Come Get Your Umami Salt
February 1st, 2008 Posted in Cooking Accessories
Want to make your family and friends drool — literally? Give them some umami salt.
There’s a lot to be said about umami, and we’ll be saying plenty of it right here, but let’s just jump right in and make some flavor-walloping salt and ask questions later.
Here’s what you need:
- a few shavings of parmesan
- a dried mushroom (porcini or shiitake work well)
- some kelp (kelp granules make it very easy)
Whir the shroom in the spice grinder first and get it all powdery. Then add the cheese and the kelp, whir a little more, and finally pulse in a few tablespoons of sel gris, always the salt of choice for breakaway salts because of its high moisture content and incredible oceany taste.
This salt is, essentially, pure MSG, except it’s a billion times better than the white powder–”gourmet powder,” in Chinese–that so many people have come to dread (some are even allergic to it). Why do so many Chinese cooks, in restaurant and in homes, use so much MSG? Because it makes food taste GREAT!
Evolution has made sure our tongues and palates come equipped to easily detect naturally occurring glutamates, which make us involuntarily salivate, an excellent mechanism for getting food down (and, it turns out, really enjoying it). Umami — that “fifth taste sensation” along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty that really has come a long way in establishing its legitimacy — is really all about glutamates and our ability to detect them. Sometimes umami is translated (from the Japanese) as “savory,” and this strikes me as sort of adequate, but I’d add something like, “foods that make you drool.” Things like parmesan, konbu (kelp), sardines, miso, bacon, dried mushrooms, oysters, mackerel, even green tea. Want to know more about umami?
So what’s this salt good for? Everything! Try it on a piece of steak, or your morning eggs. Saute onions with it. For the drooliest corn on the cob ever, sprinkle some on a hot ear that’s been freshly buttered. Stir-frys, salads, salad dressings, roast chicken, baked tofu. Or, have fun with the kids — sprinkle some on their tongues, and watch them drool!
17 Responses to “Come Get Your Umami Salt”
By Scott on Feb 1, 2008
I made some of this a few days ago, using nori. (You don’t mention what seaweed to use.) I find that the salt is a bit fishy, and I’m sensitive to fish taste. When I use it, that’s the main thing I notice. Suggestions?
By corkdork on Feb 2, 2008
I’m going to try this one. I already use the macha salt on my poached eggs in the morning. Yum. If someone is sensitive to MSG, would they have the same reaction to these types of glutamates, i.e., headaches, flushed face, etc?
By Eric on Feb 2, 2008
I think kelp (konbu) has a less-fishy taste compared with nori. Try that. A good source is, as always, the SF Herb Company, http://www.sfherb.com. Type kelp in the search box there and you’ll see one-pound bags (an enormous quantity for this stuff) for the whopping sum of $2.35.
That said, it does come from the ocean, and thus has a certain “oceany” taste to it (a feature, not a bug). You’re obviously sensitive to this smell because of your fish allergy, but you can always try a smaller quantity, or omit it altogether, in your umami salt. Maybe try a mix of shiitake, porcini, and parm if the kelp winds up turning you off.
By Eric on Feb 2, 2008
I haven’t done any blind or other experiments on symptoms of MSG sensitivity for the umami salt. My personal, entirely nonempirical belief is that a certain, perhaps large, perhaps very large, percentage of people who profess sensitivity to MSG operate under some kind of “reverse placebo” effect.
The phrase that so many Chinese restaurants use nowadays–”no MSG”–has a lot of power, akin to announcing one no longer uses food coloring, or added preservatives, to food. MSG has gained, fairly or not, the reputation of a mild poison that is vaguely not good for you. Why risk it? I have sympathy with this sentiment.
However, I also strongly feel that it’s the *processing* of synthetic MSG that causes legitimate cases of MSG allergy, or at least MSG aversion. This goes for any highly processed product that slaps molecules together, a white powder forms, and uses for it are discovered. I have pretty strong aversions to almost all highly processed foods, including straight-up synthetic MSG (sold in supermarkets under the brand name Accent, near the spices).
But it’s a fact that we have glutamate-detecting biomechanisms on our tongues, which is why the immediate salivation of glutamate-rich food makes us salivate. I figure that we eat mushrooms, seaweed, and parmesan all the time anyway (at least I do) with no deleterious effects, so why not blend them together with salt? Please help me perform this experiment, and try some!
By ernie on Feb 2, 2008
Umami, umama, life goes on, ha!
La la la la life goes on…
By Eric on Feb 2, 2008
And ernie gets the first honor ban!
By Scott on Feb 2, 2008
Thanks for the suggestion. We have konbu, so I’ll try it in the next batch. Oddly, I eat nori, and don’t find it as fishy (yes, that, not oceany) as the salt turned out to be.
By Nicky on Feb 5, 2008
I’m definitely in for the experiment! In case I cannot find kelp around (Germany), nori is the next best thing to use, isn’t it? Thanks for the inspiration
By JacquelineC on Feb 9, 2008
oooh mommy or umami the research I’ve done and read doesn’t indicate that the MSG problems people associated with bad Chinese food are borne out. The post I did talks about umami and links to the seminal book on the topic.
Mushrooms and kombu are full of umami so this looks like a winner. Can I use dried kombu and grind it down?
By Eric on Feb 11, 2008
Nicky, yes, do try nori, which will add its own “brand” of umami, for sure. Or, as I mentioned to Scott, you can just omit it altogether, and go for two kinds of dried shrooms plus some parm. Report back, please!
By Eric on Feb 11, 2008
Jaquelinec, thanks so much for the link–very nice job. Mothers actually get things right occasionally, don’t they; will miracles ever cease! I’ve also ordered “The Fifth Taste,” so double thanks for letting me know about it.
You can indeed use dried kombu and grind it down–that’s what I do if I don’t have any “kelp granules,” sold by the fine folks at sfherb.com
By Life in Recipes on Feb 28, 2008
I think I’m going to like this salt blend. I already toast and grind dried mushrooms to add concentrated umami flavor to soups, braises, stews, rubs. Aside from an ingredient this glorious salt mixture, I’m wondering what other uses I’d have for the kelp granules. Suggestions?