In addition to the fruits and vegetables suggested in the recipe, consider Fuyu persimmon. I bet they’d taste great, especially mixed with crisp fruit in season such as Asian pears or Mutsu apples. Feel free to halve, double, or triple the quantities. The recipe below was gently tweaked from the original by Eric Kim in Korean American (Potter, 2022).
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the fruit
1poundfruit,cut into bite-size pieces (like tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, sweet Peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, mangoes, peaches, plums, pears, apples, or cherries, stemmed seeded and or cored)
¾teaspoonfine sea salt,1 teaspoon Morton’s kosher salt, or 1 ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the dressing
2tablespoonsdistilled white vinegar
1large garlic clove,finely grated
1tablespoonplus 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1tablespoongochugaru
2teaspoonsfish sauce
1teaspoonsugar
Instructions
Prepare the fruit: in a medium bowl, toss the fruit with the salt, transfer the fruit to a colander, and let sit in the sink to drain, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the dressing: in the same bowl you just use for the fruit combine the vinegar and garlic and set aside for 30 minutes to allow the garlic to mellow.
After 30 minutes, to the vinegar and garlic mixture, add the sesame oil, gochugaru, fish sauce, and sugar and whisk to combine.
Use a paper towel or cloth kitchen towel to pat the fruit dry, then add to the dressing and toss until well coated. This muchim is best eaten right away, but can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours, after which the bright flavors will start to mute and the dressing will break down the fruit.