My 2nd favorite japanese food is a leaf, a shiso leaf.
The shiso leaf is used in the japanese restaurants (in the Chinese ones, you’ll find the little green plastic separation) generally on the sushis/sashimis plate to separate the sushis/sashimis.
It can also be used as topping on sashimis or on tofu.
 Shiso on my sashimis |
 the leaf |
 Shiso on my tofu |
Shiso is sometimes called the japanese basil or beefsteak plant.
It tastes like anise and if you don’t know what it is you may thing it’s just a decoration. No, it’s not!
You are more than welcomed to eat it because it’s full of dietary fiber, calcium-iron-potassium, vitamin A-C and riboflavin.
It’s also use to preserve food due to its anti-bacterial properties.
Check the tororo kombu
I soooo love shiso on Tofu, so yummy!
Me too!
I learned something new here today. Thank you.
Happy me! And it’s just the start 😉
Lovely photos and very interesting – reading .. didn’t know about shiso leaf. Not a sushi eater … I learned something new today too. *smile
I am now officially hungry. BTW-, Scout works great! Thanks so much!
Happy you like it.
I also love the taste of Shiso. I heard that it is often served with raw fish because of it does have anti-bacterial properties. So I looked it up on the internet and found out some great information from another WordPress blogger!
http://shizuokagourmet.com/2010/05/04/health-nutrition-facts-in-japanese-food-2-perilla-leafshiso%E7%B4%AB%E8%98%87/
Totally true! At first it was served with raw fish and was working as anti-bacterian food along with the ginger and the wasabi. Thanks for the link, going to read the article. Have a great day.