I got some green and red shiso plants at the Japanese grocer for $1 each and they’re doing really well. So far I’ve just done a chiffonade of them to add to salads and miso soup. I know the red ones are used to color umeboshi but anyone know what they’re actually used for in Japanese cooking other than that?
Shiso, or Japanese Basil as it is more commonly called in English, is used as a fragrant enhancement to many dishes. Try making a roulade of Anago wth Shiso in the middle.
Shiso is an amazing flavor in foods served with with big dark fruit Pinot also.
eat with raw fish.
making shiso tempura is tasty too.
onigiri, etc.
tempura shiso is pretty tasty 
I’m jealous – it’s really easy to find the Korean version here but much harder to find the Japanese. The Japanese version has a sharper brighter flavor. And it’s used all the time – I have eaten Bulgogi wrapping the BBQ in “sesame leaves” instead of lettuce. I have a Japanese fried rice recipe that calls for something like 20 shiso leaves minced up and stirred into the rice. I believe I remember that Pepsi (?) came out with a Shiso flavored version in Japan. I’ve seen Akashiso, the red stuff, grown as an ornamental plant in gardens. I know it’s used to color the pink ginger served with sushi. It seems to have less flavor than Aoshiso…
Not that this is helpful in any way but…
Shiso with madai is heaven for me.
Also makes for good banchan.
That tempura is good. Great vehicle for flavor.
I, too, love perilla with raw fish. I’ve also wrapped korean meats (bulgogi/kalbi) in perilla leaf too. IIRC you’re a vegetarian, but I don’t know why you couldn’t use it as a “wrapper” for grilled tofu or seitan.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I’m intrigued by trying them as wrappers since a lot of the leaves are pretty big. Yes, the green seems to have more color than the purple. Initially they were about $4 each at the Japanese grocery, but then they had a lot leftover and closed them out for $1 each. It’s from a local nursery - I’m not 100% certain if it’s a Japanese or Korean.
love them as a wrapper. They have such kick to them. I’ve seen a shiso leaf wrapped with enoki mushrooms and lightly tempura’d . So so good!
Do you have a yard/garden? I planted some shiso from seed last year in a couple pots. I let them go to seed to grow more but there was no need. They escaped captivity impressively and have now thoroughly colonized one area of my yard as a weed. I cannot eat them quickly enough!
Yes, I have them planted in my garden. Two of each color. Interesting how they escaped. I’d think there’d be worse weeds you could have.
Yep, they could be inedible. But after one season they certainly seem to act invasive!
from my Japanese wife (I’m fake Japanese aka 2nd generation):
deep fried, wrapped with other stuff
Can be used as herb, so pasta (maybe cut in strips), in salad, put over tofu, on top of Japanese noodles like chilled ramen/udon/somen.
Thanks Marc, I’d been slicing them in a chiffonade/strips and doing just that, but I’m going to try them as wrappers this weekend since I have a lot of large leaves on the green ones. The tempura idea is tempting but I don’t do a lot of fried foods.
Frying them isn’t that bad if you don’t batter it too much. Heck, what I would do is get it wet a little, dust it with flour, then deep fry it very quickly. Shouldn’t be too oily compared to what we normally get in the states.
BTW, real tempura isn’t oily at all. light and fluffy and crunchy. Sadly it’s hard (if not impossible) to find in America…
I hate Shiso, it tastes like bug spray to me, is there something to it like some folks have with cilantro?
It’s a strong flavor. I’m not surprised that some would have a strong dislike (same with cilantro, though I like both a lot).
I can see both comparisons, Shiso = bug spray and Cilantro = soap
But I like both of them for some reason. I think I had to learn to like cilantro.
But then I also had to learn to like black coffee and IPA beer.
Wine was easy, I liked wine immediately. Same with ice cream.
You can cut them into thin strips and toss them into your soba when you make them cold.
Other uses I find are more alcohol-centric - such as infusing them in a bottle of tenquary and then using it to make summer cocktails! 