perilla leaves up close
Last Sunday I attended a Korean cooking workshop and potluck with a focus on perilla, a culinary herb that is easy to grow here in the DMV. Hosted by Hands on Harvest at the Annandale Mission Center, registration for this free event was done through Sign Up Genius. People were asked to bring a dish for the potluck (it did not have to be Korean) and an empty container to take home some of the Korean food.
Stacey Evers, board chair of Hands on Harvest, explained that this local, 5-year-old, non-profit organization enlists volunteers to grow food for the local food banks. They manage 4 community gardens and a demonstration garden in Fairfax County. For those interested in helping, they provide plenty of support and education including seeds, seedlings/transplants, and mentorships to gardeners who can grow on their own property or in community gardens. They also have events including this workshop and through food they bring together the diverse community in northern Virginia.
She then introduced Soomin Kim who was born and raised in South Korea and has lived here since 2012. She owns a company called Virginialicious where she provides tours of local Korean restaurants to help people understand the dishes, learn what to order, and learn more about Korean culture. Stacey had participated in one of these tours and said it was great, she learned a lot.
Soomin Kim (photo by Hands on Harvest)
Soomin was a delight. She first explained that perilla is a plant that we can grow easily here. However, leaves for sale at Asian supermarkets are expensive. Perilla frutescens is a green-leaf variety commonly used in Korean cuisine. This is an annual herbaceous culinary herb that will self-seed readily. To prevent too many volunteers, you can either pinch it to prevent it from flowering or grow it in a container. Soomin said that the plant is often sold at Asian supermarkets in May when it begins to warm up but you can also start the plants from seed. Perilla grows to a few feet tall and requires full sun and consistent moisture, especially if grown in a container.
Then she explained “banchan” which are the side dishes that are offered in Korean restaurants. We were going to make a banchan called perilla “kimchi” – not a true kimchi because the mixture had not fermented but one with many of the same ingredients. She prepared her own recipe in advance which included soy sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar/rice syrup, garlic, onion, green onion, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. We each received a stack of perilla leaves and a small cup of this “kimchi.” We spread the kimchi on a leaf, put another leaf on top, spread the kimchi again, put another leaf on top and so on until we had a stack of leaves. Soomin said it tastes better the next day so I did not eat them then, I stored them in my container.
stacks of perilla leaves
However, I did eat a perilla leaf. It was slightly spicy with flavors of both anise and citrus and a hint of black pepper. When I eat herbs, I often categorize them as “sweet” or “savory.” I categorized perilla as savory and I could see how the leaf could be used whole as a wrap or with something edible on it, as a garnish on the side, or minced/chopped. I asked Soomin if the leaves could be sauteed with oil and garlic, much like cooking spinach or greens, and she recommended stuffed perilla leaves where you fold the leaves around a piece of meat or tofu, dip in egg wash, and pan fry until golden. Pan-fried stuff perilla leaves are called kkaennip jeon (kkaennip is another word for perilla leaf). She also said that one could make a perilla pesto or chimichurri.
Making Korean BBQ (photo by Hands on Harvest)
She then cooked pork belly in a skillet and brought out a container of already cooked pork for Korean BBQ. She had a large container of lettuce and perilla leaves plus containers of pickled onions, sliced ginger, and a sauce to put on the pork. In addition, we could spread a dark red paste on the leaves which came in a green plastic container (the green color indicates that it is “mild.”) Called ssamjang, this thick savory paste is made of fermented soybeans, sesame oil, garlic, green onions, and chile.
We were instructed to pick up a lettuce leaf, add a perilla leaf, then add pork and condiments and roll it up so we could eat the entire thing in one bite. It was very tasty. She did offer white rice to anyone who wanted it but I did not see any takers.
After we loaded up on Korean BBQ, we took our plates to the long tables of the potluck food. As we ate dinner, Stacey asked people about their gardening challenges and accomplishments. Many of the people already knew each other from volunteering at Hands on Harvest. I met several new people and talked with some old friends. Soomin introduced us to a game where the prize was a Korean face mask which she likes so much she buys them in bulk when she is visiting Korea. When we left we were each given a small bag with Korean ramen and her business postcard with two recipes.
The potluck food was really good too and I liked the way we learned about Korean food and other food dishes that people brought. One person brought pitchers of agua de Jamaica which I have made before but this particular recipe had clove, cinnamon, anise and kalamansi concentrate. I had not heard of kalamansi before so when I asked she explained that kalamansi is from a Philippine lime. I am now on the quest to find this concentrate.
I also discovered from the woman sitting next to me that there is a good Indian spice and grocery store in Falls Church. Another future adventure.
There will be another Hands on Harvest event on July 12 that will focus on food preservation such as pickling, canning, and making Trash Soup plus a potluck. Sign up here and if you would like donate your time or money to the garden plots, please contact Stacey through the Hands on Harvest website here. If you are interested in Soomin’s Korean food tour, please visit her website here. And if you have seen or heard of this kalamansi let me know!
