Unexpected Solutions: Umami, Umami, Your Source for Umami

We’ve been creating umami since 1964 so you could say we know a thing or two about umami. And while we talk a lot about umami flavors we felt it was time to put a spotlight on the ingredients that deliver umami and how easy it can be to add it to your applications with amazing, mouthwatering results.

It Starts with the Ingredients

Tomato, Parmesan, mushrooms, red meat, soy sauce…these ingredients all contain natural glutamates from amino acids that produce umami. When they are added to a dish, the mouth begins to water and you know immediately that you want more. It has been discovered that babies experience umami in utero as amniotic fluid contains umami which could explain why they like it in there so much! It really is a fifth taste that is a craveable experience. In a recent radio spot, Trader Joe’s showcased umami in their Trader Ming’s Shiitake Mushroom Chicken. Trader Joes is definitely putting umami squarely in the spotlight and educating even more consumers on umami and its effect. Here is a list of several umami ingredients, many you might know – some might be new information:

Tomato

Parmesan

Shiitake mushrooms

Kombu

Fish sauce

Bonito flakes

Marmite

Soy Sauce

Truffles

Anchovy or Miso

And Ends with YUM-ami

In product development, it isn’t easy to add fresh ingredients to application so we require other ingredients. Here’s the unexpected solution: The Nikken Umami Pantry. We have over 20 different ingredients all designed to add umami in unexpected places in unique ways. You can find them here – we make it easy to request free samples to keep on your bench top for experimentation. Play around with our fish sauce powder or one of our mind blowing Umami Medleys®, created from a blend of umami ingredients guaranteed to give a jolt of umami.

And we’d love to help with technical tips and solutions to get just the right level of umami in your applications. We’ve been serious about umami since 1964 and our ingredients don’t just add umami…they create YUM-ami.