Instant Umami—what's your secret sauce?

[paulraphael]

I had a conversation with a friend who cooks mostly Japanese-inspired food. He thinks there's a conspiracy against umami in Western cooking. "What are your choices, besides a bag of Doritos?"

 

The conspiracy theory didn't sit well—I could name a lot of things, from sun-dried tomatoes to parmigian cheese. But he had a point. Look to the east and there are countless preparations in a bottle or jar, always at the ready to fill holes in a dish's savoriness. Fish sauce (in its infinite varieties). Dashi. Soy sauce. Anchovy paste. Seaweed. Bonito Flakes.

 

When I thought about non-Asian equivalents, the closest was worcestershire sauce, which tastes so much like worcestershire sauce its use seems limited. Other things seemed hard to use for other reasons: parmigian, tomato paste, pan drippings, bacon. 

 

What are your go-to concoctions? Anything unusual that you have to make?

[Deryn]

I use all the above.

 

Worchestershire sauce (Wuhster to me - as it was always called in my house by my British father) these days is too often now made even without or with very little actual anchovy (check the labels!). I use it though occasionally - and in moderation, it is not really that 'one note' or immediately detectable.

 

Good dark vinegars (black, balsamic) are one thing I use very often that I think can bring an umami depth. Mushrooms, especially duxelle or wild/dried. Techniques such as long slow cooking often work too, especially if tomato paste and red wine are included. A bit of deeply caramelized sugar or onions added to some dishes perhaps would work as well to bring or enhance umami.

 

Is this what you are trying to get at? I am unclear if you want us to just list bottled stuff that we use to add umami?

Edited April 16, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[Duvel]

Maggi.

[paulraphael]

32 minutes ago, Deryn said:

Is this what you are trying to get at? I am unclear if you want us to just list bottled stuff that we use to add umami?

 

I'm interested in all of it, but especially preparations that are ready to use, whether you buy them or make them yourself in bulk.

 

I'd never heard of Maggi. And I left Marmite off the list.

 

An idea I'd like to experiment with: make tomato paste out of sun-dried tomatoes and keep in a small jar. Anyone heard of this? Maybe it can be preserved by using some vinegar?

[Anna N]

We can actually buy a tube of  Umami  paste.  There is an unopened one on my refrigerator that I keep forgetting about. It was a gift. Still not sure when or how I would use it.  I am one of those evil people who is not afraid of a little MSG added to various preparations and always keep that in my condiment arsenal. 

[paulraphael]

I should have mentioned MSG. There doesn't seem to be a shred of evidence that anyone's ever had MSG sensitivity, so to hell with the haters. If the powder made you sick, then so would all the foods that contain natural glutamates.

 

I don't think of MSG as a universal solution, because as a pure chemical it lacks the complexities of glutamate-rich foods. Just as I'll use pure citric acid for some things ... but generally prefer lemon or lime for the added layers.

[Deryn]

48 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

 

I'm interested in all of it, but especially preparations that are ready to use, whether you buy them or make them yourself in bulk.

 

I'd never heard of Maggi. And I left Marmite off the list.

 

An idea I'd like to experiment with: make tomato paste out of sun-dried tomatoes and keep in a small jar. Anyone heard of this? Maybe it can be preserved by using some vinegar?

 

Dried tomato pesto - yes! Made it, bought it, used it. Not sure I have directly added vinegar to mine (during pesto preparation), but why not? I would try balsamic.

Edited April 16, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[paulraphael]

47 minutes ago, Deryn said:

 

Dried tomato pesto - yes! Made it, bought it, used it. Not sure I have directly added vinegar to mine (during pesto preparation), but why not? I would try balsamic.

 

What have you done, and how long has it lasted? Anything you've found it particularly useful for? 

[paulraphael]

Here's a Wiki ... quite a few unusual entries.

[gfweb]

Mushrooms, parm, anchovy paste, soy, dijon, liquid smoke, bacon fat, tomato paste,  fish sauce, worcestershire are in my pantry.

 

I find that the trick is not to use too much of some of them, eg a little dijon is not noticeable as such but makes a big difference in a thin-tasting gravy.

 

Or if i add enough soy to do the job it often tastes too much like soy...so I add a little worcestershire and neither is definable in the dish, but things are better.

[Anna N]

Damn.  Where is my head?  MISO.  It is always in the fridge and a little dab will do you. Added to soups, stews and gravies in judicious amounts it can make all the difference.

 

[Martin Fisher]

Umami addict here.

