Red perilla

Plant and ingredient form

Red perilla is not a separate species: Kew accepts Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton and describes the annual herb as green or purple, with broadly ovate leaves that can be deeply toothed, laciniate or crisped. The ingredient here is the fresh, purple-leaved foliage, commonly called red shiso or akajiso; the name does not identify a particular cultivar. Perilla seed and seed oil are separate ingredients.

Food use

Singapore’s National Parks Board lists leaves among the edible parts of P. frutescens and reports its use as a flavoring in Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese dishes. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries records shiso leaves salted with vegetables in Kyoto shibazuke and identifies the Ohara district as a known red-shiso growing area, valued for color and aroma. Those are regional examples, not a universal preparation or a guarantee that every dish called shiso uses the red form.

The source atlas also names red perilla (zisu) with Chinese plum preservation and Japanese umeboshi. That use is consistent with red foliage serving as an aromatic and color-giving ingredient, but it does not make the leaf synonymous with the finished pickle.

Scope and limits

Use a reliably identified culinary perilla product; common names alone do not establish cultivar or species. The sources here support a leafy aromatic ingredient and documented regional food contexts, not a universal flavor profile, storage life, medicinal effect or safety claim.