Market correspondent Gillian Ferguson finds Chef Andy Lee at the market shopping for perilla, a mint-like plant he uses to make banchan at his pandemic pivot concept, Nanoom. Named for the Korean word “to share,” Nanoom brings Lee to your home which he calls “narrative-driven Koren fine dining.” A chef for 17 years, Lee wanted to introduce people to more of an esoteric type of Korean dining and views the idea as a love letter to LA, incorporating seasonality into his culinary storytelling. Lee is shopping for perilla at Coleman Family Farms, where Romeo Coleman is bringing down his harvest from Carpinteria, along with several varieties of guava.
Chef Andy Lee equates perilla in Korean cooking to the use of cilantro in Mexican cuisine and basil in Italian dishes. Photo by Gillian Ferguson.