 

I stock many of the usual, convenient favorites: Red Boat Fish Sauce, Red Boat Salt, Squid Brand Thai fish sauce (It's inexpensive and locally available. I used to buy Tiparos brand, which was also inexpensive and locally available, but, it's, allegedly, no longer approved for sale in the USA.) Maggi Seasoning, Marmite, Italian salt-packed anchovies, Ohsawa Raw Nama Shoyu (and many other soy sauces), GravyMaster Browning/Caramelizing Seasoning (yes, really...a 'secret' ingredient in a couple things I make), Ac'cent brand MSG, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, miso, bonito, dried shrimp, several varieties of dried mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, Maytag blue cheese (occasionally), Roquefort and other blue cheeses, Limburger cheese (one of my very favorite foods), Kerrygold Dubliner (wonderful stuff, sort of a Parmesan, Swiss & Cheddar amalgamation), and many other cheeses, Prosciutto, black garlic, etcetera.

 

Some of my favorite homemade umami concoctions:

• Tomato Conserva: It's basically tomato paste thickened to the desired consistency. Here's how I make it......

  "I switched to this method long ago because I got tired of processing tomatoes in a super-hot late summer kitchen.

  Zero-heat tomato water and rich tomato conserva.

  Wash tomatoes thoroughly (preferably a well flavored roma-type, like Martino's Roma or Opalka, but any tomato will work.)

  Cut out the stem end of the tomato (this makes peeling easier), place tomatoes on sheet pan and freeze solid.

  Remove tomatoes from freezer and run under a slow steady stream of cold water, the skins will easily slip off.

  Very coarsely chop the semi-frozen tomatoes (3/4" sized pieces) and place in a cheesecloth or muslin lined colander overnight or until they stop draining (lightly salting will help.) The resulting tomato water will be quite clear.

  Run the tomato remains through a food mill to remove the seeds. This is a snap because the freezing does a very good job of breaking down the tomato flesh. The resulting conserva should be thick enough so that a wooden spoon will stand up in it.

  I then freeze the conserva or reduce it to the desired thickness, spread out, on stainless steel sheet pans in a slow oven, stirring occasionally until it reaches the desired consistency.

  This requires some planning ahead, but it produces some very nice tomato water and conserva without a lot of fuss or heat!!!"

• Pinçage: It's basically a caramelized, flavor-enhancing mirepoix with the addition of some tomato paste, and, in my case, a touch of Red Boat Salt, fish sauce or anchovy salt. I make it in the pressure cooker.

• Caramelized Tomato Paste: Also made in the pressure cooker.

• Smoke-dried tomatoes and chiles.

• Anchovy Salt: Sea salt, fish sauce and mashed anchovies dried in the dehydrator.

• Veal Salt: Veal stock, sea salt and Red Boat salt, dried in the dehydrator.

• Anchovy Butter: Unsalted butter, anchovies, garlic clove and a touch of lemon juice.

• Anchovy Mayo

• Miso Butter

• Miso Mayo

• Salmon Katsuobushi: I add a touch of Red Boat salt to mine.

• Various dried-cured muscle meats and sausages: I, almost always, add a bit of Red Boat salt or Red Boat fish sauce in lieu of a portion of the sea salt to kick-up the umami. But that's a 'secret,' so please don't tell anyone. 

• Dry-cured, lightly-smoked pork tenderloin: This is wonderful stuff. Pork tenderloin, sea salt, Red Boat salt and a pinch of sugar. I often dry it to the point where it can be finely grated on salad, eggs, etcetera. It's very easy for almost anyone - even those without a curing chamber - to make following Jacques Pépin's Saucisson of Pork Tenderloin method.

• Bacon 'Jam'

• Wild Mushroom Ketchup

And many. many more but I'm tired of typing, for now.

Edited April 17, 2016 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[Anna N]

@DiggingDogFarm

 

 That is quite a list. Many of them are completely unfamiliar to me but I will be following your links and doing a little research.   Thank you for taking the time to share. 

[Tere]

Stuff wot I have around, always

 

Marmite

Good quality dark miso. This keeps forever. I mean forever. I am still using up stuff I bought in Hida Takayama on honeymoon on 2006. No really. It's perfectly fine. It's ace in soups and stews and I am partial to a miso and mirin marinade for pork chops.

Anchovy paste or salted anchovies or both.

Lea and Perrins Worcester Sauce. Worcester is indeed pronounced Woosta / Wusta / ugh I cannot do phonetics.

Mushroom ketchup is yummy but I don't keep it in. I probably should. Or save the garlicky juices from the Sunday breakfast portobellos. I usually just nom them.

Dried porcini granules

Dried porcini full stop. I love mushrooms and cook a lot with them. I may well be a hobbit

I also have mushroom powder and some weird thing called umami powder. We can get a thing called umami paste here too but I wasn't in love with it when I tried it. I think it got loaded into a stew.

Tomato puree in basic and posh forms

Sundried tomatoes

Parmesan, 

Pesto of some kind - I make my own from jack in the hedge, hazelnuts, local cheese and local rapeseed oil but have others when out of season.

