It’s persimmon season, which is why you’ve seen a plethora of these crisp, orange fruits in grocery stores lately. Fuyu persimmons are squatty and resemble an apple or tomato, making them excellent substitutes for tomatoes in salsa. They are best eaten when they are on the firmer side, unlike Hachiya persimmons, which you should eat when they are softer and riper.

Persimmons contain proanthocyanidins, also known as tannins, making them unpalatable in their unripe state. When they ripen, which typically happens after light exposure for several days, the astringency of the tannins dies down. Once this happens, you’ll notice the subtly sweet nature of persimmons, which is almost similar to that of tomatoes. For the salsa, though, err on the side of firmer, rather than softer. There’s no need to peel the persimmons and you can dice them just like you would a tomato.

As with any salsa, you can make it mild or very spicy, depending on how much chile you want to include. You can tame the spice by removing the seeds and soaking them in sea salt and lime juice prior to mixing in the other ingredients. The salt and lime juice also tame the intensity of the red onion, which can be quite pungent. Just allow these two ingredients to soak while you prep the rest of the salsa ingredients! The sweetness of the pomegranate arils will also tame the allium from the onion and the heat from the jalapeño as well.