Umami is an important taste in food as it makes everything more savoury and delicious. While the general consensus about food containing umami is that it’s salty in taste, it is in fact, not the case at all.
Often referred to as the 5th taste, umami is a strong taste that can’t be described as sweet, salty, sour or bitter.
First discovered by Japanese scientist Dr. Kikunae Ikeda in 1907, umami is a distinctive taste that can only be described by the combination of words it originates from – “Umai,” meaning delicious and “Mi,” meaning taste.
That feeling of fullness and satisfaction you get after a meal is largely contributed from the taste of umami.
However, if you lack the appetite to eat, you would not be able to experience this feeling, causing you or your loved ones to eat less which would result in a lack of nutrition.
Umami is able to increase the appetite of young consumers and also older consumers who have their sense of taste slowly reduced over time.
Umami is one of the most essential tastes when it comes to cooking. Try putting umami ingredients or pure umami seasoning in soup, stews, gravy or even in sambal!
The seasoning allows the dish to reach a peak of deliciousness without overloading it with salt. AJI-NO-MOTO® is a pure umami seasoning that is able to help any novice or professional cook achieve these results.
It elevates the dish and is a smart, kitchen-friendly hack to achieve certain results you would usually get from hours of slow cooking or marinating.
This not only helps in achieving delicious results but also helps the person eating the meal to feel satisfied and satiated afterwards.
Adding umami to food allows us to reduce the sodium levels in dishes by partially replacing salt without compromising its deliciousness.
While there are many ways of achieving the umami taste, one of the most common methods is by using pure umami seasoning, also known as Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).
It is recommended to substitute 1 teaspoon of salt with ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of MSG. This simple step allows for reducing the sodium content in the dish by up to 40% while maintaining the flavour.
As umami exists naturally in many ingredients, it is important to use it wisely and not be afraid of it.
You may think that, “now that I’ve added the umami seasoning, will adding this little amount of salt be enough to season the entire dish?”
And the answer is, yes of course it is enough. In fact, adding lesser amounts of salt as opposed to a large amount, makes the dish more palatable aka more delicious.
Ajinomoto Food Biz Partner
