What foods are umami?
Umami-rich ingredients can often be found in the store cupboard and are part of everyday cooking. Examples of umami foods are: naturally brewed soy sauce like Kikkoman, Marmite, anchovy relish, miso, tomato puree, fish sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Other umami-rich food sources are beef, pork, chicken, mackerel, tuna, crab, squid, salted anchovies, seaweed, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, mushrooms (particularly shiitake & porcini/ceps) and even green tea. When umami foods are used, especially in combination with each other, the results are quite intense.
It’s important to understand that it’s slow cooking or ageing that makes these foods umami. For example, raw meat and mushrooms aren’t very umami, but cooking, curing or fermenting helps to release the key amino acids that our taste receptors pick up as umami.
Why is umami so important?
Combining two umami-rich ingredients does far more than double the umami factor. It can quadruple the specific, gratifyingly savoury element. Ever wondered why a grilled beefburger topped with cheese and tomato ketchup is so irresistible? The more umami ingredients that is used in a dish can even make a relatively small portion seem bigger than it actually is. Clever stuff!
This is why the appreciation of umami is widely regarded by chefs and the food industry. Without umami, the taste can be rather one dimensional.