What is Umami?

Salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and… umami? You’ve likely tasted this savory fifth taste in cuisines around the world. Let’s explore what it is, the science behind it, and where to find it.

Have you ever eaten Asian cuisine and thought, “Wow, this is so savory”? Everyone knows the basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, but where does savory fit in? That’s umami.

Umami is the savory fifth basic taste. It comes mainly from glutamate, an amino acid, and from nucleotides like inosinate and guanylate, which work together to make foods taste rich, meaty, and brothy. You’ll find it in everyday foods like aged cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, soy sauce, miso, cured meats, and broth.

What exactly is umami?

Umami is its own basic taste, separate from sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. This savory fifth taste is described as having a mild but lasting aftertaste that makes your mouth water, along with a sensation of furriness on the tongue. It spreads across the tongue and reaches the throat, the roof, and the back of the mouth for a full experience.

The word umami comes from the Japanese adjective umai, which means delicious or pleasant. Since umai describes deliciousness in general, not the specific taste of glutamate, a new word was needed. Umai was combined with mi, which means ‘essence,’ ‘essential nature,’ or ‘taste.’ That’s how the taste of glutamate became known as umami.

What does umami taste like?

Umami tastes meaty, brothy, and savory. It spreads across the whole tongue and lingers longer than the other basic tastes, coating the tongue and making your mouth water. Glutamate is the main compound behind this taste.

Umami in cuisines around the world

Japan – A typical meal includes nori seaweed, sesame, dried bonito flakes, and pickled vegetables. Dashi, a cooking stock loaded with glutamates, is used often. Fish, soba noodles, and chilled tsuyu dipping sauce add even more umami.

Korea – The best-known dish is kimchi, fermented napa cabbage made with gochujang (red chili paste) and anchovy fish sauce for an explosion of umami. Another famous dish is bulgogi, made with red meat, usually flank steak or ribeye, or boneless pork loin, and served with gochujang sauce, sesame seeds, and onions.

Italy – Tomatoes are one of the richest vegetable sources of glutamates, especially when dried. Any pasta dish with a tomato-based marinara sauce will deliver an umami taste.

Thailand – Prik nam pla, a condiment of fish sauce and bird’s eye chilies, is the most common. Tom yum soup is also popular and combines fish sauce, shrimp, and mushrooms. Miang kum is a traditional wrap with shrimp and savory dips.

American – Umami shows up in classics like grilled burgers with ketchup and cheese, and pizza with tomato sauce, cured meats like bacon, and cheese. Steak with a mushroom sauce is a popular pairing, and Caesar salad gets its savory flavor from anchovies and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Why do cooks use it?

Chefs and home cooks use umami ingredients to enhance flavor and add dimension beyond salt. It’s easy to work with, since many everyday ingredients, like tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and cheese, already supply it. Umami brings versatility and variety to the flavor of a dish.

A brief history of umami

Japanese professor Kikunae Ikeda, who taught physical chemistry at Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo), identified glutamate as the active flavor compound in kombu seaweed in 1908. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that molecular biologists discovered the taste receptor for glutamate, confirming umami as one of the basic tastes.

The role of glutamates and nucleotides

Glutamate (a type of amino acid) and nucleotides are flavor enhancers. When combined, they work together to magnify the sensation of umami. Glutamates are found in many everyday foods. Only the free, ionized form of glutamate tastes savory, and acids like vinegar can lessen the sensation.

On their own, glutamates give a fairly mild taste. When paired with nucleotides like inosinate and guanylate, the umami taste gets much stronger. These compounds occur naturally in dried mushrooms, pork, chicken, nori, and seafood like sardines, anchovies, tuna, and sea urchin. Pairing these ingredients with glutamate-rich ones amplifies the savory flavor.

How do taste buds detect umami?

The tongue has patches of tissue called papillae, which contain the bud-shaped organs that detect taste. Each taste bud is a cluster of dozens of taste cells, and those cells hold the receptors for the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Compounds in food stimulate the taste buds and are recognized by the cells with the matching receptors.

Once the taste buds are stimulated, those signals are turned into neural signals for the taste of the ingredients. The signals travel to the brain, which recognizes the taste of the food.

What foods are high in umami?

Umami-rich foods include aged and fermented ingredients, broths, seafood, cured meats, and certain vegetables. Here are common sources:

• Sauces – Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, miso, truffle oil, ranch dressing, soy sauce, oyster sauce, curry, and marinara.
• Meats – Steak, chicken, beef, pork, bacon, and egg yolks.
• Seafood – Salmon, bonito, sardines, anchovies, tuna, yellowtail, mackerel, dried baby sardines, cod, scallops, and shrimp.
• Vegetables – Tomatoes (especially dried tomatoes), mushrooms, onions, broccoli, green asparagus, green peas, dried shiitake mushrooms, porcini, seaweed, corn, garlic, lotus root, potatoes, and truffles.
• Cheese – Parmigiano-Reggiano and other aged cheeses, like Roquefort. As cheese ages, its proteins break down into free amino acids through proteolysis, which raises the level of free glutamic acid.
• Cured Meats – Dry-cured ham, salami, and pepperoni.
• Fermented Foods – Kimchi and other fermented cabbage, plus fermented soy-based foods, which are especially high because fermentation breaks proteins down into free amino acids. Also rice vinegar, rice wine, and fermented barley sauce.
• Others – Green tea, walnuts, beef broth, chicken broth, turkey broth, bouillon cubes, dashi, Marmite (a yeast extract spread), and homemade gravy.

How do you add umami to dishes?

• Start by swapping some of the salt in a dish for soy sauce.
• Add a pinch of MSG to soups, pasta sauce, salads, dressings, meat marinades, and stir-fries.
• Roast tomatoes or other umami-rich foods to concentrate their flavor.
• Pan-roast portobello mushrooms until they’re browned to the point of being caramelized, which intensifies their rich umami flavor.

Do dried and aged foods have more umami?

Often, but it depends on the food. Dried tomatoes are more concentrated in glutamate than fresh ones. As a rule of thumb, the umami compounds in foods increase with processing like ripening and fermentation, and the longer a food ages, the higher its glutamate. So for cheese, the longer the aging process, the more intense the umami flavor will be.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Food Science

Food Science

Maillard Reaction: The Key to Flavor Development

Food Science

What is MSG?

Ingredient Guides

14 Types of Mushrooms

Pantry Staples

12 Types of Salt Every Cook Should Know