Another not entirely green "green" is Perilla frutescens var. crispa.
Purple Perilla, 紫苏/紫蘇 (Mand: zǐ sū; Cant: zi2 sou1*) is a plant in the mint family used both as a vegetable and occasionally as a herb. It is a popular choice throughout South-east Asia and Japan as well as here in China.
Perilla comes in green varieties, known in Japan as shiso ( シソ ), but the popular choice round here is the ‘purple’ variety. In fact it’s not entirely purple.
As you can see from the picture below which is of one leaf, one side is green and the other purple. This trait and the leaves’ sawtooth edges help to distinguish it from other purple vegetable which are superficially similar. Amaranth leaves, for example are either entirely green or entirely purple and lack the serrated edge.
Perilla is generally simply stir-fried as a leaf vegetable with garlic and/or ginger and served as a dish to accompany others.
It is important to know that cooking the plant causes the red/purple colouring to leech out. In many people’s eyes this makes the vegetable undesirable if mixed with other ingredients.
Of course, perilla is also used in TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). What isn’t? They reckon it boosts the immune system and alleviates the common cold. Probably does a better job in the latter case than the useless injections everyone insists on having. Antibiotics are ineffective against viruses, but they won’t believe me. They also think colds are caused by cold. Nonsense. They forget that every time they get a summer cold. But, I digress.
* Beware. The Cantonese name zi2 sou1 is also used to mean basil.
More on Monday. I need a rest.
