Korean perilla (깻 잎)



Korean Perilla (wild sesame leaf)

 Korean Perilla leaves or kken eep has a very unique fragrance to it.  It is actually wild sesame leaf, not to confuse with the sesame that we all know as "sesame oil" and sesame seeds.  Perilla leaves do not grow from the sesame seeds that you can buy in just about any mega mart.

Perilla is from the dul kkeh (wild sesame) seeds.  koreans eat the perilla pickled and steamed as a side dish, cut into pieces for soups such as Gamja tang (korean potatoe soup with pork neck bone), and soon dae gook (blood sausage soup) and many others.
Perilla is also very popular to combine with red leaf lettuce and eaten as a wrap for the korean BBQ.

Posted in: korean cuisine 101