an inimitable depth of flavor

May 24, 2018 5:09 PM

“The dude who helped make ‘umami’ a household word, Adam Fleischman, along with LA-based writer (and former Food Republic contributor) Tien Nguyen, bring us Flavor Bombs, the cookbook dedicated to adding that fifth dimension of flavor to every dish possible.” How To Build The Umami Pantry

The list:

Anchovy Fillets, Anchovy Paste and Dried Anchovies
Canned Italian or Californian Tomatoes
Chocolate
Dried Mushrooms
Duck Fat
Eggs
Fish Sauce
Green Tea and Matcha
Kombu
Marmite
Miso
Parmesan Cheese
Pork
Preserved Black Truffles
Shio Koji
Soy Sauce, Powdered Soy Sauce and Tamari
Stock
Tomato Paste
Truffle Honey
Truffle Salt
Umami Sauce, Umami Master Dust and Umami Ketchup
Worcestershire Sauce

posted by not_the_water (23 comments total)

A good list of mostly-good ingredients (I can take or leave the truffle stuff), but it seems weird to ignore the ur-umami that is MSG. A bag of that at the back of the pantry obviates the need for just about everything listed here.
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:19 PM on May 24, 2018 [26 favorites]

Pretty sure we have three quarters of that stuff in the house at the moment.
posted by krisjohn at 5:40 PM on May 24, 2018

Yeah they left out "a can of MSG". Buy Goya Sazon or Accent if plain MSG makes you feel weird. By itself it can add an unpleasant metallic tang to a dish but it's a fine way to bolster up the depth of flavor in something that is already pretty delicious.
posted by Nelson at 5:40 PM on May 24, 2018 [5 favorites]

Sounds like a pretty good Bloody Mary mix. (with a couple strips of smoked duck bacon)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:44 PM on May 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

Yum. It does seem conspicuous to ignore MSG though. To run with that theme, I think this New Yorker piece on MSG by Helen Rosner is a pretty fun read.
posted by ferret branca at 5:50 PM on May 24, 2018 [6 favorites]

Yeah I'll echo the absence of MSG - because seriously that's what a lot of that stuff has in it. Also that tried and true member of the vegetarian or vegan's pantry, nutritional yeast.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:56 PM on May 24, 2018 [12 favorites]

What, no oyster sauce?
posted by jim in austin at 5:56 PM on May 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

that better be chocolate for mole poblano etc and not some nasty gross milk chocolate i tell you what
posted by poffin boffin at 6:00 PM on May 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

“The dude who helped make ‘umami’ a household word, Adam Fleischman

Oh come on, you're gonna go Columbusing on one of the five basic tastes?

... A taste whose name was unquestionably coined by a Japanese person?

Oh I see, you took the intro from the article itself.

... But wait, who has the byline on that article? Why it's Adam Fleischman! Smh.
posted by Borborygmus at 6:11 PM on May 24, 2018 [19 favorites]

MSG was originally isolated from kombu. I believe the white powder found on it is that. One of my favorite things to add to stuff is porcini powder. I have a coffee grinder specifically for spices and I just throw a few porcini in and powderize. Put in a shaker and it's amazing. Penzy's makes a toasted garlic powder that is also amazing on stuff.
posted by misterpatrick at 6:26 PM on May 24, 2018 [7 favorites]

Get you some Korean Roasted Salt from the WANG company, which is generally your friend salt plus some straight up MSG, or other umami-rich extra goodness. Essential in this house. Along with most of the other things.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:28 PM on May 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

Parmesan-Reggiano? Seriously?

Try Locatelli Pecorino Romano and you never go back. It's 100x the umami.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:18 PM on May 24, 2018 [7 favorites]

Umami Master Dust

Now there's a great sockpuppet name.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:19 PM on May 24, 2018 [3 favorites]

bragg's
posted by wibari at 10:08 PM on May 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

Thanks for that New Yorker article! I am now looking forward to taking the 90-minute tour of Ajinomoto headquarters in Kawasaki.
posted by Umami Dearest at 10:17 PM on May 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

When I want umami flavor, all I have to do is look to the fantastic work of Amy & Jacky and I know they have me covered. That pot roast is delish.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:53 PM on May 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

(I can take or leave the truffle stuff)

Leave it and give it to me -- especially truffle honey, which is absolutely amazing. The umami bomb of the truffle flavor + the particular sweetness of honey is not intuitive, but it evokes a visceral response in me and I just want to keep tasting it.
posted by odin53 at 6:39 AM on May 25, 2018

Another idea: If you go out for ramen a lot, bring home the broth. Strain it and try using it in most any recipe that calls for stock.

Am I the only one who had an UGH reaction to this suggestion? I mean, ramen broth is delicious, but I can't imagine taking any home...
posted by invokeuse at 12:07 PM on May 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Got to have furikake sprinkles too.
posted by medeine at 12:20 PM on May 25, 2018

I got a list from Barb Stuckey's book TASTE WHAT YOU ARE MISSING about 2 years ago and it has been a savior for me. As a vegetarian, I could not use many of those listed, but that ones I do use are fantastic at adding the little something. I usually cook South Indian at least once a week, and South Indian Vegetarian food lacks umami in a lot of dishes.

In no particular order; the things I use regularly, in addition to those listed above, are
Soy Sauce (I got a Vietnamese Soy sauce that is made with Soy+Peanuts, it is fantastic).
Fermented Black Beans
Go-chu-jaeng
Better-than-Bouillon Mushroom Broth.
Eggs
Totole Mushroom Flavored Broth Powder (Mostly MSG+disodium inosinate+ disodium Gualylate)
Vegetarian Oyster Sauce

I now look at a recipe and if it does not have an umami component; I add something that will give me that.
posted by indianbadger1 at 12:30 PM on May 25, 2018

No nutritional yeast??!
posted by Riverine at 1:19 PM on May 25, 2018

Yeah they left out "a can of MSG". Buy Goya Sazon or Accent if plain MSG makes you feel weird.

Accent is pure MSG. It’s indispensable.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:40 PM on May 27, 2018

I am not a chef but CUMIN seems to kick it up a notch for me. Especially added to vegan meat crumbles. Powdered cumin to add to the 'meaty-ness' of it, and then a pinch of whole cumin seeds to give it more 'gristle' mouth-feel.
posted by Monkey0nCrack at 5:13 PM on May 28, 2018 [1 favorite]