20 foods to add umami to your cooking

• Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano)
• Dried shiitake mushroom
• MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)
• Fish sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Tomato paste
• Soy sauce
• Shrimp paste
• Dry-cured hams
• Green tea
• Beef broth
• Oysters and champagne
• Black garlic
• Sun-dried tomatoes

For the longest time, people assumed that all tastes boiled down to sweet, salty, sour and bitter. But in 1908, a Japanese chemist identified the fifth distinctive taste, umami, which roughly translates to “deliciousness” and is strongly associated with savouriness, that taste sensation that leaves people craving more. It’s present in a range of foods, from Doritos to green tea, and is characterized by both flavour and mouthfeel, creating a subtle richness and depth to the foods it interacts with. If you want to play around with flavours and create the best version of the dishes you’re making, just add a hit of umami—you won’t regret it.

Miso

Best known for the soup that accompanies most takeout sushi orders and bento lunches, miso is a ubiquitous and remarkably versatile ingredient in Japanese and Japanese-inspired cooking. It is a fermented soybean paste and comes commonly in three types: white (or shiro, the mildest type), yellow (or shinshu, a moderately pungent type) and red (or aka, the most pungent and longest fermented). Salty, subtly sweet and packed with umami, miso has endless uses: whipped into soups and sauces, as a glaze or marinade for fish and meat, as salad dressing and even baked into brownies. To jazz up your next pasta night, try this miso butter pasta, a super simple and easy weeknight meal that’s sure to surprise your taste buds.

Kimchi

Bright, spicy, tangy and fresh, kimchi is a staple of the Korean diet and has rapidly grown in popularity around the world for its gut-friendly probiotics, versatility and sheer deliciousness. Usually made of Napa cabbage, sea salt, radish, scallions, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and Korean red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru), it can be eaten on its own, chopped and thrown into fried rice, or mixed into a batter to make kimchi pancake.

Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano)

Aged cheeses are a powerhouse of lip-smacking umami, and parmesan—or Parmigiano-Reggiano—is not only one of the most widely available but also the most easily incorporated into any dish. You can shave it over pasta, sprinkle it on pizza and shower it over soups and salads, but parmesan is more than just a seasoning. Try this shaved fennel salad topped with sourdough croutons that turns up the umami with generous parm and wine vinegar.

Kombu

The backbone of Japanese dashi soup stock, kombu is essentially dried kelp. It’s found in many Asian grocery stores, can be stored for a long time, and lends a subtle umami flavour to soups, sauces, stews and even gyoza (Japanese pan-fried dumplings).

Dried shiitake mushroom

The humble dried shiitake mushroom—or powder—is a pantry hero. One soak and they form a great addition to any dish, from pastas to stir-fries. Add a cup of the soaking liquid to enrich your broths, soups and sauces, infusing them with delicate umami flavour. Try this classic Shanghainese braised mushroom and bok choy side dish for the full dried mushroom experience.

MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)

For so long MSG (or Monosodium Glutamate) was given a bad rep, despite its prevalence in everything from Doritos chips to takeout fried chicken. The secret ingredient to enhancing the savouriness of foods, MSG is umami itself: a synthetic version of the naturally occurring compound in all of our favourite umami-rich foods that gives them that extra kick of “ooh, more, please”-ness. On its own and in small doses, MSG works like a totally harmless seasoning—shake some over grilled meat, add it to your dry spices or top off rice and noodle dishes. For a twist on a beloved Peruvian dish, try this ceviche with a sprinkle of MSG.

Anchovies

A truly polarizing ingredient, anchovies very rarely receive a tepid response when they’re atop pizza or slipped into a sandwich. They are briny, funky and mouth-puckeringly salty, and most people either love them or can’t stand ’em. But used with a deft hand, this salt-cured pantry item can boost the umami factor in any pasta, soup or sauce subtly. Don’t believe it? Just consider this simple and classic Caesar salad dressing, that claims to be the best version yet.

Fish sauce

A remarkably versatile condiment, fish sauce usually comprises anchovies, salt and water and adds incredible depth and just the right amount of pungency to salad dressings, stews and grilled meat without overpowering the dish. Nước chấm is a dead simple Vietnamese dipping sauce that can be used to jazz up pork chops, fish, mango salad, spring rolls and more.

Worcestershire sauce

A zippy, vinegary, sweet and umami blend of white vinegar, anchovies, tamarind, and other spices and seasonings, Worcestershire sauce was invented accidentally when chemists John Lea and William Perrins abandoned a batch of vinegar-based seasoning and left it to ferment and develop in flavour. A few dashes will instantly round out and brighten braises, marinades, chilies and stews, and even cocktails, like in this classic Bloody Mary.

