It’s nearing end of the season and I have so much nasturtium (first pic, 1” to 3”, second pic 3” to 6”) and sesame. If you haven’t had nasturtium leaves, they’re like arugula but more so: peppery with a little licorice aftertaste. I’d like to try a few different ssam. Has anyone tried nasturtium for ssam and have any advice? And I know sesame isn’t a 1:1 for perilla, but I’ve loved them all summer and after they finish seeding I’d like to see if there’s anything I can still do with the big old leaves. Thanks!
by kobayashi_maru_fail
3 Comments
You have a perilla plant, not sesame. And it looks so healthy!
For the nasturtium, the small leaves would be nice as a salad addition, or a banchan with a simple soy vinaigrette. The larger leaves would be nice to use, like a cabbage leaf to make stuffed rolls. A strong fish with some mung bean sprouts and shitakw would be great stuffing to go with the peppery taste, cooked in Korean dashi broth., soy dipping sauce.
Any edible leafy green will do.
Even some that’s not edible raw, like pumkin leave will be nice after steamed.
There are no limits to what can go in ssam, as a matter of fact the best ssam is where you have lots of different leaves in combination. I even like adding herbs, from my moms garden we used to add things like cilantro, parsley, basil, even thyme and dill, things like that.