Akashiso Red Perilla Juice 赤しそジュース

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It is officially declared that the rainy season has started.
But it seems that the rainy season was skipped and the hot summer has arrived to me.
The temperature reaches over 35 centigrade for the last few days, which is considered Kokusho / extreme heat in Japan.
I am right now hearing an alert from the speaker of the town hall to drink water on and off and be careful not to get heat stroke. 
The summer season is the heaven for the insects.

The butterflies catch my attention during my walk.






They flutter flower to flower.






And sip the nectar from them.


  


Today’s recipe is just perfect for such extremely hot days.
It is “Akashiso Juice / Red Perilla Juice.”
It probably will raise your energy level high up as if the nectar provides the power to the butterflies to flap their wings.
 
Shiso / Perilla is a Japanese traditional herb and grows from July to August.
I never planted the seeds, but they appear here and there in my garden and in my neighborhood.



I am sharing Aoshiso with the insects. 

 


Can you see the grasshopper perching on Akashiso ?


They are also easily available in the shops and farmers market during summer season.
Therefore as you may be imagining, this is the most popular herb in Japan, and is frequently used in Japanese cooking.
There are green ones and red ones.
The green ones are called “Aoshiso” or “Ohba” and used for more wider range of cooking, whereas the red ones are called “Akashiso “and usually used for limited cooking.

 


Akashiso are appreciated because of their color, and they are mainly used for umeboshi making / preserved green plums, and for juice.  


However they are used not only for coloring purpose but for enhancing the aroma and taste of umeboshi.  
I also found that my umeboshi never gets moldy when I added the Akashiso. 
I think the combination of Ume plum and Akashiso has the synergetic effect to stop the growth of unfavorable bacteria.    

I add plenty of Akashiso in my umeboshi as I love the taste of it, and I can also obtain the very beautiful red vinegar which is indispensable for my cooking.  
I introduced one such recipe in my previous post.






Today’s recipe is Akashiso Juice.

It is quite a popular recipe so you can get it easily from YouTube too. 
Most of them are using either citric acid or vinegar to enhance the color, and the refined cane sugar as a sweetener.  
I do not want to use the synthesized powder, and my stomach is intolerant to the excess amount of vinegar, so my recipes do not require either of them. 
As for the sweetener, I use the unrefined beetroot sugar which is gentler to my body compared with the cane sugar.

 
Other advantages of beetroot sugar are that the beetroots are locally grown in Hokkaido, Japan and the sugar is also manufactured locally unlike the cane sugar which are mostly imported from overseas. 
But the biggest advantage for the strict vegans is that the beetroot sugar is 100% vegan unlike the cane sugar which has possibility of non-vegan as they are sometimes refined through the filters made from bone char depending on which factory they are processed.
If the red perilla is available at where you live.
Try my recipe !
It is refreshing and it makes you revitalized during hot and humid summer !



Akashiso Juice / Red Perilla Juice 
  


 
Ingredients















 
100g Akashiso / Red Perilla after removing the stems
500g Water
100g Beetroot sugar
60g Lemon juice – fresh lemon juice is recommended, but the bottled one can be substituted.
Desired amount of Natsumikan or Amanatsu / Japanese summer orange (optional)
Procedure
1.    Wash the leaves of Akashiso, and drain.　
2.    Pour the water into the pot, bring it to a boil, add Akashiso and cook for about five minutes.

＊Press the leaves into the water with chopsticks or spatula as the amount is quite large for the water.
The water is below the leaves though it is not visible.
 
3.    Drain into the bowl using the colander, and press the leaves.  
 

 
 
 

 You can press with the bowl like this as the leaves are very hot at this stage.  Alternatively you can use the ladle or spatula.
4.    Transfer the liquid back to the pot, add the beet root sugar, cook till the sugar dissolved.  Let the liquid cool down








Skim off the scum on the surface during this process.
 
5.    Squeeze the lemon to get juice.  Add it to the liquid.

 
 

 
Before adding
 

After adding
6.    Transfer to the jar and keep it in the fridge.
7.    When you drink, squeeze the summer orange and add it to the juice. You can adjust the amount of orange to your preference.　

   
 
Enjoy Akashiso juice !




 

Dilute with soda water！
 
 
 
 
Make the ruby color jelly using agar agar
 
 

 Pour over the shaved ice
Happy Cooking！