That's umami | Kikkoman (2024)

FAQs

What does it mean when someone says umami? ›

Umami, which is also known as monosodium glutamate is one of the basic five tastes including sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Umami means “delicious savory taste” in Japanese, and its taste is often described as the meaty, savory deliciousness that deepens flavor.

Umami translates to "pleasant savory taste" and has been described as brothy or meaty. You can taste umami in foods that contain a high level of the amino acid glutamate, like Parmesan cheese, seaweed, miso, and mushrooms.

The rich savory flavor of miso soup is one way to experience umami, the fifth major taste. What makes a meal delicious? Often, the answer might be umami. The Japanese word means "delicious taste," and refers specifically to a savory, meaty flavor often found in fish broths, mushrooms, cheese and tomato sauce.

Some foods that are high in umami compounds are seafood, meats, aged cheeses, seaweeds, soy foods, mushrooms, tomatoes, kimchi, green tea, and many others. Try adding a few umami-rich foods to your diet to reap their flavor and health benefits.

“Umami is a way to make dishes compelling yet keep them restrained. Discovering umami gives us a chance to create dishes that are irresistible even with just a few ingredients, because it brings the natural deliciousness of those ingredients to the fore.”

A taste that spreads across the tongue, coating it completely. A persistent, lingering taste. A mouthwatering sensation. This is how chefs who have experienced and recognized umami describe its characteristics.

Considered a 'super-food' because of its highly nutritious fat content including oleic acid, high levels of vitamin B, C, E, K and potassium, and loaded with Umami, avocado has become extremely popular as a staple of Western vegetarian diets.

A taste is based on a single sensation, whereas flavor is the combination of multiple sensations experienced simultaneously. Umami's controversy lay in determining whether it was the result of multiple sensations, or could be detected singularly.

To understand why we crave umami, we must tap into our hunter-gatherer mindset. Much like how we avoid bitter flavors because they're an indicator of poisonous foods, we crave umami because its flavor is an indicator of protein, which gives us energy.

In the case of umami, there are several compounds which trigger the umami taste receptors. These include glutamate, a salt of glutamic acid, specific ribonucleotides, and glutamate salts including monosodium glutamate (MSG), potassium glutamate, and calcium glutamate among others.

What the heck is umami? ›

It's one of our five basic tastes along with sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Umami is a complex flavor that can be difficult to define, but it's often described as a pleasant savory taste. Think of the flavor of a hearty broth or piece of seared meat. That's what is umami in a nutshell!

Umami itself isn't good or bad for you. Glutamate is an amino acid that has benefits for your body. Many foods with umami flavor are good for you, such as tomatoes, mushrooms, seaweed, and fermented foods. Other foods such as meat and cheese should be eaten in moderation.

Chicken eggs contain high-quality protein with well-balanced amino acids, as well as the vitamins (B6, etc.) necessary to metabolize the protein inside the body. This is why, along with milk, chicken eggs are called “complete foods.” Egg yolks contain the umami compound glutamic acid.

Although Americans have been using the word umami for the past decade and it's been in use in the English language since 1979, its definition remains elusive to many. Ask someone who thinks that they know what umami is, and she'll tell you it's the “fifth taste,” after salty, sweet, sour, and bitter.

The umami (the savoury flavour element of the cheese) will complement the tamari. Packed with umami, it will add instant u-factor to almost anything. The intriguing umami could be the next big thing for slimmers. Tomatoes are rich in umami, especially in the seeds and the pulp.

Umami, also called savoriness, refers to someone's propensity for enjoying meat and other savoury foods like fish, tomatoes, mushrooms, yeast extract, and soy sauce. Research on the connection between personality and umami is still scarce, but people who prefer umami are said to be sensation seekers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified MSG as a food ingredient that's generally recognized as safe.