This past week I made Nik Sharma’s Raspberry-Shiso Sorbet from his Season cookbook.

Shiso is an ingredient I’ve seen in recipes before, but I’ve never found it when just casually shopping my go-to Asian markets. I finally gave it an honest look and was able to locate it at the Buford Highway Farmer’s Market, but labeled with what Wikipedia tells me is the Vietnamese name of “tia to.”

The recipe is simple as long as you have a small ice cream maker. Sugar and water are boiled to make a simple syrup, and then the shiso leaves are muddled and steeped in the hot syrup. The syrup (minus the leaves) is blended with the raspberries and a bit of lemon juice. Then it’s churned in an ice cream maker.

We have the ice cream attachment for our Kitchenaid stand mixer which makes a small batch, but this was a small quantity even for it. It seemed to churn just fine though.

I’ve been eating the sorbet in small portions throughout the week. It is very tart and very raspberry-y. I can’t quite pick out the shiso flavor, but I’m sure it’s helping add some balance to the raspberries. As previously mentioned, we are a chocolate dessert family, so this doesn’t quite hit the mark for us. It is very refreshing and would be nice to share with friends on a hot summer day.

I am cooking my way through Nik Sharma’s Season cookbook. Read more about it.