Sesame Oil

Spicy Shiso Kimuchi

by:
July 16, 2013
4.5
2 Ratings
Spicy Shiso Kimuchi
Photo by Lindsay-Jean Hard
  • Serves a few
Author Notes

While living in Japan, we were lucky enough to have numerous gracious hosts and countless good meals. One of our most memorable evenings included whisky tastings, grilled meats and seafood, and nabe. Although I didn't partake in most of that, I was captivated by one of the appetizers. Shiso leaves swimming in a spicy sesame broth.

Don't get uppity on me. It's not kimchee -- it's not fermented, and there's no cabbage. It's probably barely kimuchi. The original recipe (that our host copied and then painstakingly translated for me) results in a paste that gets spread on the leaves (I guess our host didn't follow the recipe either?). I kept the same ingredients, but wanted my shiso to swim. —Lindsay-Jean Hard

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 4 teaspoons mirin
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
  • 1 tablespoon shichimi togarashi (seven spice powder)
  • shiso leaves (about 2 dozen)
  • thinly sliced peppers to taste (I used 2 serrano peppers)
Directions
  1. In a small saucepan bring the soy sauce, mirin, water, and garlic to a boil. Boil briefly, just long enough to take the edge off of the garlic.
  2. Remove the pan from the heat, mix in the sesame oil, sesame seeds, shichimi togarashi, and sliced peppers. Let it cool.
  3. Place shiso leaves in a container, add the soy sauce mixture, cover, and refrigerate. (For at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.)
  4. Grab your chopsticks, pluck out a leaf and enjoy. Or eat them with a bowl of rice, or put them on sandwiches (I like them on cream cheese toast).
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  • donna j beaumont
    donna j beaumont
  • Pat E. in SLO
    Pat E. in SLO
  • Lindsay-Jean Hard
    Lindsay-Jean Hard
Lindsay-Jean Hard
I like esoteric facts about vegetables. Author of the IACP Award-nominated cookbook, Cooking with Scraps.

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5 Reviews

donna J.
donna J. September 8, 2015
thank you
 
donna J.
donna J. September 4, 2015
Is there a substitute for 7 spice powder?
 
Lindsay-Jean H.
Lindsay-Jean H. September 4, 2015
You could try finding a recipe to make your own blend of it. Otherwise, you can pick it up in our shop (https://food52.com/shop/products/35-shichimi-togarashi-spice-blend) or an Asian market.
 
Pat E.
Pat E. August 18, 2013
Love anything "shiso"....and loved living in Japan. As soon as my plants get a little bigger I'll be trying this. Thanks for sharing
 
Lindsay-Jean H.
Lindsay-Jean H. August 19, 2013
Thanks for the note! It is definitely a different recipe, but I love it, and hope you do too. Please report back after you try it!