Tinned little fishies of some sort

Various balsamics

 

To me, only the miso is exclusively "Eastern". I got turned on to miso when living in Japan. I do have nori and dashi stock, but I really only use those for Japanese dishes.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

ul stuff. Pork tenderloin, sea salt, Red Boat salt and a touch of sugar. I, often, dry it to the point where it can be finely grated on salad, eggs, etcetera. It's very easy for almost anyone, without a curing chamber, to make following Jacques Pépin's Saucisson of Pork Tenderloin method.

 

 

I just read through Pepin's recipe. I gotta try this.

 

Is 12 hours long enough nitrate cure for the 2" thick tenderloin? Seems like a 2 day minimum for that thick a piece.

 

 

Never thought of a garlic-mustard (jack in the hedge )pesto.  Stuff is all over my property right now.  I munch on it but just whilst doing yard work.  The dog discovered it and is addicted.

 

Edited April 16, 2016 by gfweb (log)

[Martin Fisher]

18 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

I just read through Pepin's recipe. I gotta try this.

 

Is 12 hours long enough nitrate cure for the 2" thick tenderloin? Seems like a 2 day minimum for that thick a piece.

 

If you're 'salt box' curing, as in the recipe, 12 hours is likely sufficient.

 

For consistency and to avoid over-salting/curing, I use a specific amount of cure and sugar - 2.25 - 2.50% salt total via the cure calculator on my website (which is in desperate need of an overhaul) - and let it cure longer before hanging it.

If using Morton's Tender Quick similarly, one tablespoon (~15 grams) of MTQ per pound of meat is ~3% in-going salt, so, about 2.5 teaspoons for 2.5% in-going salt.

HTH

 

Edited April 16, 2016 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[gfweb]

I thought that cure penetration was about a cm/day.

[Martin Fisher]

43 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I thought that cure penetration was about a cm/day.

 

Depends on the curing method, cut of meat, muscle fiber orientation, temperature, etcetera

With salt box style curing, you're basically exposing the outer parts of the meat to a high concentration of salt - for a relatively short period of time - that will later equalize throughout the meat.

One of the major problems with that method is it's unpredictability, it's very easy to over-cure/over-salt - especially small cuts.

The Marianski's do a good job of describing some of the particulars here.

 

 

Edited April 16, 2016 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[haresfur]

7 hours ago, paulraphael said:

 

I'd never heard of Maggi. And I left Marmite Vegemite  off the list.

 

An idea I'd like to experiment with: make tomato paste out of sun-dried tomatoes and keep in a small jar. Anyone heard of this? Maybe it can be preserved by using some vinegar?

 

Vegemite is my secret weapon.

 

Another good one is to put tomato paste in a glass jar, add baking soda, then pressure cook a la Modernist Cuisine ketchup. I would add vinegar and refrigerate or freeze to preserve.

[Martin Fisher]

1 minute ago, haresfur said:

Vegemite is my secret weapon.

 

I used to be able to find it locally, but not in recent years. 

[liuzhou]

5 hours ago, Tere said:

Lea and Perrins Worcester Sauce. Worcester is indeed pronounced Woosta / Wusta / ugh I cannot do phonetics.

 

/ˈwʊstə(r)/

 

I sometimes use this Chinese Olive Paste to boost umami.

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Deryn]

I am no good at phonetics either - but yes, that is what I meant too. Thanks, Tere (and Liuzhou). I laugh my head off watching North American cooking shows when they try to pronounce the whole thing (as they always do) - so funny and much more complicated than it needs to be.

 

Up in Canada I see that Heinz is making Lea and Perrins now. I doubt that anything good can come of that.

[liuzhou]

2 minutes ago, Deryn said:

Up in Canada I see that Heinz is making Lea and Perrins now. I doubt that anything good can come of that.

 

Not only Canada - world wide. Lee and Perrins is owned by Heinz. Has been since 2005.

[Martin Fisher]

Here in the USA, Heinz sells Heinz labeled Worcestershire Sauce.

It's cheap, nasty and definitely NOTHING like Lea & Perrins; they're distinctly different formulas.

 

Edited to add....

Heinz labeled Worcestershire Sauce ingredients:

Distilled White Vinegar, Water, Molasses, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt, Sodium Benzoate As A Preservative), Natural Flavoring, Caramel Coloring, Anchovies, Polysorbate 80, Soy Flour, Garlic Extract. 

 

Lea & Perrins Original Worcestershire Sauce ingredients:

Distilled White Vinegar, Molasses, Sugar, Water, Salt, Onions, Anchovies, Garlic, Cloves, Tamarind Extract, Natural Flavorings, Chili Pepper Extract.

Edited April 17, 2016 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[Duvel]

I do like to add XO sauce to anything stewed/braised.