Shiso plants on sale at Kim's Asian Market, Albany, NY

OK, I am taking matters into my own hands. Or, more precisely, my own garden. After years of asking the beleaguered guys behind local sushi counters if they have shiso leaves, I gave up. Mostly, they just looked at me like was weird, but a few Japanese folks I've encountered have all said the same thing: They grow their own at home, and I should do the same.

Then one day a few months ago, I was hanging out at the counter at Kim's chatting with Mrs. Kim (probably trying to get another free, impromptu cooking lesson from her as I am often wont to do) when somehow we got on the subject of shiso. Kim's carried fresh shiso leaves, but they are the big, tough kind that you cook, not the baby ones that make a piece of buttery raw fish go through a process of self-discovery in your mouth.

Shiso has a flavor that goes right to the back of the palate and opens everything between the mouth and the nose. It is similar to fennel in this way, sort of the menthol bits of fennel with touch of a watercress-like sharpness. It is strong and unique and perfect compliment to fish, raw or otherwise. In the world of great pairings, shiso and sashimi is right up there. And yet, in all my years of scouring, I have yet to see a shiso leaf on any plate of sushi or sashimi in the Albany area.

The closest I've found it is in New Paltz at Neko, a sushi restaurant that like most of the other good restaurants in New Paltz opened after we moved away, (and all the NYC folks started pushing strollers around the village.)

Mrs. Kim promised that they carry shiso seedlings every spring. So this week, I stopped in to check. There they were, all cute and tender looking. I bought two packs for $3 a piece, which is probably way more shiso than even I will find ways to use. Mrs. Kim said that each plant gets about two feet tall and maybe a foot wide. But after years of looking, I couldn't help myself from going just a little, OK, maybe a lot, overboard.

I wonder if I can bring the leaves will me to sushi restaurants? Do you think anyone will do some kind of BYOS thing? We'll see.

If you want the shiso plants, you might want to hurry. They only have them for a few weeks a year.

As a side note, Kim's just got a new sign. It now says Kim's Asian Market. But if you google them it is still Kim's Oriental Shoppe.

The phone number is (518) 869-9981.