KIOSK HELLO

Its that time of year again.. when the buds on my shiso plants are ready to be clipped!  When they are not too soft and not too hard, just around when the little white flowers show up, I think it came early this year actually.. Today I am pickling them.

Here’s how:

Wash the clipped buds and drain, before stripping them from the stem.  Soak them in salt water overnight, with a weight on them, to remove the bitterness. Squeeze all the water out and now add salt and ume plum vinegar to the buds, put the weight on it again and refrigerate for a week…  Great mixed into rice for onigiri(rice balls)! If you don’t want to pickle them, they are also delicious chopped into salads, or leave them on the stem and fry as tempura!