Sesame Leaf

At the asian market the other day, I bought sesame leaves. Having never seen a leaf from the plant on which sesame seeds grow, I assumed this was it. It even had a faint sesame-spinachy smell. The smell must have been psycho-somatically induced, however, as korean sesame leaves are actually perilla, and have nothing to do with the sesame seed plant.

I was curious what sesame seed plants look like, and i found this sweet picture of the plants being bundled so the seeds may dry for harvesting:

Perilla is an herb, apparently the Korean variety is called Sesame Leaf, while the Japanese variety is known as Shiso. I had Shiso in my garden a few years ago as the farm I had worked on grew a whole bunch to sell as a gourmet spice at farmers' markets. I took a couple of seedlings.

Red shiso is used in pickling, and its what gives pickled ginger its lovely pink hue. I have eaten it in many recipes.

For this bunch of Sesame Leaf, I'm planning to add into the epic veggie broth I'll be stirring up this weekend. I might save a bunch of leaves to do this with:

(recipe found here)

Kkaetip saengjeoli:

Rinse 100 grams of sesame leaves.

Prepare seasoning (yangnyeom), consisting of
4 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. gochugaru
2 pods green chili, chopped
3 pods red chili, chopped
1/4 medium western onion, minced
1/2 spring onion, sliced crosswise in small pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 finger ginger, minced

Layer leaves and allow to marinate briefly.

Serve as side dish (banchan).




although I'll substitute tamari for soy sauce, and possibly add a dash of ume vinegar and probably lemon juice as i love that sort of tang.

(image found here, which has more recipes that look awesome.)







yum.