Comments on: It’s All About the Umami

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 18 May 2007 17:06:33 +0000

All the tips are good, but I still keep a shaker of MSG for when I ccan’t quite get the umami level to where I like, and using soy sauce, miso, etc. is not an option. As long as you did your due diligence in making the dish as flavorful as possible, you should only need a tiny bit of it.

Also, you’re much better off using pure MSG rather than something like fake chicken soup mix. The mixes have other stuff which make the food just taste like fake chicken soup (yuck!).

MSG is usually found in the spice section. I found a brand with an OU called “Accent”.

By: Nancy Howell

Nancy Howell — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 22:43:18 +0000

I have a recipe that requires a can of cream of chicken soup, but my husband is a vegetarian. Do you have a suggestion?

By: elf

elf — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 02:19:16 +0000

Karen: That sounds like a great technique. I have found that roasting tends to bring out the flavor in vegetables and meat in a way that boiling doesn’t.

Dan: I never would have thought of grinding dried mushrooms, although I have seen recipes that make use of the cooking liquid. Interesting idea.

By: Dan Shapiro

Dan Shapiro — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 20:33:14 +0000

Mushrooms, especially shitakes, are a great source of umami. Throw some dried mushrooms into a spice grinder and store the powder. It really enhances vegetable soups and stews of any sort without making them overly “mushroomy”.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 21:42:16 +0000

Don’t know if its the umami or whatnot, but making a vegetarian vegetable broth from roasted vegetables, including root vegetables, makes a nice broth for a soup base. Once upon a time the NYT magazine had a recipe for this and I use it occasionally with good results.

By: jabbett

jabbett — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 21:01:15 +0000

Hi, Ralphie–
On that note, the heksher on the worcestershire sauce will indicate whether or not it can be used with meat recipes. For example, Lea & Perrins is labeled OU-Fish since there’s a significant-enough quantity of anchovy. Heinz Worcestershire, on the other hand, has a plain OU… not enough fish, thus acceptable with meat.

By: ralphie

ralphie — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 19:01:22 +0000

I’m sure I don’t need to mention this to foodies such as yourselves, but just in case… be aware that worcestershire sauce contains fish-derived ingredients, and should not be used with meat recipes if it’s your practice to keep them separate.

By: DeisCane

DeisCane — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:10:28 +0000

I read the URL in my history and couldn’t figure out why KosherBlog would right about my OTHER alma mater–The University of Miami! Great pun and great info.

By: jabbett

jabbett — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 03:03:54 +0000

Nope, I’ve only used red wine as my umami-booster.

By: elf

elf — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 00:03:14 +0000

Quite logical. Have you ever used worcestershire sauce in pasta sauce?