Growing Shiso

If you’re looking for something a little more unusual to grow in your herb garden this year, shiso fits the bill. It has as many monikers — perilla, Chinese basil, wild sesame and rattlesnake weed — as it does flavours. A member of the mint family, shiso can taste grassy with hints of citrus and herbal notes of cumin, clove, basil and mint. Its complex flavour makes the herb a culinary chameleon that pairs well with various dishes. It complements tuna and sushi. The young tender leaves can be used raw in salads, while larger leaves can wrap meat or rice or be chopped into stir-fries. When the flowers appear in summer, their blossoms are sweet and floral.

Shiso isn’t something you can easily find at the grocery store. A few farmers in the region offer shiso, including Bao Bao Farm, featured on page 37. But if you’ve seen shiso at all, it was most likely on the side of a plate of sashimi or a plastic replica found on sushi trays. The herb is native to southwest China, Nepal and northern India and has been consumed as food and medicine since 500 AD. Historically, the seeds were favoured for their oil and were ground with chilis and tomatoes as a condiment. The red variety gives the pink colouring to umeboshi, a sour and salty Japanese pickled plum.

If you add shiso to your garden, give it some extra space. Like mint, shiso grows easily and is a prolific self-seeder, unlike mint’s invasive roots. There are several types of shiso you can plant: green shiso (Aoshiso), red shiso (Akashiso) and a bi-coloured variety (Hojiso) with leaves that are green on top and red underneath. All three varieties like a warm, sunny spot and soil with good drainage. I’ve also noticed that shiso takes longer to show up in the spring than the other self-seeding and perennial herbs. When it decides to pop out of the ground, and the leaves develop, shiso can be quite stunning — particularly the red and bi-coloured varieties.