Umami Overdrive!
We all grew up learning about the four horseman of taste: sweet, sour, bitter, and ol’ salty. What if I told you that there was another taste in the flavor universe that goes to infinity and beyond?
WTF Is Umami?
It’s hard to put a finger on it, but oftentimes it’s described as a mouthwatering deliciousness. Think, sour, bitter, sweet, salty, and umami! It’s a taste, y’all!
In technical terms, umami is the taste of glutamate, which is a building block for protein. This amino acid occurs naturally in our bodies and many foods we eat.
Aging and fermenting things such as soybeans, cheeses, and meats increases the amount of proteins being broken down which results in more glutamate being released. This yields more umami! Yum yum!
1908: Kikunae Ikeda, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University discovered that a seaweed called kombu had a surprisingly “meaty” flavor thanks to glutamic acid. Ikeda coined the word umami, which loosely translates to "f*cking delicious.”
1985: Umami International Symposium held in Hawaii determined umami was the scientific term for this fifth taste.
2002: Scientists were able to identify actual umami taste buds on the human tongue!
Fun fact 1: Your taste buds are everywhere on your tongue - there are no taste sections as some of you were previously taught in school! Woop woop!
Fun fact 2: Breast milk and amniotic fluid are both high in glutamic acid, which means we are familiar with it’s taste even before birth. We literally have an evolutionary drive to seek out umami!
Foods That Are High in Umami
Most fermented things (fish sauce, miso, soy sauce)
Tomatoes, especially sun dried and concentrated tomato paste
Seaweed
Yeast extracts (vegemite)
Anchovies and other fish
Cured meats
Beef
(Dried) Mushrooms (highest in shitake)
Cheese (highest in Parmesan and Roquefort)
Green tea
Examples of umami rich combos include
Western Cuisine
Mirepoix (carrots, celery, onion) + tomato + meat
Asian Cuisine
Kombu seaweed + dried fish + mushrooms
What About MSG?
MSG has a bad reputation for being a food additive with bad side effects. But are these claims founded in fact?
MonoSodiumGlutamate (MSG) is the combination of sodium and glutamate. Your body can’t tell the difference between naturally occurring and artificial. Why am I talking about MSG after a umami article? Because GLUTAMATE! MSG can be used to enhance that umami delicious flavor.
MSG’s tarnished reputaiton began with a letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine in 1968. The author described his reaction to eating Chinese food, which including generalized weakness, palpitations and numbness in his arms. The author stated that these symptoms could have been from a number of foods he ate including sodium, alcohol from the cooking wine or MSG. This letter marked the beginning of a "condition" called Chinese restaurant syndrome (CRS).
Turns out the author also wrote a study on vaccine-associated autism. Just kidding.
Next thing we know, scientists are conducting all kinds of studies using insanely high doses of MSG injected directly into mice abdomens. Shockingly, they discovered that doing that was bad. For optimal comfort, next time I head to a restaurant, I’ll make sure to ask the waiter for a cannula instead of a needle when I’m getting my MSG bolus.
In the 1990’s someone began asking why CRS only seems to happen in the U.S. and not China, where MSG use is commonplace in restaurants. Are the Chinese superhuman?
This randomized double-blind placebo controlled study looked at 71 adults who consumed various amounts of MSG or a placebo over five days. Most subjects had no responses to either. Those who had been given MSG didn't experience any more CRS than those who'd taken the placebo. Other studies done since have yielded similar findings. Researchers concluded that CRS is probably BS.
In 2018, the International Headache Society removed MSG from its list of causative factors for headaches.
So what’s my take on MSG?
MSG is safe and literally just the combo of 2 naturally occurring safe substances
Don’t inject MSG into your tum tum
Don’t overdo it, because MSG still has sodium in it
If you feel like it gives you a bad reaction, then avoid it
Links to Additional Info
