Just waht is Umami?

[Smokin Don]

Umami is now recognized as one of 5 basic food flavors along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Dr. Ikeda from Japan first recognized this taste in 1908. The simple definition of Umami is glutamates and is imparted by foods high in glutamates. It gives a savory taste. Some of the foods that are high in glutamates are tomatoes, anchovies, mushrooms and soy sauce. Chefs and cooks combine it with some or all of the other flavors to get a taste they are looking for. Asians use MSG a lot for the Umami flavor to enhance their foods.

I just started to get interested in the taste to enhance steaks. If anyone else has played with this flavor please chime in; I am not very good at describing tastes and not the best writer. I had read some where they used mushroom powder a lot to enhance steaks. I looked through the different Umami seasonings at Amazon and settled on Taste # 5’s Umami Dust. The ingredients, tomato powder, lemon peel, anchovy powder, (anchovy salt), spices, natural lemon flavor, balsamic vinegar and porcini mushroom powder all sounded good to me. It was $10 for a 2.25 oz. shaker; pretty expensive, but I suspect about $6 was for the free shipping!

When I got it and did a taste test my first thought was Wow I think I may have the best steak seasoning I ever tried. I had some nice thick sirloin steaks to try it on. My son was the first to try it, doing one on my gas Weber Q100. He put it on just before cooking and did the steak 4 min. per side. He said the steak was great but you may want to put the seasoning on early and let marinade for a while.

I got my steaks ready,  seasoned heavy with the Umami dust and let set for a half hour before doing on my pellet smoker using grill grates. The steaks were beautiful and tender; but somewhere they had lost the flavor I thought I would get, it was pretty subtle.

Thinking back I think I remember when using mushroom powder it is best to add it near the end of cooking. I think I will use what I have left of the seasoning on steaks seasoned with salt and pepper and then add the Umami Dust when I let them rest. I think the Umami flavor is best used to enhance rather than a seasoning on its own. I would like to use just a mushroom powder for steaks and see how that works too.
Smokin Don

[teesquare]

I try to define Umami as earthy, savory "slow-cooked" flavors that really connect the other four taste groups.

When something is missing Umami - it may be described as "thin" tasting. Umami gives food that "well rounded mouth feel" engaging the entire palate in conjunction and in a supportive manner to the other 4 tastes.

Fish sauce - in very small amounts - can also be a secret for you to use when a dish that should be very savory...just isn't. Beef bouillon is also useful for hearty, slow cooked tastes.

T

[pz]

Umami taste buds were only recently discovered (within the last decade or so - can't recall exactly), the reason being is that they are at the back of the tongue, and the beginning of the pharynx (throat).  As Smokin Don reported, these buds are activated by the glutamates (one of the 20 or so amini acids that are used to build protein).  I'm sure everyone has heard of MSG (mono sodium glutamate) which is the principle ingredient in Accent.  The cheapest way to activate those good 'ol umami buds is to purchase a cheap bottle of Accent (of course, for those that are not sensitive to MSG)

[teesquare]

aged and fermented foods also seem to be connected to the Umami sensing buds....Perhaps because there are glutimates of various kinds that are naturally occurring in a variety of foods.

[drholly]

Worcestershire sauce often figures in as a "secret ingredient" in many recipes. While it is a wonderful sauce, the key ingredient that hits the umami points is anchovy. Adding some anchovy, anchovy sauce, anchovy paste (I like this one), fish sauce, etc. helps hit that note.

[pz]

...Perhaps because there are glutimates of various kinds that are naturally occurring in a variety of foods.

Exactly; glutamates are in everything that contains protein - glutamic acid (glutamate) is one of the 20 amino acids used to build all protein structure.  Think of a protein as a word, and the amino acids are letters used to spell that word.  In the simplest sense, proteins are like a string of pearls, with each pearl being an amino acid.

[sliding_billy]

What is umami?... a marketing scheme (IMHO of course)! 

[muebe]

Glutamates are what tell your brain that something is "savory" or in other words edible. We as humans are hard wired to detect glutamates to tell us that something we consume is food.

And IMHO I believe that peas and brussel sprouts do not contain any glutamates and were never intended by nature for human consumption but some crazy person long ago decided to eat them and tell everyone they are "food"

[africanmeat]

I think that Heston Blumenthal explains umami the best way and it is from minute 2.20 on this video .

[Wingman]

This is an interesting and informative piece on umami and brisket by Harry Soo.  It introduced me to Maggi Seasoning, a staple in my home now.
http://www.slapyodaddybbq.com/2012/08/slapilicious-umami-brisket/

[drholly]

I think that Heston Blumenthal explains umami the best way and it is from minute 2.20 on this video .

Great video - breaks my 3 minute rule - but was well worth watching! I'm going to make some mushroom ketchup. I'm also going to make the steak & salad!

[Smokin Don]

I think that Heston Blumenthal explains umami the best way and it is from minute 2.20 on this video .

Great video - breaks my 3 minute rule - but was well worth watching! I'm going to make some mushroom ketchup. I'm also going to make the steak & salad!

That was a good video Ahron , TFS
David I'll be lookin for that steak! Don