Tomato paste

A hyperconcentrated and thus extremely flavourful version of tomato that comes in a can or squeeze tube form, tomato paste is an umami powerhouse used to layer over other ingredients to enhance their savouriness at the early stages of cooking. It has endless uses, including in braises, sautéed vegetables, pasta or pizza sauces, or even with tomato sauce to boost that tomato flavour through the roof.

Soy sauce

Most people are probably already extremely familiar with soy sauce. A staple in Chinese and Japanese cooking, soy sauce is a condiment made from fermented soybeans and wheat, and it’s used to add an acidic saltiness to everything from marinades to sushi rolls. Added to stir-fries or marinades, it helps bring the umami out of every other ingredient. Try this sweet sticky Malaysian chicken, whose flavours contrast splendidly with the freshness of a pineapple salad.

Shrimp paste

The pungency and concentrated funkiness of this South Asian condiment—also known as gapi, kapi, trassi or bagoong—may seem intimidating at first, but just a tiny dollop of this bad boy added to your curries, chilies, meat loaves and soups will instantly give it that fermented umami boost. Use it in place of an anchovy paste in pastas or keep it traditional with this shimp-tastic pad thai.

Dry-cured hams

Dry-cured hams are highly addictive sources of umami. Each step in the process of curing, from the initial salt cure to the long-ripening of the product which increases the glutamates in the meat, helps enhance the umami of your prosciutto, jamón serrano, jamón ibérico, jinhua and other salt-cured pork products. And the best thing about cured meats (other than their taste) is how easy it is to make a meal out of charcuterie.

Popular in the UK and Australia, Marmite and Vegemite spreads are a much loved and widely loathed condiment traditionally made from the yeast extract from the beer brewing process. While most fans of the super-salty and funky concoction are happy just spreading it on a piece of toast, there are plenty of different ways to capitalize on Marmite’sor Vegemite’s umami potential without turning off its many haters. Try it in a marinade, throw a few teaspoons in your stews, or keep it kid-friendly and toss it with some pasta and butter.

Green tea

A super simple way to enjoy umami taste is just by sitting back with a cup of high-quality premium green tea, which has been shown to be loaded with glutamates. However, not just any green tea will do: roasted green teas generally have less umami while premium teas like gyokuro, which is grown in the shade and picked and rolled by hand, have a higher concentration in umami flavour.

Olives

Briny, salty and oily, olives have umami in spades. In their original uncured form, olives are too bitter to consume right from the tree, but once they’ve been salt-cured and packed in oil, they’re delicious enough to eat on their own or to add an umami and meaty punch to any dish, from pizzas to salads.

Beef broth

Beef broth gets its rich umami flavour from collagen-rich bones. It provides a hearty and savoury backdrop for everything from stews to soups and sauces, and can even be consumed on its own for a nutrient-heavy drink to improve everything from gut health to skin. For an extra-umami broth, try this low-sodium bone broth which uses roasted soup bones for an extra layer of richness.

Oysters and champagne

While umami comes in many forms, as we’ve outlined above, arguably the most pure and perfect comes from the union of champagne and oysters. While champagne won’t impart much umami taste on its own, it’s easily eked out with the nucleotides in oysters, which help activate the taste receptors for glutamates and other amino acids linked with umami. It’s this same pairing of nucleotides and glutamates that make ham and cheese, eggs and bacon, and tomato and beef such winning combinations. So, go ahead and splash out the champagne and oysters and cheers to science!

Black garlic

Black garlic is just a regular bulb of garlic that has been aged and naturally fermented over the course of at least three weeks (up to 60 days) in warm and humid temperatures. After this time, naturally occurring enzymes break down the raw garlic cloves, which softens the flavour and turns them soft, jammy and sticky and packed with umami, ready to be thrown into anything in place of roasted garlic. It’s sold at specialty gourmet shops and online, but why not try to make your own?

Sun-dried tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes are just like regular tomatoes but all killer (highly concentrated tomatoey goodness), no filler (water). Any size of tomatoes works, but the smaller types (like Roma, San Marzano, grape or cherry tomatoes) will dry more quickly. Laid out in the sun, they lose up to 90 per cent of their water in the process. This helps concentrate the tomato’s already high amount of glutamates and create the nucleotides to amp up the umami taste even further. Salty, sweet and chewy, this addictive topping is great thrown on a pizza or pasta, and the oil they’re packed in can be used to dress a salad, sauté beans and add some oomph to plain hummus.