Shiso

Shiso

What it is

The jagged leaf beside your sashimi is not decoration but a thousand-year-old palate cleanser — mint’s enigmatic Japanese cousin, tasting of cumin, basil and citrus at once. Its red variety dyes umeboshi plums their warning shade of crimson.

In the kitchen

Roll several leaves and slice them into needles at the last second — bruising blackens them. Magnificent scattered over rice, tuna or strawberries.

Goes with

Tuna Rice Umeboshi Salmon Ginger

Same species

Perilla seed powder Hojiso (shiso flower spikes) Kkaennip (Korean perilla leaf) Kkaennip-jangajji Perilla oil Perilla seed

Also used with

Ark shell Northern sweet shrimp Japanese abalone Kobe beef Geoduck Surf clam

In season alongside

Basil Cilantro / Coriander Angelica Buckler-leaf sorrel Chervil Cucamelon

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