Purple Kimchi with Persimmon (Quick Version)

There’s nothing more fun and exciting than finding gorgeous produce at the farmer’s market and imagining the delicious things to make with it. So when I stumbled upon this amazing purple napa cabbage, a slew of ideas came to mind. Cabbage “jeon” or pancakes? Water kimchi with beets to make it even more pink? Mille feuille shabu shabu? Raw slaw with a creamy sesame dressing?

I learned from the farmer that purple napa comes into season a few months later than the usual green cabbage because it’s more nutrient dense, requiring more sun and water and goodness from the soil. And when he said the dense, crunchy leaves are sweeter in flavor and higher in antioxidants, I couldn’t wait to get home and make something delicious with it.

My regular fruit kimchi recipe outlines how to brine and ferment the cabbage by keeping them in quartered bundles. While it preserves the kimchi for longer, it is a commitment to salt and season each individual leaf and when meal time comes, cutting the bundles into bite size pieces means another cutting board to wash. So here is my recipe for a quick kimchi recipe that’s almost as easy as assembling a salad. And my fruity twist…adding whole hachiya persimmons that were honey-sweet and thawed from the freezer.

Quick Fruit Kimchi with Hachiya Persimmon (makes one large jar)

• 2 purple cabbage, about 2-3 pounds each (regular napa cabbage is OK too)
• Course sea salt
• 1/2 cup of anchovy kelp stock (recipe here) or water
• 4 TBSPs sweet rice flour or cooked rice
• 1/2 cup salted shrimp
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1 small onion
• 1 little knob of ginger, about 2 tsp
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 tart and sweet apple like Pink Lady
• 1 cup Korean red pepper flakes
• 1/2 large Korean radish, cut julienne
• 6 scallions, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 large carrots, cut julienne
• 2 ripe hachiya persimmons

Brine the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into 2-3 inch pieces and gather in a large bowl or bucket. When in doubt, cut them larger than bite size as they will shrink after brining. Sprinkle with course sea salt. Set aside for 2 hours, turning and tossing a couple times.

Make kimchi paste. Combine anchovy kelp stock and rice flour in a small sauce pan and whisk to incorporate. If using cooked rice, blend with stock in processor. Cook gently over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens. Set aside to cool. In a food processor, purée the apple, onion, garlic, and ginger. Add to an XL bowl. Add cooled rice slurry. Add salted fermented shrimp, fish sauce and red pepper flakes.

Assemble. Rinse the cabbage with cold water 3 times to ensure any dirt and excess salt is removed. Drain extremely well. After cabbage is drained, add to XL bowl with kimchi paste. Add radish, scallions, carrots, and persimmon. Mix to combine. Store in an airtight container. Let ferment at room temperature (65 to 70 degrees F) for 24 hours, and then store in a very cold fridge. Will keep for months.