Pristine Perilla (鮮やか紫蘇)
Pristine Perilla
(紫蘇 / shiso leaf)
Green variety
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In the cherry blossom sky
Soaring into flame
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This is my tribute to the lovely perilla herb, also known as shiso leaf. It has a wonderful, fresh taste that is subtle and a bit difficult to describe. My personal attempt would be: bright green herbal taste with a gently spiced heat, akin to cinnamon or anise & a fresh mintlike coolness. There are multiple varieties of the herb which are used within Japanese and Korean traditions.
How I came to know about this herb was through studying Japanese culture and finding out about 梅干(umeboshi) or pickled plum, a popular type of pickle that is extraordinarily salty and sour. These pickled plums are created using the red variety of shiso leaf (赤ジソ/akajiso) which imparts a deep purplish red color to them.
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The green variety of perilla is grown at the greenhouse I work at and I harvested a pound of it for a local chef the other day! All pictures in this article are taken by me and the digital art is created by manipulating the photos.
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Have you ever tried umeboshi (pickled plum) / perilla leaf or have you heard of them before? I'll upvote all comments that add something to the discussion ;)
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Wholeness,
@d-pend
8/15/17
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皆んなさん紫蘇を好きですか？
Everyone, do you like shiso leaf?
I've never tried pickled plum. Have you cooked anything interesting with perilla leaf?
Actually I did let you taste the pickled plum I believe! It was the extremely salty/sour thing I had at home. Also, I let you try the perilla leaf and you thought it tasted like cinnamon. The stuff from the store was not as fresh and didn't taste as great as this stuff from Sharli's greenhouse. It also wasn't as purple on the underside. I forget which dish I used it in but I cooked a couple different vegetable dishes with it before I moved :)
Yum Yum! I love it.
Also, I love your digital art. :)
I didn't know you studied Japanese culture and know about shiso and umeboshi. I'm very impressed. I'm third generation Japanes American so I grew up exposed to both American and Japanese cultures. This exposure has given me a broader perspective on everything. No wonder you have also a broader perspective of worldly things. That makes you even more grounded. One day I hope you share more of your worldly experiences. I think it would be very interesting! Take care d-pend! :D
Nice job! I am not sure if I've ever actually tried this, although I think I've come across some....
so beatiful
Amazin images, and great job @d-pend I like this
Thanks @informatique-pro appreciate you stopping by!
This post has received a 11.16 % upvote from @bellyrub thanks to: @d-pend.
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