Shiso

Green and Red Shiso in the Garden

In the summer I planted two shiso plants in the garden, one red and one green and a few sorrel plants.  Both the shiso and sorrel have done really well and I have a two giant leafy, delicious, fragrant  shiso plants and a few prolific sorrel plants which look just like spinach.  In Japan we used to enjoy red shiso ice cream and some people like to make shiso mojitos.  At home I use it often in cooked rice, salads or salsas but it is a unique and strong flavor that I didn't think students would enjoy.  Sorrel is wonderfully tart and I was pretty sure that it would be popular but I wasn't certain of the best way to use it in a class.  I thought that we should try to eat anything that is growing in the garden and that I like so well so we made a rice salad with garden herbs peas and carrots which was remarkably good.  Shiso is really nice with rice - at first we put a little in the salad but then added a lot when we realized how wonderful it was. I cooked about 7 cups of long grain rice - that is about 5 quarts of rice - It was all eaten with enthusiasm. 

To make a smaller amount try -

4 Cups Cooked Rice 
2 Carrots cut into small dice
1 Cup Cooked Frozen Peas
A handful of juliened Shiso 
A handful of juliened Sorrel
A handful of juliened Mint
I used a dressing of Rice Wine, Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce Dressing

This was an informative sight about shiso
http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/how-to-use-shiso-leaves