It’s the season for red perilla leaves. How do I eat them? Japanese people use it when they make umeboshi, pickled plum, and another popular recipe is to make juice from them. Akajiso juice is usually very sweet and you can preserve it, but I normally drink it before putting it aside to preserve. So my recipe today has less sugar. 

Naoko Ogura-Gayler

Perilla leaves

Ingredients

• 1 packet of red perilla leaves

• 3 tbs citric acid (Available at local pharmacies. Look for kuensan, クエン酸)

• 3 cups sugar

• 9 cups water

Directions

1. Take the leaves from the stalks and wash thoroughly.
2. Bring a big saucepan of water to a boil and place the red perilla leaves in the boiling water.
3. After 20 minutes, drain the water using paper towels as a filter.
4. While the juice is hot, add sugar and citric acid and mix well.
5. Sterilize a container and pour the juice in.
6. When you drink the juice, you need to mix it with water –1 part water, 3 parts juice. You can use more or less water depending on your preference.

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