The shiso plant on the deck lasted surprisingly long this year. Maybe it was Minna the black cat’s watchful eye. And, being a member of the mint family, it almost invites abuse and still thrives, even for those with the blackest of thumbs. It tolerates shade, and grows like condos in Florida. My kind of plant! It’s an annual, but in warm places it seems to re-seed itself if left to grow wild, i.e. not in containers. But be careful; it can, like mint, really take over large swathes of garden space if you let it.
Shiso, that green, hard-to-describe leaf most often seen in sushi restaurants, is sometimes awkwardly described as “Japanese basil.” This enigmatic herb is hard to describe for lots of reasons, but the primary one, I think, is that it goes by too many other names — perilla, ohba, summer coleus, and even, improbably, beefsteak leaf. But shiso now seems to be the leading candidate.
It comes in two varieties, green and purple, with the latter used primarily in combination with ume as a coloring and flavoring agent in the making of umeboshi. It’s used widely in Japanese cuisine (especially for sushi), but also in Vietnamese, Korean, and Indian cooking.
Shiso is almost always served raw, and for good reason: cooking it obliterates all the qualities that make it special. It’s really about seasoning, coloring (purple/red shiso was the original added-red color for pickled ginger; now it’s red dye #5 for most store-bought pickled ginger), garnishing, and pickling.
Its flavor is unique: pungent and grassy, it contains strong flavors of spearmint, basil, and cinnamon, but also has hints of apple,and even curry. Slicing it into a chiffonade (long skinny strips) really brings out these flavors. Most sushi fans outside Japan are reasonably familiar with the leaf, but shiso buds are specially delicious, and pack an enormous amount of flavor (the photo with Minna shows little bud packs — you just strip them, and chop them up). Shiso seeds, too, are wonderful, and pack a global flavor blast wallop. They’re especially good, toasted and crushed, on top of sashimi-grade salmon.
I like shiso:
- julienned, and sprinkled on a simple citrus salad (blood orange, pomelo, and tangerine, say). It adds just the right spice notes.
- in tossed salad; it delivers its pungent notes in the most pleasing way, like a good spice crust does for a piece of mild fish.
- in tea infusions; it makes a terrific drink. Make a pot of your favorite green tea, and toss in a handful of shiso leaves. It will infuse its spicy notes that will stick around, even when chilled.
- on a tuna sandwich — it seems to LOVE being with tuna.
- as tempura. I don’t do much deep-frying, but shiso tempura in a good restaurant is pretty magical, and pretty addicting, especially with sips of good chilled sake.
- chopped up with fresh fruit (plums, especially) and olive oil, and drizzled on roasted veggies.
- as a wrapper for barbecued shrimp or fish.
- in herb pestos — it lends a really vibrant, bright flavor profile.
- in scrambled eggs, especially with a generous spoonful of greek yogurt.
Any other shiso fans out there? Favorite uses? Would love to hear some new ideas, since I’m planning on getting my seedlings in the next month or two. I get mine from the Japanese nursery in the Japan Center (SF); I find it grows way better from seedlings (as opposed to from seeds, which are fussy about germinating, it seems).
I have never even heard of shiso before, so I enjoyed your thorough discourse on its history and use.
Julienne the shiso, red shiso is better I think than green in this instance.
With an artisan honey, strawberries or any berry really, and all over greek yogurt
this is an unsurpassable summer breakfast.
I love shiso, as does Alicia, but I hadn’t thought of growing it. She buys packets of leaves occasionally but they are so expensive. Maybe we’ll try seedlings!
Shiso is definitely in my top three herbs! I was actually surprised that it grew well in the extreme Kansas weather.
That’s a funny photo of Minna in the background.
The first time I heard the word shiso was when my husband and I bought your book and decided to make the baked onion chicken thighs with umeboshi and shiso, which we do often. A couple of years ago we served it to an Okinawan friend who couldn’t seem to get enough. He loved it as well. My shiso story doesn’t involve food. My new favorite fragrance has shiso as one of it’s fragrance notes — for some reason I find that interesting. I think this spring I will look for the seeds and try to grow it myself.
You should sow you shiso seeds outdoors in the fall. DO NOT cover the seed. You will see them come up in spring. Best place should have afternoon shade. Best of luck! Oh, as a bonus, they reseed themselves each year!
Thanks J — I'm going to try it this week!
In an Italian restaurant in NYC owned and operated entirely by a Japanese staff, I’ve had spaghetti with butter, parmesan, tobiko and chiffonade shiso. I’ve since reproduced this many times at home.
I also add shiso along with Thai basil and cilantro at the end of stir fries of veggies and tofu dressed with hoisin, chili paste, and tamarind. Maybe a little soy sauce.
