sear the other side till slightly colored.

I would recommend to sear the first side longer, so that once you flip the pancake, you don't have to sear the other side as long. That way you'll have a prettier brighter color side to plate on top.

So once both sides are cooked, transfer the pancake to a big serving plate. You can prepare some chili sauce on the side to eat along with. My personal favorite is chopped fresh red chilies in soy sauce.

Since only 1/3 of the bottle gourd was used, the other 2/3 was cut into strips and used in other thick soup dish. Nothing goes to waste.

The same idea for carrot. I chopped up the remaining 1/2 carrot and used in stir-fry dish with ground pork. 

Extended reading:

• Bitter gourd stir-fry with salted black beans