PERILLA or SHISO FROM SEEDS

 

 

 

Not all shiso tastes the same.

In our kitchen, we find there are culinary differences between the Japanese and Korean Shiso and thus we used them differently.

In the former (Japanese,青しそ, ao-jiso ), the leaves are thinner and the taste is suitable even for young children’s salads. Eaten raw, the minty flavor is not as sharp as the Korean and tastes slightly like cinnamon. Japanese Shiso can be either green or reddish color.

The Korean Shiso seems to be a favorite only with the adults at home, especially meat lovers. We enjoyed the thicker leaves as a wrap of greasy meats dipped in sweet Korean chili paste and sesame oil.  The flavors blend so well that the grease “disappeared” from one’s palate. Regrettably, the grease did not disappear for real! In appearance, Korean shiso has an oval smooth-edged thicker leaf compared to Japanese Shiso.

Shiso seeds have a short life span and should be kept in the freezer to extend its viability. Germination can be tricky as it was important to maintain both a warm and moist environment without drowning the seeds. For the best result, seeds environment cannot alternate between dry and wet, it must be kept constantly moist.

 

JAPANESE GREEN SHISO VARIETY

 

It took between overnight to 14 days to see the seeds showed the first sign of emerging life.

 

 

Seeds leaves did not show immediately.

They appeared 3 days after germination.

As young seedlings, the growth progress was relatively slow.

 

 

 

 

Significant spurt in growth seen only after one week.

 

 

 

Hydro seedlings settled in individual “pod”.

 

 

 

We fed these hydro plants with seaweed extract instead of just AB nutrients.

 

 

 

 

The downside of Perilla mint is that they seem to bolt rather quickly, usually after the 4th harvest and the leaves became tough and brittle.

When this happened, leaves do not replace as fast and they were smaller. We preferred to re-start from seeds and enjoyed younger leaves.

 

 

Soil Based Japanese Green Shiso

 

 

 

 

We love these leaves raw in salads, rice rolls or with sashimi.

Our favorite salad combination is avocado with these leaves, do try it for yourself!

 

 

As the children love only Japanese Shiso leaves, we grew mainly this over the Korean variety at home.

 

 

SEEDS ARE AVAILABLE IN SHOP 

These seedlings grew very fast after one month.

 

 

Although at this stage, the size of the leaf is not big, we enjoy the tender smaller leaves over the mature ones.

Its texture at this stage is finer and the cinnamon flavor had a sweeter aftertaste.

 

 

Larger leaves can be harvested first, keeping the smaller leaves on the plant.

The next harvest in a week’s time.

Planted well in cloth bags, with enough aeration to roots zone even though it’s in soil, this can be a large plant.

 

 

 

As the roots had extended out of its seedling bag, it can now be planted in a larger pot to mature further.

 

KOREAN Bi-Color Red SHISO/PERILLA  깻잎 

Our first trial of seeds was sowed on July 12 and they germinated on July 18, about 6 days.

 

 

 

A one-week-old seedling’s length was about 8 cm.

 

 

A slight tint of red on the stem was evident in one week.

 

The bi-color Perilla/Shiso is pretty!

 

 

 

Roots mass remained thin on a month old seedling.

In their second month, as the leaves grew, roots gained mass as well.

 

 

The Korean shiso leaves feel thicker than the Japanese variety.

 

 

In non-circulating hydroponic plants, the leaves took another two weeks to grow bigger.

 

 

 

 

These seeds are available in SHOP!