Japanese-style Shiso Garlic Pasta takes a fresh spin on the beloved noodle dish. We toss spaghetti in olive oil infused with garlic and chili, then add minced perilla leaves for a special herbaceous touch. It‘s super easy, utterly delicious, and ready in 15 minutes!
It’s not hard to love the classic Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino. Made with plenty of olive oil, garlic, and red chili pepper, the dish is unbelievably simple yet so good. Today I want to share the Japanese take on this classic pasta with the use of a Japanese herb – shiso leaves, instead of Italian parsley.
This Shiso Garlic Pasta (青じそペペロンチーノ) is already a common dish in Japan, but not so much outside of the country. It is similarly quick, easy, and delicious. With a surprising flavor, there’s really no excuse not to try it!
What is Shiso (Leaves)?
First thing first, let’s talk about Shiso (紫蘇, しそ). It’s a leafy herb commonly used in Japanese cooking, equivalent to parsley or basil type of herbs in western cuisine.
The leaves are roughly palm-size (it varies – I’ve seen bigger ones in Japan). It has the most amazing fragrance and refreshing taste.
A lot of Just One Cookbook readers, who do not have access to the Japanese markets, long for this herb and raise their own shiso plants with the seeds. You can buy the shiso seeds from this company online if you’re interested in growing them in your backyard.
Concept of Japanese-Style Pasta Dishes
The core beauty of the original Spaghetti Aglio e Olio is all about simplicity, and I love that the Japanese version captures the same essence.
Like the other Japanese-style pasta dishes (Wafu Pasta), they are intended to innovate without over complicating. Take an example, a splash of soy sauce and a mix of Japanese mushrooms are all you need to make this savory, creamy bacon pasta.
In this recipe, the simple use of shiso leaves is enough to highlight the unique flavor of Japanese cuisine.
How to Make Shiso Garlic Pasta
This recipe is super simple; it’s almost impossible to mess it up!
- Cook garlic and dried red chili in the olive oil to infuse the flavor.
- Add cooked pasta.
- Add shiso leaves and toss everything together.
Simple Pasta, Big Flavors
When you’re looking for a quick weeknight dinner that sustains and comforts, this Shiso Garlic Pasta certainly lives it up. Enjoy as the pasta as is or serve with a side of salad for a meatless dinner.
Feeling extra hungry? Serve it with a side of salmon or meatballs to add some bulk.
The simple flavor makes for a pasta that tastes deeply satisfying, and this is a meal you’ll turn to again and again.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Shiso Garlic Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for cooking the pasta)
- 7 oz spaghetti
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 dried red chili pepper
- 15 leaves shiso leaves (perilla/ooba) (plus more, to taste)
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp reserved pasta water
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Cook the Spaghetti
- Start boiling 4 quarts (16 cups, 3.8 L) water in a large pot (I used a 4.5 QT Dutch oven). Once boiling, add 1 Tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 7 oz spaghetti.
- Stir to make sure the spaghetti doesn’t stick to each other. Tip: I usually reduce the cooking time by 1 minute if I have to continue cooking the pasta afterward. Drain if you finish cooking the spaghetti first, but you should be able to cook the rest of the ingredients in 10 minutes while the spaghetti is boiling.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- While cooking the pasta, we prepare the ingredients. Peel 2 cloves garlic and thinly slice them.
- Cut off the end of 1 dried red chili pepper and discard the seeds. If you‘d like the dish to be spicy, you can add some seeds. I usually remove most of the seeds. Cut the chili into small pieces.
- Wash 15 leaves shiso leaves (perilla/ooba) (or you may use another herb) and dry them completely with a paper towel or kitchen towel. Cut off the stems, stack, and roll them up.
- Cut into thinly slices (chiffonade) and then mince them.
To Cook the Shiso Garlic Pasta
- With 5 minutes left until the spaghetti is ready, heat 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Before the oil gets hot, add in the garlic to start infusing. Make sure to coat the garlic with oil.
- When the garlic is sizzling and well-coated with oil, add the red chili pepper and ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Shake the pan and make sure the oil is infused with garlic and pepper.
- Reserve 2 Tbsp of pasta water. When the spaghetti is done cooking, pick up the noodles with a pair of tongs (or you can quickly drain in the sink) and add to the pan.
- Add 2 Tbsp reserved pasta water to the pan.
- Add the chopped shiso leaves (or the herb of your choice) and season the spaghetti with freshly ground pepper. Taste and season with salt if needed. The reserved pasta water I added has enough salt, so I do not add additional salt here.
- Toss the spaghetti with a pair of tongs to mix all together and serve. Enjoy!
This looks so good. I had a green shiso plant last year and didn’t really use it. But this year I have three shiso plants that came up from the seeds. I got rid of one because of space but I have plenty still to make this and it’s going to be dinner tonight. I might be crazy but I’m going to grill off some turkey hotdogs and cut them on the diagonal into slices and add them to the pasta at the end. Just seems fitting for this Wafu dish. We will see. And I’m going to make some soy cucumber pickles for a side dish.
Hi Timothy! I’m so glad you kept shiso plants! This week, I’m sharing different shiso recipes, so don’t miss out. 🙂 That sounds really delicious! Shiso goes really well with Japanese style pasta, seasoned with soy sauce (and sometimes butter). Hope you enjoy dinner!
Shiso is incredibly easy to grow. It is very hot and humid this summer here, which isn’t the norm. I just keep it watered every day. Glad to have recipes for it, because we have alot of it.
I am in Michigan, to give anyone an idea of growing it.
Hi Debbie! Awesome! We are so happy to find out you grow Shiso at home!
Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us!
Sounds amazing! This is laughable, I run out of olive oil (but have plenty of shiso leaves, ours are both green and purple). Is it possible to substitute butter for olive oil? Thank you♥
Hi Pasemayo! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and for your kind feedback!
Butter should be fine, but it would add a creamy flavor to the pasta.
We hope it works well for you!
I made it with butter and gochujang, and then the second time using only olive oil as your original recipe. Both are great! Never thought shiso can go that well with pasta!
Hi pasemayo! Awesome! We are glad to hear it worked out well for you!
Thank you very much for sharing your cooking experience with us.😊
Hi! What are some good substitutes for shiso leaves?
Hi Emily, Unfortunately, there is no other herb that tastes like shiso. The closest substitute is Korean Perilla leaf which you can get from a Korean grocery store. If you have a garden, you can also try growing shiso. The seeds are available online. https://www.justonecookbook.com/ingredient-substitution-for-japanese-cooking/
We hope this helps!
Easy to make, light on the tummy and full of flavor. So yummy!
Thanks so much for your kind feedback, Yui! 🙂