Sorry, this is not strictly about sushi....

Is there anyone that could help me find a way to make the most of my
ao-shiso leaves?
I tried drying them in the microwave, but the fragrance vanishes...
I cut them up in tiny slivers and mixed them with shoyu, not the right
taste.
How, for instance, to get the smell and taste from the leaves to make a nice
shoyu dressing to keep.
Freezing the leaves is not a succes either.

rob

"bob" > wrote:
> Sorry, this is not strictly about sushi....
>
> Is there anyone that could help me find a way to make the most of my
> ao-shiso leaves?
> I tried drying them in the microwave, but the fragrance vanishes...
> I cut them up in tiny slivers and mixed them with shoyu, not the right
> taste.
> How, for instance, to get the smell and taste from the leaves to make a
> nice shoyu dressing to keep.
> Freezing the leaves is not a succes either.

With other leaves (and chiles and garlic), I have found that slicing them,
no matter how thinly, does not release their essence. Try pulverizing them
with a mortar and pestle, perhaps adding a little tamari for processing.

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
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Thanks ! ! ~Semper Fi~ USMC 1365061

On 2009-09-04 01:59:54 -0700, "bob" > said:

> Sorry, this is not strictly about sushi....
>
> Is there anyone that could help me find a way to make the most of my
> ao-shiso leaves?
> I tried drying them in the microwave, but the fragrance vanishes...
> I cut them up in tiny slivers and mixed them with shoyu, not the right
> taste.
> How, for instance, to get the smell and taste from the leaves to make a nice
> shoyu dressing to keep.
> Freezing the leaves is not a succes either.

Last year I went to a "Sushi and Sake" festival or some such in Anaheim
(down the street). There were venders for every kind of product. One
was a guy whose company made bottles of shiso-juice. I can't read the
label, but I would imagine there might be additives or whatever. Well
it's about like a "infusion" or a liqueur or something (though not
sweetened or anything). It tastes like shiso juice.

I'd read up on infusions and see if you couldn't do it to mineral water
or some such. Then you could add it to any dressing you might like to
prepare.
--
Dogmatism kills jazz. Iconoclasm kills rock. Rock dulls scissors.

On Sep 4, 4:59*am, "bob" > wrote:
> Sorry, this is not strictly about sushi....
>
> Is there anyone that could help me find a way to make the most of my
> ao-shiso leaves?
> I tried drying them in the microwave, but the fragrance vanishes...
> I cut them up in tiny slivers and mixed them with shoyu, not the right
> taste.
> How, for instance, to get the smell and taste from the leaves to make a nice
> shoyu dressing to keep.
> Freezing the leaves is not a succes either.
>
> rob

I only use fresh Shiso for my sushi and sashimi dishes. I know that
shiso turns black when exposed to
direct heat and it doesn't freeze well at all. There is a rice dish
called Shiso-gohan which I had maybe
25 years ago but I don't know how the shiso was applied. Shiso
dressing recipes usually call for using
finely chopped shiso, but if that doesn't give you the fragrance/
flavor you are looking for, I would try
making a "pesto" type of paste in a food processor.

Musashi