I have a ton of Korean perilla in my vegetable garden. A downright surplus.
Korean perilla is one of the plants that the gopher did not touch, and with each passing week, the patch of perilla plants has loomed taller, leafed green, and cast its peculiar minty scent. Delighted with their initial growth, I’d refused to thin them early in their germination…and then, when they grew taller, I found it wasteful (there’s even a particular Korean word for this–”ahk goh wah”) to thin them further. And so, in the last few months, they have grown, a clump of crowded forest in the gopher-ravaged garden.
And thus, the surplus of Korean perilla leaves (or “ggaenip or kkaenip”).
What to do with all of the leaves? If you’re Korean or Korean American, you’ll recognize these leaves–they’re used to wrap rice, and pickled/marinated as a side dish (ban chan), a common ingredient in Korean cooking. But it’s not like I have a family of fifteen to feed–and I just could not keep up with the plants’ production.
No matter how much I picked more leaves would sprout from the dense Perilla Forest. I used them to wrap around rice and bulgogi in a “ssam,” and I investigated ways to marinate and pickle them. My favorite method of cooking perilla leaves was tempura frying, by far.
Tempura frying them is a delicious idea, one that results in crispy, almost translucent leaves that remind me of stained glass windows, the green between the veins of the leaves were so clear and beautiful. Oh, and the crunch! Oh, and the taste. They taste marvelous, just the right balance between the minty/licorice flavor of the leaves and the savory tempura coating.
But tempura frying then and marinating/pickling them can only get you so far. For one, frying is not something to do in volume.
So, what to do? What to do with these beautiful, heart shaped leaves? Their edges are serrated and look as if they were cut out of craft paper with one of those special craft scissors with the peculiar serration.
Korean perilla is similar to Japanese shiso, but from what I’ve read, are not the same thing, despite their similar appearance. My experience is that Korean perilla is much more pungent, while Japanese shiso is milder–enough so that I agree that they are not good substitutes for each other in cooking.
Observe. Aren’t they beautiful?
The other week, I gave a bunch of perilla leaves to a friend–and was again, at a lack for recipes. I wanted to at least provide her with suggestions on how to eat them!
But then I came across the idea of Korean Perilla pesto on Evil Jungle Prince’s flickr photostream while browsing Korean perilla pictures on flickr. Of COURSE. It made total sense–just the other day, I was explaining to a friend that they were a blend of mint and basil, and one could possibly do some fusion style cooking by substituting the perilla for basil in recipes. Duh. Pesto!
And so I forged on, using my basil pesto recipe…using olive oil, salt, roasted pine nuts, and garlic. To remarkable, tasty results. The garlic and pine nuts almost overpowered the flavor of the perilla so that it was very similar to basil pesto. But the undercurrent of perilla’s licorice/mint flavor was still there, enough to make it clear that this was something different, something new…something fusion.
I’m delighted by this fusion factor–and am now eyeing other traditional Korean ingredients to see what can be done with them. It’s a whole new world out there.
Recipe follows after the jump…
PERILLA PESTO
Makes about 1 cup.
Ingredients:
3-4 cups fresh perilla leaves
1/2 cup (or less, if you prefer) olive oil
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts (plus extra for garnish)
1-2 garlic cloves (1 if it’s a large clove…2 if they’re small cloves)
1-2 tsp of coarse kosher salt to taste
Directions:
Combine first 4 ingredients in food processor (or blender). Blend until paste forms, stopping often to push down leaves. Transfer to small bowl. Add salt; stir until blended. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Top with 1/2 inch olive oil and chill.). Toss with your favorite pasta. Of course, this tastes best FRESH! Enjoy!
17 responses so far ↓
Wandering Chopsticks // October 30, 2007 at 6:35 pm
I pickled mine with the same seasonings as when I made napa cabbage kimchee. You can also try grilling them with beef ala Vietnamese bo la lot (beef betel leaf) style.
Mandy // October 30, 2007 at 6:41 pm
wow, this is an interesting recipe. I always see the Perilla leaves in the Asian grocery but am cluess of what to do with it. Your pesto idea sounds like what I could do!
Alice // October 30, 2007 at 7:51 pm
What an utterly cool idea! Will try it out next time mom has an extra ggaenip she wants to unload.
Anh // October 30, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Excellent! I love the spiciness of perilla and using it in pesto is a genious idea!
VegeYum // October 31, 2007 at 5:03 am
It sounds excellent. W0nder where I find perilla???
Evil Jungle Prince // October 31, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Wow thanks and so glad you enjoyed this! By the way, I have a food blog too.
c(h)ristine // October 31, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Wandering Chopsticks: ahh! grilling them with beef sounds like it will be marvelous–thank you for the suggestion.
Mandy: I hope you enjoy it!
Alice: It’s kind of weird how it just works–hopefully your mom will have extra ggaenip soon.
Anh: I credit Evil Jungle Prince–he was the first person I’ve known to use it as pesto!
VegeYum: You can find it in Korean grocery stores.
Evil Jungle Prince: ah! your food blog is marvelous–I will put a link into the post above.
bea at La tartine gourmande // November 2, 2007 at 7:21 pm
These leaves are so cute! Very pretty colors.
chris // November 5, 2007 at 10:41 am
Can you please post the pickled/marinated gennip recipe!?! I also have gennip coming out of my ears- sticking it in omlettes is my favorite discovery but the pesto sounds delicious. I do want to preserve some for winter banchan but can’t find a recipe nor does my mom ever make it herself and have tips to pass down. So, please post! Thanks.
c(h)ristine // November 6, 2007 at 10:50 am
bea: thank you!
chris: i’ll see what I can do–and wrangle up a recipe for you.
chris // November 11, 2007 at 6:37 pm
thanks- I picked another bundle of gennip today and you can’t even tell- doesn’t even show a dent! must preserve some of the goodness for the winter…
David // November 25, 2007 at 6:08 am
I’m glad to see others experimenting with kkaennip in their cooking. It really is a lot like basil. And like basil pesto, you can make up a large batch of kkaennip pesto and freeze it just fine. That’s one way to preserve it.
I’ve also layered it with mozzarella and tomato and it’s great. I was nervous keeping it whole and raw because it has an even stronger taste than basil when you eat it alone, but it worked really well.
David // November 25, 2007 at 6:22 am
I forgot to mention that the kkaennip tempura is a fantastic idea. I can’t wait to try it.
c(h)ristine // December 2, 2007 at 8:46 am
chris: they are prolific plants!
David: thank you for the mentions! the tempura is really really wonderful (it now makes me want to tempura basil in a reverse twist).
Tumerica // January 17, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Super-cool post! As a perilla/shiso gardener, I know what you mean–they are beautiful, but then again, shiso is an accent green–not something to use en masse. I’d love to try your pesto idea–fab! But I grow the shiso kind rather than the kkaenip. Should work, though. BTW, I found your post because I just wrote a post on perilla and was wondering what else was on FoodBuzz.
c(h)ristine // January 19, 2008 at 10:59 am
Tumerica: Yep! I’ve learned that perilla ought to be an accent green–but they do have a way of growing en masse, somehow. I am not sure how the shiso kind will work out in basil, the Japanese shiso leaves are not as pungent as the Korean perilla leaves, but perhaps it will work! Because parsley is often used in pesto, and parsley is nowhere near as pungent as basil.
Tamar // February 14, 2008 at 12:39 pm
You can put the leaves on your kimchi pizza, ala basil as well.
I can also see that the pine nuts might overwhelm the perilla flavour. You might try walnuts instead.
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