In the olden days of Japanese cuisine, fresh herbs were sought less for their flavors than their medicinal qualities — attributes that led to the catch-all term of “测补办耻尘颈” that combines the kanji for “medicine” and “taste” and encompasses a wide variety of herbs and condiments added as finishing touches.
Nowadays, there are numerous yakumi: The term includes herbs like mitsuba (Japanese honewort) and seri (water dropwort), grated vegetables like daikon and ginger and a range of other ingredients including green onion and yuzu. But perhaps the most important yakumi is shiso.
Often translated as “perilla” or “wild basil,” the herb is a fixture across Japanese cuisine thanks to the refreshingly minty and lightly citrusy flavor its varieties impart on dishes. The green type, called ō产补 (literally, “big leaf”) is a common addition to many Japanese dishes, while the purple-red aka-shiso (red perilla leaf) is used to pickle ume (plums) and as an additive to juices. Meanwhile, shredded ō产补 is a year-round topping for chilled tofu, sashimi and cold noodle dishes.
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