Shiso

[Pompollo]

I also have come across some bad shiso. To me it was so strong it tasted like "soap" (not that I dine on soap, but you know what I mean.)

One of my favorites with Shiso is to make a very plain garlic/olive oil pasta with shrimp, and mixing in fresh thinly sliced shiso at the very end. When I added shiso while cooking, the flavor dissipated.

Also, for more added flavor, there is a shiso furikake (flavored sprinkles for rice) that I have added to the pasta to give it more shiso flavor. Although not as natural, it does bring out the flavor and tastes good, plus it is readily available. It is very salty though, so adjust added salt accordingly if you use this.

In addition to the fresh leaves, what I have found that works a lot better than the furikake is the dried shoso leaves made expressly for making umeboshi. These tend to be lesss salty. A friend gave me a bag of them, telling me they were expensive. I am not sure if they are easy to find. Maybe they are more in abundance during umeboshi season.

[smallworld]

Thank you, SuzuSushi and Pompollo! I'm glad it's not just me. Now that I think of it, that last batch did seem a bit soapy. I ended up chucking them, but if it happens again I'll use them cooked.

Just curious- some recipes (using raw shiso) call for them to be soaked in ice water. Apparently to make it milder.

Does anyone bother?

[JasonTrue]

I would think that the ice water would just be the classic lettuce leaf perk up trick... not really intended to change the fundamental flavor, but it can make the leaves look a little more lively, a little less wilted.

[Pompollo]

While we're on the subject of shiso, I was reminded of my first experience of eating natto without gagging. It's all thanks to the wonderful flavor of shiso.

A friend made natto tempura by spreading some natto on a a whole shiso leaf and rolling it up, pinning it with a toothpick. She then dipped the leaf it into tempura batter and deep fried it. Knowing that there was natto in it, I was hasitant to try, but I gave in to pressure. You know, surprisingly it was actually quite good with the flavor combinations (shiso, batter, oil, tempura sauce). From then on I have garnered a taste for natto and can eat it by itself even, although I prefer it combined with other ingredients such as in natto maki sushi rolls.

So, any of you who aren't fond of natto but still want to experience with ways to see if you can eat it, try this tempura with shoso as an easy way to break into the taste.

[smallworld]

JasonTrue,

Soaking to perk up the leaves- that makes sense. Probably improves the colour a bit and adds a bit of crispness. Maybe I'll start doing it then. Thank you.

Pompollo,

Excellent suggestion. The first nattou I liked was tempura (without shiso though) as well. And now my very favourite garnish for nattou is shiso.

[Kiem Hwa]

I have been reading a cookbook on Shojin Ryori (Buddhist Monk Food) there is a recipe for the Shiso-wrapped Natto, which is then tempura-ed. It is called "Kizami Natto no Ao-jiso Age", "Jade Nuggets"...does Kizami mean Jade??

Now I am definately going to try this out (Ive been putting it off, even though I said I was going to try it.......)

[torakris]

kizami means shredded or in some cases minced, was the natto minced?

You are probably most familiar with kizami nori, the thin shreds of nori (laver) that you find on top of noodles.

[Kiem Hwa]

kizami means shredded or in some cases minced, was the natto minced?

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Yeah it was....thanks kristin!

[Hiroyuki]

You can use store-bought hikiwari natto instead of mincing natto by yourself if it is available in your area.

Any way, ventilate your kitchen well when making the tempura.

[anzu]

Thanks to this thread I made shiso pesto the other day.

Just shiso, olive oil, and salt. (lacking pine nuts and parmesan, maybe you should just called this mushed shiso?) and served it over spaghetti.

Whatever you'd call it, it was really good, and I'd NEVER have thought of it if it hadn't been brought up here.

As was mentioned in the Chinese thread on shiso, it is used a lot in Vietnamese cooking, and any type of Vietnamese herb platter (as with pho for example) definitely does well with shiso added.

Haven't tried this yet, but there is a Vietnamese salad - Ga Xe Phay - with shredded roast or boiled chicken, shredded cabbage and shredded carrot, dressed with fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic, sliced fresh red chilli, chopped peanuts and plenty of shredded mint. The ingredients of this can be varied quite a bit, and I'm sure that shiso would go well with it either in addition to or in place of the mint.

With natto? I'll pass, thanks.

[torakris]

Haven't tried this yet, but there is a Vietnamese salad - Ga Xe Phay - with shredded roast or boiled chicken, shredded cabbage and shredded carrot, dressed with fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic, sliced fresh red chilli, chopped peanuts and plenty of shredded mint. The ingredients of this can be varied quite a bit, and I'm sure that

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I have made this salad before and have always added mint (I have tons of it growing in my backyard) I never thought to substitute shiso, thanks for the idea. I do add shiso sometimes to the Vietnamese style fresh spring rolls...

[neko01]

Hi eGullet folks, my search for information about shiso and okonomiyaki led me to this forum. So much info! I have revamped my pantry inventory because of the interesting things I have learned from here.

I LOVE the flavor of shiso and had them with sashimi before but don't know where I can buy them.

I reside in Calgary, Alberta, Canada - does anyone know where I can buy some shiso? Or buy the seeds? Is it even possible to grow Shiso in this climate....I don't have a yard, so it will have to be indoors or on the balcony. Thank!

