Yesterday, my son informed me that his scrambled eggs weren’t “saltypepperytasty” enough. I think the food word he was looking for was savory.
We’ve developed a unique phraseology specifically to express how our food looks, tastes, smells, and feels.
For example, our tongue tastes salty, sour, sweet, and bitter flavors. We all learned those food terms when we were young. But in the past several years, a new taste term rose in popularity.
The Japanese word umami (pronounce [u-MA-me]) refers to a taste sensation that is meaty or savory. It was first used in the early 1900s by Japanese professors who discovered that by combining certain ingredients (kombu seaweed and bonito flakes for example) a new flavor could be obtained that wasn’t any of the scientifically accepted tastes.
We taste umami when special receptor cells in our tongue detect glutamate in the food we place in our mouth. Glutamate, a form of glutamic acid is naturally found in all foods containing protein, but can only be tasted when present in an unbound form. It is often chemically manufactured as Monosodium Glutimate or MSG.
The flavor of umami is described as a pleasant and mouthwatering “brothy” or “meaty” taste. In its natural form, glutamate adds a mouth watering depth to foods. Food manufactures add MSG to their processed foods to create the same flavor. However, MSG is known to cause a host of nasty diseases.
Umami is naturally found in shiitake mushrooms, breast milk, naturally fermented soy and fish sauces, green tea, cheese, (some claim) ketchup, shellfish, and other foods. The combination of foods like Parmesan cheese and tomato sauce on spaghetti and onions and cabbage in chicken soup are also said to create umami.
Learning to cook with food high in umami is a good way to increase the flavor of your meal. Try this Thai version of chicken noodle soup.
Sweet and Sour Chicken Soup4 cups water
2 chicken breasts3 cloves garlic
1 tsp pepper1 red chili pepper or 1 tsp flakes
1 Tb fish sauce1 Tb apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
2 stalks celery1 cucumber7 ozs dried soba noodles
1 sprig parsleyCut the chicken breasts into bite sized pieces.
Either julienne or finely chop the celery and cucumber. Mince the garlic. Cut the chili pepper into thin strips or use 1 tsp of chili flakes instead. Adjust the amount of chili to your desired taste. Finely chop the parsley.
Follow the directions on the noodles to cook them.
Bring the water to a boil. Add the chicken and simmer until tender. Add the garlic, pepper, chili pepper, and fish sauce. Simmer until chicken is cooked.
Stir in the vinegar, salt, and sugar. Taste and adjust as needed.
To serve place the cooked noodles, celery, and cucumber in bowls and ladle in broth. Top with a sprinkle of parsley. Serves 4
Recipe adapted from one by The Umami Information Center.
The information in this article is found at The Umami Information Center or www.umamiinfo.org.
