Xinpu Dried Persimmon Cakes

Xinpu dried persimmon cakes are a naturally sun- and wind-dried persimmon product from Hankeng Village in Xinpu, Hsinchu, made without ovens or sulfur fumigation, relying entirely on the autumn-winter Nine Descending Winds and sunlight to dehydrate and sweeten the fruit. Peak drying season runs from September to December, when orange-red persimmon trays fill the drying yards — one of Taiwan's most iconic autumn food landscapes.

According to the Hakka Affairs Council's Hakka Cultural Heritage Digital Archive, the traditional drying process takes about 6–7 days and uses a ratio of roughly 4 jin of fresh persimmons to make 1 jin of dried persimmon cake; Xinpu's Persimmon Festival has been held annually since 1998. Jinhan Persimmon Educational Farm was founded in 1947 (nearly 80 years old), while Weiweijia Persimmon Farm has operated for about 30 years — both are well-known local drying yards, though the persimmon-drying craft itself has been practiced in Xinpu for more than a century.

What Are Xinpu Dried Persimmons

Dried persimmon cakes are a processed persimmon product with astringency removed through dehydration. Xinpu dried persimmons mainly use stone persimmons and ox-heart persimmons; after peeling, the fruit is placed on round bamboo trays and naturally dehydrated using a "three parts sun, seven parts wind" approach. The entire process takes about 7–10 days, during which the persimmons must be repeatedly turned and pressed to encourage the persimmon frost to emerge; moisture is reduced to 30–35%, and the texture transitions from crisp to soft and from astringent to sweet, with a white surface coating of persimmon frost (fructose crystals) indicating completion. Xinpu dried persimmons use no oven drying and no sulfur fumigation — a fully natural method.

Why Xinpu? The answer lies in terrain and climate. Xinpu's Hankeng Village sits beside the Touqian River; in autumn and winter the northeast monsoon funnels through the river valley, producing the "Nine Descending Winds" — strong, dry, and sunny — the ideal natural conditions for dehydration. Other persimmon-producing areas in Taiwan (such as Gongguan in Miaoli) mostly produce crisp or soft persimmons; only Xinpu developed a dried-persimmon industry on the strength of this wind. Weiweijia, Jinhan, and Weizhenhiang are century-old family operations that open to visitors from September to December each year for viewing, tasting, and purchasing, making them one of Taiwan's most representative autumn food landscapes. Xinpu dried persimmons are also one of the Hakka Three Treasures.

How to Enjoy Them the Local Way

Local Knowledge

Information compiled from the Michelin Guide, Hsinchu City Government Tourism Bureau, Hsinchu County Government Tourism and Travel Division, and a large volume of public reviews, with sponsored content filtered out. Photos to be replaced with channel-exclusive material once Dio shoots on location.