Until very recently, each Chuseok or Lunar New Year, most households conducted ancestral rites to honor their deceased family members. Preparing the food to be used for these rites was the task of women. During these times, children would, away from the watchful eye of their mothers, sometimes steal a gotgam (dried whole persimmon). If caught, this would, of course, result in a scolding. But even the threat of an angry mother failed to detract from the joy brought by a bite of gotgam, whose natural sweetness bursts forth instantly without being overbearing. Having been included in ancestral rites for centuries and widely enjoyed as an everyday snack, there are many sayings involving the gotgam that are still regularly used today.

Article Noh Yunyoung (Editorial Team) Sources Stories of Plants and Animals from the Korean Language series (Kwon Ohgil), Encyclopedia of Korean Culture

Gotgam is scarier than a tiger?

Gotgam is a byword for sweetness, even in Korean folk tales. One dark night, a tiger came down from his mountain home to a village, searching for something to eat. He stopped in front of one house, where a child was sobbing. To calm her child, the mother said that a tiger was waiting outside, not knowing that a tiger was actually there! The child continued to cry. The mother then offered a gotgam, causing the child to stop crying instantly. The sweetness of the gotgam was powerful enough to dispel the child’s fear of the tiger.

Gotgam is a version of the persimmon, which is moisture-rich and therefore prone to rotting, that was made to be stored for long periods of time by peeling it and then drying it completely. It is called geonsi in some parts of Korea and known most for its sweetness, which is the result of its high levels of fructose and glucose. Pre-modern Koreans ate gotgam as a snack and included it in ancestral rites. There are two types of persimmon: one with a thick skin, and one with a thin skin. It is the latter that is used to make gotgam, because of not only the skin but also the tightly-packed flesh and high sugar content. Furthermore, this type of persimmon is picked before it has fully ripened.

There are records of gotgam consumption in all three major East Asian countries: China, Japan, and Korea. In Korea, based on the inclusion of gotgam on a list of gifts sent to China in 1682 (eighth year of King Sukjong) and in Juyoungpyeon (series of commentary books on various topics written in the early 19th century) as a seasonal fruit served at ancestral rites conducted at Jongmyo, the royal family’s shrine, it is believed to have been widely consumed in the Joseon dynasty.

Women’s Encyclopedia, a cooking manual published in 1809 (ninth year of King Sunjo), includes a recipe for gotgam that is still used today. Raw persimmons are peeled as lightly as possible, after which they are skewered. The skewers are then hung up in a place that gets a lot of sunlight and wind, where they are left to dry. When the persimmons have lost two-thirds of their moisture content, they are seeded, trimmed, and hung up to dry again. The trimmed persimmons are each wrapped in rice husks and placed in a sealed box in which, when left alone, they dry out completely. Once all of the moisture evaporates, a white powdery layer of glucose forms on the surface, after which the persimmons are again hung to dry and then placed again in a sealed box. The outcome of all of these steps is the sweet, succulent gotgam that we all know today. Its name, which means “skewered and dried persimmon,” comes from this process: got is the older version of the Korean word for “to pierce” (kkotda), while gam means “persimmon.”

Bencao Gangmu, a medical encyclopedia published during the Ming dynasty, describes gotgam as “a replenisher of energy levels.” The text says, “It strengthens the stomach by removing bad blood that has congealed in it. It diminishes coughing and phlegm, stops bloody coughing, and soothes irritated throats. Juice made by submerging [gotgam] in vinegar is effective when applied to insect bites.” This highlights the fact that gotgam is as good for our health as it is sweet. It also contains tannins and is rich in vitamins A and C, making it effective in treating diarrhea. Gotgam is also useful in preventing high blood pressure, strengthening the respiratory organs, and, because of its fortification of the immune system, preventing diverse diseases and the common cold.

The irresistible attraction of sweetness

Gotgam has long been popular with people all ages and genders due to its firm, sweet flesh. The vast majority of sayings about this famous dried fruit are, as may be expected, about its sweetness.

“Gotgam is scarier than tigers” is a saying that seems to have come from the aforementioned folktale and means gotgam is so delicious that it puts a danger or threat (tiger) out of one’s mind. This is easier to understand when referencing another saying, “like plucking gotgam from its skewer,” which was inspired by the gotgam-making process. It takes a great deal of dedication and time to make gotgam, a process which, among other things, involves skewering gotgam on long poles and then hanging them under the eaves to dry for as long as several months at a time. If someone were to eat this hard-earned gotgam in one sitting, there would be nothing left to snack on for the winter. Ultimately, the saying is a warning against wasting one’s hard-earned material resources.

“Gotgam is sweet—when eaten first” compares someone choosing gotgam as the first of various foods to eat to the tendency to take what is immediately available (gotgam)—and happens to look appetizing—without considering the future. As with “like plucking gotgam from its skewer,” this saying implies that one should not indiscriminately take everything that happens to be available.

“Collapse onto a taffy board after eating gotgam porridge” is a popular New Year’s Day saying. It means that, after finishing a bowl of gotgam porridge, the person wants to eat more sweet food so much that they seek out taffy, which is called “yeot” in Korean and was sold on thin wooden planks. In other words, the saying expresses one’s wishes that the listener be blessed with plentiful food or a string of good fortune. “Mouth is bitter after half a plate of gotgam” means that the speaker is in such a bad mood that not even having a half-plate of gotgam would make them feel better. It also means that when one is in a poor emotional state, nothing will improve one’s mood—not even gotgam.

“Have you had a bowl of gotgam porridge?” is an affectionate way to tease someone who, after finishing a bowl of gotgam porridge, feels so much better that they are chuckling at apparently nothing. In addition to being delicious, gotgam porridge is believed to warm the body and prevent the common cold. Compilation of Dietary Cures, compiled in 1460 and Korea’s first book on “food as medicine,” introduces gotgam as an easily-accessible food that is also an effective medicine.