She sows Shiso

I don’t know why but I used to be obsessed with trying to grow shiso. We pressed a leaf into our okonomiyaki in a cooking class in Tokyo once and ever since then I had to grow it. Being an annual, it never lasted long and I never managed the self seeding part (despite friends telling me it grows like a weed in their patch!). I also very rarely remembered to put it on our okonomiyakis at home...

Never the less I tried again last summer, paying way too much for a random plant from a marketplace lady. Actually she sold me on a lot of random plants, most of which were good for ‘women’s health’ and I felt guilty for not buying them to look after myself.

This year I have cracked the self seeding secret. I think it’s overhead watering, not drip. Shiso is a member of Lamiaceae, the mint family, and loves consistently moist conditions.

Shiso is native to South East Asia through to India and the Himalayan mountains and in addition to making my okonomiyaki special, shiso is also used in various cuisines including sashimi, fried in tempura, as a wrap for meat, in kimchi and as a colour in pickled plums (umeboshi). Shiso is a natural preservative. It contains perillaldehyde which has antibacterial and antispectic properties – and probably why shiso became a popular addition to sashimi, protecting the raw fish. It is also known for its anti-inflammatory properties and digestive aid.

There are several varieites of shiso – a plain green one which has a lighter brighter flavour, a red one, which has a stronger flavour and is  more known for it’s colouring properties, and a bi-colour version which is a bit of a cross flavour wise.

Shiso loves a damp spot, as I mentioned before, warm temperatures and good soil. Like lettuce, the seeds are ‘positive photoblastic’ (how cool is that word!), which means they need light to germinate, so if starting from seed, just press them lightly onto your seed raising mix, keep moist and you’ll have shiso in no time!

My shiso self-seeded heavily in the path!