Perilla Leaves substitute

Best substitute

Thai Basil

Use the same amount by leaf as the perilla leaves you are replacing

Best for bun bo hue

Different texture

Thai basil is the best widely available swap, one leaf for one leaf, because the anise note lines up. Fresh mint mixed with Italian basil is the next best. If you only need something to wrap food in, use butter or red leaf lettuce and tuck a couple of mint or basil leaves inside for aroma.

Other perilla leaves substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Shiso from a Japanese Market
Close match
Use the same amount or 2 leaves per 1 for wrapping
The Japanese cultivar of the exact same plant, sold as green or red shiso.
What changes
Best for
any perilla recipe, wraps, garnish, sashimi
This is perilla, so there is no flavor compromise at all. Green shiso is the one to buy for a Korean or Vietnamese recipe. The only practical difference is size: shiso leaves are much smaller than kkaennip, so you need two per wrap and they cost several times more for the same volume.
3Fresh Mint plus Italian Basil
Different taste
mixed 1:1, used at the same total volume
Two supermarket herbs combined to cover perilla's cooling and herbal-sweet halves.
What changes
Best for
salads, fresh rolls, noodle bowls, wraps with lettuce
Together they cover the cooling side and the sweet herbal side, but there is no anise depth and no bitterness, so the result tastes bright and vaguely Mediterranean rather than Korean or Vietnamese. Tear rather than chop so the aroma stays in the leaf until you eat it.
4Butter or Red Leaf Lettuce (for the wrapper role)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by leaf
Soft, cupping lettuce leaves used as the wrap in Korean ssam or Vietnamese wraps.
What changes
Best for
ssam, grilled pork wraps, lettuce wraps, banh trang wraps
Solves the structural half of the problem perfectly and the flavor half not at all: lettuce brings crunch and water but no aroma. Tuck two mint or Thai basil leaves inside each wrap and you get most of the experience back. Butter lettuce folds better; red leaf looks closer.
5Brined Grape Leaves (for wrapping cooked food)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount rinsed well
Jarred grape leaves, drained and rinsed, used to wrap grilled or cooked items.
What changes
Best for
wrapping grilled meat, steamed parcels, oven parcels
Structurally excellent and holds up to heat, which perilla does not, but it tastes sour and salty from the brine and is much chewier. Rinse under running water for a full minute or the salt dominates. Nothing about the flavor resembles perilla; this is a purely mechanical substitution.
6No good substitute: kkaennip-jang and shiso-forward dishes
Taste and texture differ
The honest case where perilla is the headline flavor.
What changes
Best for
kkaennip-jang, perilla kimchi, shiso tempura, ume shiso rolls
When the dish is marinated perilla leaves, perilla kimchi or shiso tempura, the leaf is the entire point and no herb reproduces its anise-mint-citrus combination with that faint bitter edge. Make something else that day. Frozen perilla leaves from a Korean market are a better fallback than a different herb.

What is Perilla Leaves?

Perilla Leaves is Large, frilly-edged aromatic leaves from the Perilla frutescens plant, eaten raw as a table herb or as an edible wrapper, sold as Vietnamese tia to with a purple underside, as Korean sesame leaves or kkaennip, and as Japanese shiso.

Cooking tips

Perilla collapses the instant it meets heat, so tear it into pho or bun bo hue at the table rather than simmering it. Anything cooked with the broth contributes color and nothing else.
Buy it at a Korean grocer rather than hunting for the word perilla. It is sold in stacked bundles as sesame leaves or kkaennip, and it is usually a fraction of the price of the identical plant sold as shiso at a Japanese market.
Tia to, the Vietnamese type, is purple on the underside and tastes stronger and more medicinal. If a recipe names tia to specifically it wants that edge plus the color, so plain green shiso or kkaennip will taste noticeably milder.
Stack the leaves, roll them like a cigar and slice into thin ribbons when you want the aroma spread through a dish. Whole leaves only perfume whatever they are touching, which is fine for a wrap and useless in a salad.
Wrap the bundle in a barely damp paper towel inside a bag in the fridge. It keeps about five days, and the leaf edges blacken well before the leaf is actually spoiled, so trim rather than throw the bunch out.

Frequently asked questions

Is perilla the same as shiso?

They are the same species, Perilla frutescens, grown as different cultivars. Japanese shiso is smaller, with a mintier, more cinnamon-like flavor. Korean kkaennip is much broader and softer with a stronger anise note. Vietnamese tia to is purple-backed and more medicinal. All three are interchangeable in a recipe as long as you adjust for leaf size.

Can I just leave perilla out?

It depends on the job. As one herb among several on a Vietnamese herb plate, yes, nobody will miss it much. In Korean ssam it is one of only two or three components, and in kkaennip-jang it is the dish, so leaving it out is not really an option; use lettuce for the wrap or cook something else.

Is perilla the same as sesame leaves?

Yes, sesame leaves is simply the English name Korean markets use for perilla, and the plant has no relation to sesame seeds. If you are looking for kkaennip and the label says sesame leaves, that is the right bag. Nothing about it tastes of sesame.

Can I use dried perilla?

Not as a replacement for fresh. Dried perilla loses nearly all its aroma and tastes papery, and the wrapping function disappears entirely. Korean markets sell frozen whole perilla leaves, and those are genuinely usable in cooked dishes and stews, though they go limp and are no good raw.

Is perilla just a kind of basil?

No, though they are cousins in the mint family, which is why basil substitutes reasonably well. Perilla has a distinctive combination of anise, mint and citrus with a slightly bitter finish that no basil quite has, and its leaves are far larger and sturdier, which is why it can be used as a wrapper and basil cannot.

Related substitutes

More spices & herbs substitutes

Perilla Leaves substitute

Other perilla leaves substitutes

2Shiso from a Japanese Market

3Fresh Mint plus Italian Basil

4Butter or Red Leaf Lettuce (for the wrapper role)

5Brined Grape Leaves (for wrapping cooked food)

6No good substitute: kkaennip-jang and shiso-forward dishes