Shiso
Perilla
noun
What could a purple revive be? This actually means shiso (aka perilla).
紫蘇 is a type of herb with a fresh, slightly minty flavor. Some varieties are green, while others have purple leaves. In Japanese cooking, it's commonly used as a garnish for sashimi. It's also often pickled together with umeboshi (pickled plums), or deep-fried as tempura.
Note that, as with other plant and tree species, you'll often encounter it written in katakana as well.
This is a jukugo word that uses the on'yomi readings of the kanji. You learned 紫's on'yomi reading with 紫外線, but here's a mnemonic in case you forgot:
You know what's really good with shiso? Sheep (し) meat. Wrap some sheep meat in shiso and pan fry it, or try mixing ground sheep meat with minced shiso to make some tasty meatballs. Yum!
紫蘇の葉
shiso leaves
紫蘇の香り
shiso aroma
紫蘇の種
shiso seeds
紫蘇の天ぷら
shiso tempura
紫蘇ジュース
shiso juice
紫蘇エキス
shiso extract
紫蘇ドレッシング
shiso dressing
赤紫蘇
red shiso
青紫蘇
green shiso
梅紫蘇
shiso with ume plum
紫蘇を使う
to use shiso
紫蘇を入れる
to put in shiso
紫蘇を植える
to plant shiso
私、紫蘇は苦手なんです。
I'm not a fan of shiso.
今年は紫蘇の種を植えてみました。
I tried planting shiso seeds this year.
とてもいい紫蘇の香りがしますね。
It has a really nice shiso aroma, doesn't it?