Everything you need to know about shiso

Shiso is an essential herb in Japanese cuisine. The volatile oil extracted from its leaves contains a substance 20,000 times sweeter than sugar. Here are some tips on caring for your own shiso plants at home.

• Shiso is a slender annual plant, resistant to cold, which can reach a height ranging from 60 to 120 centimetres (25 to 50 inches).
• Its aromatic, very jagged, large and oval leaves, are green and often with a purple stain.
• The small white flowers are arranged on dense spikes 10 centimetres (four inches) long.
• The colourful shapes and curly leaves make them increasingly popular ornamental plants in pots/containers or for borders.
• Also called "wild green perilla", "Chinese basil" or even "Nankingperilla" (red shiso), the commonly used parts of shiso are its leaves, flowering spikes and seed

• Perilla frutescens var. crispaa have bronze-purple curly leaves and pink flowers.
• Some clones have leaves with a cumin and cinnamon flavour, and others are reminiscent of ginger.
• "Akajiso" (or red shiso), with large red to purple leaves, flavour and colour condiments.
• "Kkaennip" (or Korean shiso), with large leaves, is eaten raw or cooked as a vegetable, or even used as a wrapper for meat.

• Shiso likes moist, well-drained, and composted soil, in the sun or partial shade.

• Sow the seeds in the spring at 13-18 °C (55-64 °F).
• Transplant when the young plants/seedlings are large enough and the plant no longer risks freezing/frost.

• Pinch the initial flowering spikes to encourage plant growth.

• If grown indoors, shiso is subject to whitefly.

• Collect the leaves in summer. They are generally used fresh.
• Pick the flowering spikes before the flowers bloom and the seeds in autumn.
• The leaves can cause dermatitis in sensitive individuals.