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Umami: The Fifth Flavor Type

The human body has five senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Scientists long believed that for taste, there were only four basic qualities, called: sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. The chart below shows foods associated with each of them.

Tongues have thousands of receptors specifically attuned to each of these taste elements.

In 1908, a Japanese scientist, Kikunae Ikeda, proposed the existence of a fifth taste type that he called umami (pleasant savory taste). Many foods were identified that contain the elements that produce that taste. Receptors on tongues were eventually discovered that specifically react to umami, and it was officially accepted as a fifth taste element in 1985. Though sometimes called savory, the Japanese word, umami, has been accepted as its formal scientific name.

The following chart supplements the one above.

Kobu (dried kelp)

Japan has 18,486 miles of coastline which is home to over 100 species of edible seaweed. Many of them are various species of kelp. The kind of kelp popular for use in making dashi and other things is shredded kombu in English and dashi-kombu in Japanese. Its Latin name is Laminaria angustata.

Every part of dashi-kombu is edible. It can be eaten raw or cooked. It is highly nutritious with many vitamins and minerals, and it is a source of iodine. Much of dashi-kombu is dried

Dried dashi-kombu is called simply konbu. When cut up and available for use, it is a prime ingredient for dashi.

A Side Note About Nori: Nori is commonly believed to be a type of dried seaweed.

Niboshi (dried anchovy)

Anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) are small fish that swarm in schools of thousands. They mostly live in temperate waters around the world including the northern Pacific.

A characteristic of theirs is that anchovy schools swim synchronously. This GIF shows sardines swimming, but anchovies exhibit the same behavior.

When dried, anchovies become niboshi. Japanese often eat them right out of the package, much like others eat potato chips.

Hanakatsuo (tuna shavings)

The second dashi ingredient, niboshi, is sometimes replaced by hanakatsuo. Bonito tuna is often its source. 

When caught, cleaned, and dried, paper thin shavings are made to create hanakatsuo. 

Dried Shiitake (shiitake mushrooms)

There are over 13,000 mushroom species around the world including ones called toadstools. Only about 2,200 mushroom species are considered to be safely edible. The rest range from inedible to highly highly highly toxic. The worst ones can cause severe symptoms within 24 hours and multiple organ failure and death in 3 to 5 agonizing days. Only about 650 edible mushroom species have been widely studied. In other words, if you are not a mushroom expert, stick with commercially sold varieties.

There are around 8 mushroom species that are widely popular in Japanese cuisine. The most popular is shiitake (literally: wood mushroom because it grows on hardwoods). Common names for shiitake are Chinese black mushroom and black forest mushroom. Its Latin name is Lentinus edodes. They are best when the fruiting body has a white stem and a brown cap.

Shiitake are highly nutritious, containing vitamins A, B2, B12, C, and D; trace elements of calcium, copper, iron, selenium, zinc, and manganese; and numerous enzymes. They contain compounds that support heart health and boost the immune system.

As said above, shiitake grow on wood.

Commercial shiitake growing in Japan is done in outdoor forest farms or in hot houses. The ones grown outdoors are considered to have the best flavor, but they are more expensive, and harvests are at risk from pests and weather. Growers drill holes in cut hardwood logs and fill the holes with plugs containing shiitake spores. It takes two years for the logs to begin yielding harvestable shiitake. Thereafter, there can be multiple harvests annually for several years.

Once harvested, shiitake is sold fresh or dried for long-term storage and use. It is dried shiitake that is used in dashi making.

Waste Not, Want Not

The tray in the photo below contains all four of the dashi ingredients, though normally only three are used. Two are konbu (kelp) and shiitake. The third ingredient is usually either niboshi (anchovies) or hanakatsuo (bonito shavings); rarely both. The yellow liquid to the right is what dashi looks like.

Cooks making their own dashi can use these ingredients three times.

The first time, they are placed in water in a sealed bowl and stored in the refrigerator overnight. Filter out the solid ingredients in the morning, and the dashi, the remaining liquid, is ready for use.

The second time, the ingredients are boiled in water along with a small portion of fresh ones. Afterward, remove the solids again, and the liquid dashi remains.

The third time, the solid ingredients are diced and sprinkled atop food like rice or added to other dishes for flavor.

Misoshiru (miso soup)

Dashi is used with many Japanese dishes. The one that is the best known outside of Japan is misoshiru. It is a common staple in Japanese restaurants in the U.S. The recipe is simple. Start with dashi. Stir in miso (fermented soybean paste).

Add tōfu cubes and chopped green onion. An optional extra is often wakame; packaged dried seaweed that softens in water.

Heat and serve.

Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1865)

In his own time, Kunisada was regarded as one of the greatest of the late Edo Period (1603 – 1868) ukiyo-e masters, focusing mainly on bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful people). His reputation faded soon afterward, but recently, his body of work has been re-evaluated, and he is once again recognized as one of the best of his time. This 1864 print, Seaweed from Shinagawa, shows a young lady preparing to eat. Depicted in the background are the kelp fields of Shinagawa Bay. Could misoshiru be in one of the bowls?

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858)

Hiroshige was one of Japan's greatest ukiyo-e masters. He is best known for his landscapes, but he painted many other subjects, too. His Bonito and Top Shells (1830s) is a kachō-ga (birds and flowers painting). There is an iris in there, too.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 – 1861) 

Kuniyoshi painted in a wide range of genres: landscapes, bijin-ga, kabuki actors, cats, and mythical creatures among them. He managed to incorporate elements of Western art in some of his work. His landscape below, Seaweed-gatherers at Omori, was produced in the 1830 to 1835 timeframe.

Shibata Zeshin (1807 – 1891)

Known as Japan's greatest painter using lacquer as a medium, Zeshin is also known for delicate paintings on other media, too, like this ink on paper painting. Produced in the 1880s, its title is Wild mushrooms called "Ling Zhi" and Long Pine Needles. Those aren't shiitake, but they look interesting anyway.

Toshikata Mizuno  (1866 - 1908)

After being trained by masters, Mizuno's professional career began at age 17 as a newspaper illustrator. He soon opened his own printmaking studio. This was at a time when the public's interest in traditional prints was at a low point. Everything Western was "cool." The advent of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894/95 stimulated the public's interest in prints again for a few years. Hundreds of designs were created and sold like hotcakes. Mizuno's war prints were among the best because they were composed like paintings. Doing a bit of everything, Mizuno still managed to pursue a career as a serious painter and print maker. His 1893 print below is from a series titled Thirty-six Elegant Selections. It is titled Gathering Mushrooms: Women of the Shôtoku Era (1711 - 1716).