100 Shiso Recipes - Cook with Confidence with This New Culinary Craze (2024)

FAQs

What is shiso used for in cooking? ›

Shiso is extremely versatile.

Raw leaves are delicious tossed into salads or used wherever you might add savory green herbs. Or you can cook them up like tender spinach — steamed, sautéed or tempura-fried. Red varieties can be steeped in hot water and juiced, yielding a ruby herbal concoction with a lemony bite.

The herb pairs well with fatty fish like salmon, yellowtail, and tuna, and can be enjoyed by wrapping a whole leaf around a piece of sashimi and dipping it in soy sauce. Shiso also complements vegetables and fruits. Julienned shiso leaves are often mixed with salads to add a fresh, citrusy flavor.

Drinks and desserts – Use shiso leaves in recipes that call for mint, like mojitos, co*cktails, ice cream and sorbets, jellies, simple syrup, granita, etc. As a seasoning – Dried and ground shiso can be used as a seasoning and sprinkled on rice and noodle dishes.

While Japanese green shiso is commonly eaten fresh, red shiso tends to be more bitter, so it is often processed into drinks, pickles and other foods: Umeboshi is a popular Japanese pickle made from ume plums and red shiso. It is frequently used in onigiri (rice balls) and bento boxes.

In English, it is sometimes called the "beefsteak plant", because purple-leaf varieties resemble the blood-red color of meat. Other common names include "perilla mint", "Chinese basil", and "wild basil". The alias "wild coleus" or "summer coleus" probably describe ornamental varieties.

What Does It Taste Like? Shiso leaves have a fresh, citrusy flavor with hints of cinnamon, cloves, and mint. They have a somewhat astringent flavor and bitter finish, particularly the red shiso leaves. The texture is similar to fresh mint leaves, while dried shiso has a more subdued flavor.

As stated earlier, the exact flavor of shiso leaves varies between the red and green varieties. Red, the more pungent of the two, is excellent as topping for rice, as part of salads, or sprinkled on a bowl of cold soba noodles. Red shiso, when dried, makes for a delicious furikake.

Shred the shiso leaves and place them on the bottom half of a piece of paper towel. Fold over the top half of the paper towel to wrap the shiso leaves. Fold the paper towel with the shiso inside a few times, put it in a freezer bag and freeze it. The frozen shiso leaves are hard and crunchy.

Shiso is in the mint family. Stick to that area and you'll be fine, even though nothing will be exactly right. Peppermint leaves, lemon basil or Thai basil will all give a nice look and a pleasant flavor, even if it won't be quite the same. A combination of mint and and Thai or Holy basil might be your best bet.

Shiso leaves do not stay fresh at room temperature very long because they dry out very easily, but you can extend the life of your fresh shiso (to about four days) by placing them in the refrigerator, preferably inside a damp cloth to keep them moist.

What is the shelf life of shiso leaves? ›

Shelf Life:

Up to five days fresh. Shiso leaves pair very well with soy based sauces and dressings. In Japan they are a traditional accompaniment to raw fish (particularly sashimi), used in salads, or fried as tempura. Shiso leaves can also be pickled (how to quick pickle).

Since shiso naturally repels insects as it a part of the mint family, it does not attract any and will not cause harm to other plants near it in this regard. However, shiso may be apt to get Downey mildew. For this reason, it is important to ensure that it has ample space in the garden and is not overwatered.

The traditional way to keep either red or green shiso leaves is to preserve them in salt.

Shiso, green or purple, is an herb similar in flavor to basil, mint, and anise. It adds a bright freshness to pretty much anything—pizza, rice bowls, eggs, you name it! I used it a gnocchi recipe I tested in the Munchies Test Kitchen.

The Chef's Garden offers flavorful shiso leaves: green shiso with its curry-like flavor and touches of cumin, cilantro, parsley, mint, and cinnamon; red shiso with its sweeter start that turns into a cinnamon-mint taste; and mixed shiso that allows you to enjoy the best of both.

Shiso leaves are rich in calcium and iron, and are used in Chinese medicine to treat asthma, colds, flu and other respiratory ailments. How to Prepare: Shiso has a unique flavor: pungent and grassy, it contains strong flavors of spearmint, basil, anise and cinnamon.

Perilla is actually the term for a number of different species of plants in the mint family. The Japanese use shiso, which is smaller and mintier than the broad, rounded perilla leaves favored by the Koreans. The flavor of perilla, grassy with notes of anise or licorice, is pleasing like any other herb.

The flavor of green shiso is fresh and vibrant, tasting somewhere between mint and basil. Red shiso is used as a natural coloring in pickled plums known as umeboshi, and it can also be used to make a sweet refreshing shiso summer drink.