Shiso (Perilla frutescens var. crispa) is a member of the mint family, native to Asia, and the most widely used fresh herb in Japanese cuisine. In Japan it's used as a wrap, a garnish, a tempura ingredient, a pickling leaf, and as a flavor in everything from salads to cocktails to onigiri. In Western kitchens, it shows up occasionally as a garnish at Japanese restaurants — a purple or green ruffled leaf that most diners ignore.
This is a waste of an interesting herb.
What shiso tastes like
Shiso has a flavor that English doesn't have a ready compound for. The closest description: basil + mint, with a slight anise note and a cooling, faintly medicinal finish. It's aromatic in the way that Italian basil is aromatic, but in a different direction — basil leans sweet and slightly peppery; shiso leans cooler, more citrusy, and more complex.
Green shiso (aojiso) is lighter and more aromatic. This is the one used as a fresh herb — in salads, as a garnish, chopped into sauces.
Red/purple shiso (akajiso) is more pungent, earthier, and more bitter. Used for pickling (it's what gives umeboshi their red color), for shiso juice, and for cooked preparations where the intensity works better than in raw applications.
For most Western cooking applications: green shiso is what you want.
Where to find shiso
Asian grocery stores: Most Japanese and Korean grocery stores carry fresh green shiso (sometimes labeled "perilla" or "kkaennip" at Korean stores, though Korean perilla has a slightly different flavor). Available in small bunches in the herb section.
Farmers' markets: Shiso is easy to grow and appears at summer farmers' markets in many US cities, particularly those with large Asian communities.
Grow your own: Shiso is one of the easier herbs to grow from seed. It prefers warm temperatures and partial shade. One plant produces continuous leaves through summer.
Substitutes: For fresh shiso, a mix of fresh basil + fresh mint (2:1 ratio) approximates the flavor without being the same. It's a workable substitution but loses the distinctive cooling quality. There is no single herb that replicates shiso exactly.
Shiso as a basil substitute
The function mapping is direct: anywhere Italian cooking uses fresh basil as a finishing herb, shiso can substitute to move the dish into Japanese flavor territory.
Where the substitution works well:
- As a pizza topping (post-bake, like fresh basil on Margherita)
- In a simple salad dressing (replace basil in a basil vinaigrette)
- Torn over finished pasta
- In a caprese-style preparation (shiso + burrata + good tomato instead of basil + mozzarella + tomato)
- As a garnish on risotto
Where it diverges from basil: Shiso doesn't wilt or bruise as dramatically as basil, which means it holds up better under heat and in dressed salads. But it also doesn't have basil's sweetness, which means dishes that rely specifically on that sweetness (Genovese pesto, classic Margherita pizza) will taste differently when substituted.
Shiso pesto: Replace half or all of the basil with shiso. The result is lighter, more herbaceous, and slightly more complex than basil-only pesto. Add a small amount of sesame oil (1 teaspoon per batch) and use pine nuts or cashews rather than walnuts.
Shiso in Japanese-Italian cooking: specific applications
Shiso gremolata: Gremolata is the Italian herb mix traditionally served with osso buco and braised meats — finely minced parsley + lemon zest + garlic. Replace the parsley with shiso for a Japanese gremolata that is brighter, more aromatic, and works particularly well with fish and white meat.
Method: 1 cup finely chopped shiso + zest of 1 lemon + 1 small clove garlic, minced. Sprinkle over grilled fish, braised chicken, or sautéed tofu at the last moment before serving.
Shiso in pasta water: Shiso stems and bruised whole leaves added to pasta cooking water (and removed before draining) infuse a subtle aromatic note into the pasta. This is a light-touch technique — the flavoring is faint, but it means the pasta carries a hint of shiso that carries through into a simple butter or olive oil sauce.
Shiso with burrata or ricotta: Fresh shiso leaves + burrata + good olive oil + flaky salt = a first course that is visually interesting and more complex than the Italian original. Add yuzu zest or ponzu for an acid note in place of lemon.
Shiso tempura: Battered and fried whole shiso leaves (tempura batter: 1 cup cold water + 1 egg yolk + ¾ cup cake flour, mixed just enough to combine — lumps are fine) are a Japanese appetizer standard. In a fusion context, serve shiso tempura alongside Italian antipasti as a contrast.
Shiso in risotto: Add a handful of finely chiffonaded shiso to finished risotto just before serving (not during cooking — the heat destroys the volatile aromatics). The shiso's cooling, anise-forward quality cuts through the richness of the butter-and-Parmigiano finish in the same way that fresh herbs finish French preparations.
Shiso vs. Korean perilla (kkaennip)
Korean perilla and Japanese shiso are the same plant species but different varieties with somewhat different flavor profiles:
Japanese shiso (aojiso): More delicate, more citrusy-anise flavor, thinner leaves, typically used raw or as a very brief garnish.
Korean perilla (kkaennip): Larger leaves, more pungent, more herbal-grassy, slightly more bitter. Used raw in Korean BBQ wraps (ssam), pickled, and cooked.
For Japanese-Italian applications, green shiso is the right choice. Korean perilla is more pungent and would overpower delicate Italian preparations.
Storage
Shiso wilts quickly at refrigerator temperatures and bruises even more easily than basil. Store in a glass of water at room temperature (like cut flowers) or wrap loosely in a damp paper towel and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
For longer storage: blanch briefly in salted water, squeeze dry, and freeze in portions. The frozen shiso won't be suitable for raw use (texture changes significantly) but is fine for cooked applications and sauces.
The Flavor Pairing Matrix at borderlesskitchenseries.com/free includes shiso as one of the Japanese herb entries, with its Italian parallels (basil, parsley, tarragon for different applications) mapped in the chart.
The gremolata application — shiso replacing parsley in the classical Italian herb garnish — is one of the techniques in the Tokyo Meets Tuscany collection.
The full recipes live in the book.
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