Jihee Kim recently opened Perilla, a neighborhood banchan shop in Echo Park. Kim procures all of her produce from the farmer's market for these Korean side dishes, which she started making during the pandemic. Right now, she has her eye on Italian sweet peppers from Fresno Evergreen Farms, which she will season with fermented soy beans, garlic, sesame oil, plum syrup that she fermented last year, and gochujang. Her banchan is available on its own from Perilla's grab-and-go refrigerator or sold as part of the dosirak lunch, available with chicken or cod.
Due to cooler weather and 55 inches of rain on his property, Mike Cirone brings apricots to market late in the season. With a limited window of availability, he recommends keeping apricots in the refrigerator, where they'll keep for a couple of weeks, or freezing them. Cirone's apricots are available for another week at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmer's Market. In the fall, he'll return to the market with apples.