Hello again, everybody - I'm back after a long absence, this time with
a question about red shiso. I've been growing several varieties of
shiso - red (aka shiso, Japanese), green (ao shiso, Japanese), Korean
shiso (kkaennip), and Vietnamese purple / green shiso (tia to).

What type is closest to the red shiso used in China?

The Japanese red shiso has curly leaves and almost no flavor, as far as
I can tell based on eating the leaves raw. This is strange since I've
read that aka shiso has a "liquoricey" fragrance and that it is used in
Chinese cuisine to flavor some meat dishes and to make a tea. The stuff
I have would not flavor anything; though I suspect it would give it a
nice purple color.

In contrast, the green shiso has a nice strong flavor, vaguely like
cinnamon, the flavor that one gets overtones of in umeboshi. And the
Vietnamese tia to also has a strong, recognizable green-shiso like
flavor.

With Viet Nam abbutting directly onto southern China, I wondered if the
Chinese red perilla might be more like tia to than like the flavorless
purple aka shiso. Anyone?

The tia to I'm growing has an almost-green front to the leaf, stained
with purple-red at the veins, and is a deep maroon red on the reverse
of the leaves. The leaves aren't curly.

What characteristics should the plant have if it is used in TCM or is
used to make tea?

PS. The shiitake log in the woods, now in its N'th year, is still going
strong and produces bizarre, abberrant, salad plate sized single
mushrooms.

Best and Hello, All! - krnntp

PS. The shiitake log in the woods, now in its N'th year, is still going
strong and produces bizarre, abberrant, salad plate sized single
mushrooms.


I enjoyed your query re shiso.

Regarding the shiitakelog in the woods, I have a couple of questions.
1) Are there other natural mushrooms in your fields
2) If so, if they are poisonous, would there be a chance of cross-breeding
(whatever the word for it is - hybrid?), sothat your shiitake would take on
the poisonous properties.
3) Are there snakes in your woods? copperheads?
4) Did you buy a log? or just the spores?
5) There are lots of old downed oak trees in our area; does it have to be a
certain type of oak tree?

I know this is a lot of questions, but if you know.
Thanks so much.
Dee

Hi krnntp,

What type is closest to the red shiso used in China?

I recommend the Korean 들깨-variety (there are several ones)
"Autumn-Leaf" (translated from Korean).

Bye, sanne.

tangentially related question. Is Red Shiso an annual or perennial?

Tia,
Tmo

tmo wrote:

tangentially related question. Is Red Shiso an annual or perennial?

Perennial and then some! Shiso is a weed, and drops tons of seed in
the fall. I started with red, and switched to green about two years
ago and I still have some red sprouts coming up. Red Shiso is very
pretty when it comes up in bunches, but I need green for sushi.

--
Dan

Dan Logcher wrote:
tmo wrote:

tangentially related question. Is Red Shiso an annual or perennial?

Perennial and then some! Shiso is a weed, and drops tons of seed in
the fall.

According to the web sites I've looked at, it's an annual. The fact that
it self-sows does not make it a perennial. Each plant lasts only one season.

--
- Jeff Lichtman
Author, Baseball for Rookies
http://baseball-for-rookies.com/