Perilla (Perilla frutescens) [L.] Britton

There are two variants of Perilla frutescens grown in Japan: The var. crispa, called shiso [紫蘇, しそ], has attractive, crispate foliage and is grown for the aromatic leaves, which may be green (ao-jiso, [青紫蘇, あおじそ]) or red (aka-jiso [赤紫蘇, あかじそ]). The leaves are always used fresh, but can be frozen.

The other variant is var. frutescens known as egoma. It is valued for the oil extracted from the seeds, which is used for Shintoist ceremonies, but also as an expensive food supplement. Occasionally, the dry seeds find use as a spice.

Lamiaceae (mint family)

Aromatic but difficult to describe; the fragrance reminds me of cinnamon and anise or licorice. The taste is similar, but with a marked astringent component.

As with many other plant of the same family, olfactory characteristics are quite variable and depend, besides genetic factors, also on soil and climate.

Perilla leaves contain about 0.2% of an essential oil, which varies widely in composition. Several different chemotypes are known: PA (see below) is the only is the only one of culinary value; the others are PK (main component perilla ketone, minor components isoegomaketone and perillene), EK (main component elsholzia ketone, minor component naginata ketone), PL (main component perillene, minor components citral, perilla ketone, isoegomaketone), PP (phenylpropanoids: myristicin, dillapiol, elemicin, safrole) and C (main component citral, minor components perillene, perilla ketone, isoegomaketone). There is also a type rich in rosefurane, which might have potential as a cheaper substitute for rose oil in perfumery.

The plant is native to South East and East Asia.

I was not able to find out anything about the name perilla, although there might be a connection to pearl.

In Korea, where perilla is an important flavouring, the plant is known as tul-kkae [들깨]. This name literally means wild sesame plant, although perilla and sesame are not particularly closely related. Also kkaennip [깻잎] (sesame leaf) is a common designation for perilla in Korean. I do not know about the motivation behind those weird names; maybe, they refer to the fact that both plants have oil-rich seeds. Occasionally, names of the wild sesame type are found in Korean cookbooks published in English or German. It is to be suspected that the authors meant perilla and not a wild type of sesame.

Also, the Japanese name egoma [荏胡麻, えごま] for perilla seeds is derived from sesame (goma) and means sesame bean.

In some East Asian countries, perilla and rice paddy herb bear confusingly similar names. See there for details.

Chinese Herb Database: Perilla chemikalienlexikon.de: Myristicin Crop and Food Research: Perilla (crop.cri.nz via archive.org) Perilla: Botany, Uses and Genetic Resources (purdue.edu) Sorting Perilla names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au)