Last month I visited a Japanese home to look at an old folding screen, and while I was there I was served akajiso (red perilla) juice. I'd never had this refreshing taste in juice before. My hostess had a bottle of the sweet akajiso syrup sitting on the table, and to serve it, she diluted it with some water. It's a different flavor than green perilla (aojiso) which is used extensively as a garnish in Japanese cuisine. I was told it was very easy to make and I received the recipe a few weeks later.

I had planted some akajiso back in April on our rooftop, and it took awhile for them to start growing. Now that the real summer humid heat has kicked in, the akajiso shot up and was just right for picking. I was going to use it for pickling some daikon radish, but instead I wanted to make the sweet syrupy juice. I'm saving a few leaves for Peter who wants to make his own alcoholic version. All I needed was some citric acid (kuensan), readily available at any drugstore and voila, in about 5 minutes, I had some akajiso juice, or more fittingly, fuschia shiso juice. I love cranberry juice with sparkling mineral water, so I tried it with the red perilla syrup, and it was fantastic. Perfect to beat the summer heat.

Akajiso (Red Perilla) Juice

2 liters water

300-400 grams red shiso leaves

800 grams sugar

30 grams citric acid

Bring the 2 liters of water to a boil. Rinse the shiso leaves and drain. Add the washed shiso leaves to the boiling water. Stir for about 2-3 minutes until the leaves lose their burgundy color. Turn heat off and remove the leaves, squeezing any excess liquid out. Add the citric acid and sugar and stir to dissolve. The liquid will turn a beautiful ruby red color. Let cool. Serve the juice diluted with water or sparkling mineral water.