It may be getting cooler and the sun’s setting earlier (6:45pm tonight to be exact), but I’m clinging to summer vibes with Eric Kim’s Summer Albap with Perilla and Salted Garden Vegetables.
Warm white rice is slicked with sesame oil, topped with a confetti of flying fish roe (I only found the orange, but let’s pretend it’s rainbow), and crisp bites of zucchini, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes quick-pickled in rice vinegar and sugar. It’s finished with perilla and cilantro – unless, like me, you swear you bought perilla but discover your veggie drawer tells a different story.
Aside from cooking the rice, dinner’s on the table in under 15 minutes. No oven, no sweating over the stove – just bright, briny, crunchy-juicy deliciousness. Bookmark this for next July, when the last thing you want is hot kitchen.
Book: Korean American, page 148
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That: Easy
Store-Bought Is Fine: rice
Pricey Ingredients: —
Hard-to-find: —
Recipe not online.
