Korean Perilla
Answered by: Conrad Richter
Question from: Vincent Hendricks
Posted on: April 5, 2000

Last year I planted Perilla frutescens. They seemed to grow well. However, my Korean wife found that they didn’t taste like the perilla that she’s accustomed to. Could it be soil or sun that’s changed the taste? Do you know if the seeds you supply are same type that are grown in South Korea. Any Advice?

We are not familiar with the strains grown in Korea. No doubt there are differences among the traditional cultivars grown throughout east Asia. For instance, there are cultivars with flavours as wide ranging as peppermint-like, to cumin-like, to cinnamon and ginger flavours. Ours, the green and purple perilla, are from Japan where they are known as "Ao Shiso" and "Aka Shiso" respectively.

Presently, we do not have other cultivars and we have no suggestions where you can find some. We will keep a lookout for anything different and if we do find something that may be interesting to our customers, we will add it to our catalogue.

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