[torakris]

neko01,

welcome to egullet!!

trying buying shiso seeds online from Seeds of Change

[Robinjw13]

Neko01,

Shiso grows here in Sussex, UK - same latitude as you but milder winters as we are near the sea. You should be able to grow on a window cill or possibly on your balcony.

Beware Shiso seed has only a 1-year viability. We have found germination takes 14 days in a cool greenhouse and the green shiso grows better than the red.

Good luck!

[Kiem Hwa]

We also talk a little about growing shiso in the Growing Japanese Plants Thread

[Kiem Hwa]

Kizami Natto no Ao-jiso Age: shiso-wrapped Natto tempura.

Before frying: the natto was minced and wrapped in a shiso leaf:

After frying in a (too thin) tempura batter:

Well.....it still tasted like natto...I still think my shiso plants are weak, even though i used the youngest leaves this time.

Also shown is yamato-imo no nori-maki: grated mountain yam rolled in a piece of nori and fried until lightly golden brown, then rolled in a shoyu-ginger sauce, which was pretty good! A nice new way to enjoy yamaimo!

[JasonTrue]

Instead of using a batter, I might suggest doing the more classic tempura method: dilute some very cold eggs with something like a 1:1 ratio of water, beat, and pour into a bowl with an ice cube. Sift some chilled flour into another bowl.

People who are better at this than me can do this in a single bowl with the flour on one side and the egg on the other.

In any event, you should dredge in egg, then dredge your items in the flour. It should be just the right amount to add some crispiness from frying, without being a heavy batter.

Most home cooks use a tempura batter, but I think this method produces more delicate results, as long as your tempurature in your frying oil is relatively stable.

[Lazrowp]

I am a shiso freak! I love the stuff and look forward to trying to grow it in my (read: my wife's) container garden.

During the time I worked in sushi restaurants in NYC I would constantly point out that the shiso leaf was not just decoration as many newbies believed, as well as suggest shiso to many of my regular customers.

My top shiso uses:

#1: Insert the leaf between the squid and sushi rice ball (asari shiteiruyo!)

#2: Insert the leaf between the salmon and sushi rice ball

#3: Insert the leaf between the yellowtail and sushi rice ball

#4: Use the leaf as the wrap for many different sashimi slices (squid is my #1)

#5: Wrap the leaf around the yakitori during the grilling (as I don't like plum sauce I never dipped)

#6: Straight tempura

Paul

[Dejah]

Our plant nursery brought in shiso (perilla) this spring. After reading about this plant in the forum, I wanted and bought some. They are growing in my planters instead of coleus this spring. But, I am not sure if this variety is edible? and the salespeople didn't know anything about the culinary uses of perilla.

Can anyone tell me if there are ornamental varieties as well as edible ones? I haven't been able to find any info' on this problem. The leaves look like the ones in Kiem Hwa's picture but more red/purple.

Thanks.

[torakris]

Our plant nursery brought in shiso (perilla) this spring. After reading about this plant in the forum, I wanted and bought some. They are growing in my planters instead of coleus this spring. But, I am not sure if this variety is edible? and the salespeople didn't know anything about the culinary uses of perilla.

Can anyone tell me if there are ornamental varieties as well as edible ones? I haven't been able to find any info' on this problem. The leaves look like the ones in Kiem Hwa's picture but more red/purple.

Thanks.

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It sounds like you have the red variety, here is a picture that shows both

I can't recall ever seeing anyone eat red shiso raw or in the same way the green ones are eaten. It's most common use is as a coloring/flavoring agent for umeboshi (pickled plums) You will also see recipes for boiling it down with some sugar and then being made into a drink. It is quite refreshing in the summer.

I am not sure about ornamental shiso....

I have never seen it, but they do have ornamental cabbages here.

[torakris]

#5:  Wrap the leaf around the yakitori during the grilling (as I don't like plum sauce I never dipped)

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This is the only one you mentioned that I have never tried this sounds really good. My favorite local yakitori place (now closed) used to do a pork and shiso spiral-yaki that I loved.

[AzianBrewer]

My girlfriend is Vietnamese and they use shiso leaves for salad and summer roll. I like it on my fur or in my vodka martini straight up in lieu of the olives.

Cheers,

AzianBrewer

[Pan]

My girlfriend is Vietnamese and they use shiso leaves for salad and summer roll.  I like it on my fur[...]

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Your fur? I guess fur is a type of drink?

[melonpan]

It sounds like you have the red variety, here is a picture that shows both

I can't recall ever seeing anyone eat red shiso raw or in the same way the green ones are eaten. It's most common use is as a coloring/flavoring agent for umeboshi (pickled plums) You will also see recipes for boiling it down with some sugar and then being made into a drink. It is quite refreshing in the summer.

boiling down umeboshi or just plain red shiso?

interesting....!

[easternsun]

It sounds like you have the red variety, here is a picture that shows both

I can't recall ever seeing anyone eat red shiso raw or in the same way the green ones are eaten. It's most common use is as a coloring/flavoring agent for umeboshi (pickled plums) You will also see recipes for boiling it down with some sugar and then being made into a drink. It is quite refreshing in the summer.

boiling down umeboshi or just plain red shiso?

interesting....!

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boiling the red shiso

helenjp posted a divine recipe that even impressed my MIL! (thanks helen )

click here

i really cant keep the stuff in the fridge. everyone loves it! and the colour....luscious fuchsia. simple, gorgeous and tasty. a fine summer beverage.