5 Easy Umami Boosters to Make Your Food Even Better

bon appétit magazine

Alison Roman



Miso-Tofu Ranch Dip
Miso-Tofu Ranch Dip

When Wired asked us to help with their food issue, we didn't have to think twice. After all, they might have had the last word on all things tech, but we have a test kitchen. Then we heard they were exploring umami, the savory "fifth taste" experienced when chewing a perfectly seared steak or nibbling a hunk of Parmesan, and we got even more excited. This was a chance to go deep on one of our favorite subjects. So we reached out to David Chang's Momofuku Culinary Lab, where Dan Felder, head of R&D, spends his days coaxing the flavor from a range of ingredients.

"Creating umami from scratch is something we take very seriously," says Felder. "We're constantly thinking about new ways to achieve it." And that's exactly what he did. Felder created three recipes-all of them umami bombs-one for BA, the others for our friends at Wired. And that was just the beginning. We talked to Felder and Momofuku Ssam Bar chef de cuisine Matthew Rudofker about how the lab and the restaurants work together to pack umami into diners' meals-and we caught it on tape.

Do Try This at Home: Momofuku Culinary Lab's Five Easy Umami Boosters

MISO: Somewhere between a bouillon cube and tomato paste, miso's concentrated flavor (and versatility) means you only need a little to boost salad dressings, marinades, sautés, braises-you name it.

PARMESAN: Is there anything a little Parmesan can't improve? Throwing a hunk-rind and all-into your chicken soup[ or any meat or vegetable stock is an instant flavor game-changer.

KOMBU: Steeping (not simmering) this dried seaweed in water before making stock, soup, and even vinaigrettes lends a delicate salinity and off-the-charts complexity.

DRIED SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS: Pulverize them in a blender to make a powder and mix with salt to finish grilled or roasted meats and vegetables. Think of it as umami dust.

TOMATOES: The simplest path to umami, ripe tomatoes are naturally high in glutamate. Coarsely grate and stir into vinaigrettes or simmer with kombu for a tomato dashi (add Parm for even more punch).

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