The shiso and fruit combo is a fave too. Try grilled stone fruit with an aged goat cheese and shiso.
What a great idea to put on tuna sandwiches! I often order chirashi just to get that shiso, which I eat with the tuna. Kills me that I didn’t think of this! Thank you!
Love your little piece on Shiso. In addition to using it in salads chopped up and in salad dressings made in a blender, it is always my (not secret anymore )ingredient in a carrot/yam ginger soup which I throw in raw as I am pureeing the soup. Then I top the soup with a chiffonade of shiso.
i love shiso! have you tried the buds as tempura? very tasty…
i also enjoy shiso in pasta. you cook the pasta al dente, and while warm, toss with chopped umeboshi, and garnish with the julienned shiso and nori.
(i’ve been lurking for quite a while and love your blog!)
I’ve got a huge pile of carrots right now, so I’ll be trying Carol’s soup asap.
Umeshiso pasta is indeed pretty damn tasty, especially in warmer weather. Thanks for the reminder Yoko!
Our shiso is seasonal; it always dies off in the winter, so I’m surprised that yours has lasted.
I compare the taste to cumin, and love to use it in some fruit salsas.
there was this abundance of green stuff growing in the jungle of my yard and I pulled it all. pulled. it. all. later, my neighbor lady told me it was shiso… i thought since it had appeared there naturally, it would reappear… alas.. but it has not…..
shiso is fine, in it’s proper place, but I hate it when I order a “pizza margaurite..” (which in Nagasaki is going to be marginally edible, and nowhere near delicious…) and it shows up with SHISO on it…. EW!!!!!
i do love a natto/shiso/sesame seed sushi maki thingy…. yum!!! the shiso makes it ZING!!!!
shiso-miso yum:
stir fry whatever veg you want, and include some fresh chiles. Habaneros work great. Make a little brothyness with miso (I use a brown rice one, by South River Miso) and a dash of mirin.
Finish with a big handful of fresh shiso chiffonade.
I’ve grown it from seed plenty of times — very forgiving and very easy. Very weedy. It volunteers in many Brooklyn backyards.
Thanks Guido. Anyone who recommends habs and miso and shiso in one recipe earns a dear spot in my heart. And: wow, Brooklyn must be way better than northern California for shiso! I’ve tried three times to grow it from seed, and failed. BUT, the seedlings do incredibly well.
[...] plate that felt equally refreshing and inspiring was the lamb carpaccio seasoned with ginger and shiso buds. Last, considering the impressive array of different fishes, I stuffed myself with a [...]
Purple shiso (Chinese: zisu), believe it or not, is a wonderful substitute for grape leaves when doing dolmades (stuffed grape leaf fingers – Greek/Turkish cuisine). But, yes, I have a backyard full of them, so it’s not expensive.
Just grab about 50 (or more) leaves (4-5 inches wide), wash, blanch and substitute for grape leaves in your favorite dolmades recipe. The added flavor is subtle but wonderful.
Very cool, thanks for that David. I’ve actually never tried making dolmas, so this would be excellent way to start!
I love it in salads with cucumber and jalapeno or tomato and garlic chives. Also add gobs of it when I make gyoza – it really lightens up the flavour. Also great with beef and spinach stirfry. Yum!
Adding it to gyoza is brilliant. I like it in salads, too! You have to use it sparingly though, it seems…
[...] these beauties on line), which had been halved, scored and brushed with a mixture of oil, garlic, shiso, and lovage (the garlic, shiso and lovage used in this meal all came from the Greenmarket), [...]
I was so glad to find this column. I just got my first shiso plant- first ate in in Japan and have never forgotten how much I like it.
The plant that I got has purple veining on the back of the plant, but not so much on the front. Is this considered a purple shiso?
Hi Ryan, yes, it's likely to turn out to be a purple shiso (green shiso wouldn't have any purple at all). Good news and bad news with this plant: the bad news is that it's tougher than green shiso; it tends to need longer chewing, and has a rougher texture. Not ideal. The good news is that it's *fantastic* flavor enhancer and color-giver. Putting it into dishes will flavor them mightily, and will turn them cool colors. But I usually take it out at the end (because it's too tough). It's idea for making umeboshi. Good luck, please stick around and let us know what you do with it!
I am surprised that you only use raw shiso. When my container shiso (which insanely reseeds itself every year) gets out of hand, I dry it and then crush it into salsa and tomato sauce throughout the year. A now gone SF yakitori bar used to wrap fresh shiso around pieces of chicken and grill to perfection.
Thanks Folly. My container shiso not only reseeds itself every year, somehow some shiso miraculously finds its way to OTHER containers! Drying and crushing is a great idea. I've found that it loses much of its pungency when dried, but I'll give it a second shot — thanks very much!