Food experiments Du Jour. I bartered for some bicolor Shiso plants last year and didn’t realize how easily they re-seed. My lily pond was half hidden by Shiso volunteers, so I did some google-fu. Turns out the stuff makes an amazing tea and syrup. It turns a beautiful shade of fuchsia when a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice ups the acidity. According to Japanese tradition the now green wilted leaves can be salted and lacto-fermented then dried for a super nutritive addition to plain rice. Furikake is variations of this dried Shiso with sesame seeds and dried fish flakes. Because of the trace minerals and nutrients in these ingredients, it was essential to prevent “rice starvation” or beriberi in times of food shortage. I’m doing the keto thing so rice will not be on the menu. But, I did find out that dehydrating other lacto-ferments that didn’t turn out perfectly crispy will turn them into UMAMI BOMBS. My whole house reeks of failed ferments of onion, tomato, and radishes. The first taste test is pretty amazing. I can’t wait to see how the fermented Shiso turns out. It got me to thinking about ways to integrate dried lacto-ferments into long term food storage for extra trace minerals and nutrients in otherwise bland food. #grownostr #diy #homesteading #foodstr #growyourown