What pairs with shiso?

Based on molecular compound analysis, shiso pairs best with thai basil (6 shared compounds), za'atar (5 shared compounds), yuzu (7 shared compounds).

What flavor compounds are in shiso?

Shiso contains 25 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive are perillene, perilla aldehyde, apiole.

What's a good substitute for shiso?

The closest molecular substitutes for shiso are mace, basil, caraway — ingredients that share the highest fraction of shiso's flavor compounds.

herb

Shiso

Shiso is a herb with 25 known flavor compounds. The most distinctive molecule is perillene. It pairs most strongly with thai basil, sharing 6 flavor compounds. Shiso appears in 1,000 recipes.

Flavor Compounds

Top Pairings of 856 scored

1,000

Recipes Found

Flavor Science

What Makes Shiso Unique

Compounds ranked by rarity — the higher the score, the more distinctive to this ingredient.

perillene (detectable at 1.095 ppb) Literature corpus

11.43

perilla aldehyde (detectable at 641.34 ppb) Literature corpus

10.93

apiole (detectable at 10.075 ppb) Literature corpus

10.18

elemicin (detectable at 28.155 ppb) Literature corpus

8.46

dillapiole (threshold: 1,620 ppb) Literature corpus

8.05

alpha-humulene (detectable at 17.353 ppb) Literature corpus

7.34

Key Food Odorants Present

6 of 25 compounds

Of the ~226 molecules that drive perceived food aroma (Dunkel et al. 2014), Shiso's inventory contains 6. Most of the other 19 compounds are below detection threshold.

generalist hexanal green, grassy

intermediary alpha-pinene pine, resinous

intermediary linalool flowery, citrus

individualist 1-Octen-3-Ol

individualist Beta-Pinene

individualist Myristicin

Generalist = appears in >25% of foods (Maillard / fermentation products). Individualist = appears in <5% of foods (carries signature notes). Threshold values are in clean water — the actual perception threshold in a food matrix can differ substantially.

Flavor Profile Breakdown

25 compounds

How Shiso's 25 known compounds break down by aroma category. Percentages are of compounds with a known label.

herbal 7 · 28.0%

green 3 · 12.0%

spicy 2 · 8.0%

minty 2 · 8.0%

floral 2 · 8.0%

woody 2 · 8.0%

citrus 2 · 8.0%

earthy 1 · 4.0%

nutty 1 · 4.0%

Flavor Compounds

15 of 25 are distinctive to shiso — they appear in under 10% of foods. The remainder are the background most foods share.

Ordered by measured impact in shiso — concentration against odour threshold where both are published, then by how distinctive the molecule is across the graph. Molecules measured here but not established as odorants sit below those that are.

Molecules volatile enough to reach the nose.

perillene perilla aldehyde elemicin alpha-humulene carvone myristicin menthol alpha-farnesene caryophyllene germacrene d perillaldehyde alpha-pinene beta-caryophyllene 1-octen-3-ol linalool beta-pinene limonene neral hexanal citral benzaldehyde dillapiole trans-shisool apiole rosefuran

Best Pairings for Shiso

Ranked by how often cooks actually use them together, across 453,403 recipes — the familiar answer first. Each pairing still carries its molecular score and shared-compound count; only the ORDER differs. Counts cover every characterised molecule the two ingredients have in common, not only the aroma-active ones, so they can exceed an ingredient’s aroma-compound count. For the chemistry-first view — where the surprising pairings live — see the molecular network below, the side-by-side comparison, or the Pairing Tool.

Molecular Neighborhood

Shiso and its 10 closest compound-sharing relatives. Spoke thickness = shared compounds; circle size = that ingredient's own compound count. Drag to rearrange, scroll to zoom, click to open.