It seems especially obvious that the soup is based on broth, right? Only in the case of Japanese soups is it a special broth - dashi. Its main task is to deliver umami - the legendary fifth taste.
It is necessary
The fact that umami is the fifth taste, enjoying the same rights as sweet, salty, bitter and sour, is no longer in doubt in the modern scientific world. It was identified in 1908 by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, who was researching dashi broth
Instructions
Step 1
In 2001, scientists from the University of San Diego, led by Charles Zucker, discovered receptors in our languages that are responsible for the umami taste. And most interestingly, it turned out that the receptors for this taste (as well as sweet and bitter) are not only on the tongue. But also in the tissues of the digestive system, respiratory system, in the brain and even in the testicles (scientists are still puzzling over this).
Step 2
Let us add that the list of main scents is expanding. There have been reports of the identification of a sixth basic taste, "fat". Several research teams have identified receptors and corresponding regions in the brain that respond to fat breakdown products, i.e. fatty acids, as well as sweet taste receptors that respond to sugar breakdown products. In the case of the minds, these are protein breakdown products. But this is not the end! Scientists from the University of California at Santa Barbara are following the trail of taste 7 - limestone, but so far only on a fruit fly.
Step 3
Umami is a very volatile and complex taste for us, consumers of more Western culture. Michael Pollan writes of gustatory synesthesia: "It makes water taste like food." But there is no shortage of minds in our broths. When we cook broth for a long time, the protein chains from meat and many vegetables, such as onions, break down into amino acids, which are the main source of umami.
Step 4
Now attention! The most important compound that induces umami taste perception is glutamic acid, which is usually in the form of a salt. Yes, the exact same monosodium glutamate labeled E-621 associated with processed, fake pseudo food. Meanwhile, monosodium glutamate is a natural ingredient in many types of foods. Tomatoes contain 0.14% monosodium glutamate, beef - 0.1%, mackerel - 0.22%, parmesan - 1.2% and kombu seaweed up to 2.2%. Glutamic acid is released when the temperature rises and during the fermentation process. This is why ripening cheese or miso paste contains a lot of it. Try focusing once on the taste of a good ripening cheese and you will feel the hints of meat and broth in it?
Step 5
And at the same time, in products with fatal quality, this is a cunning trick of manufacturers who want to convince us that soybean pulp is grandma's ham. What's going on here
Step 6
In a chemical sense, E-621 and glutamate from combi-algae are exactly the same substance. It's all about how we react to minds. When we taste the kombu seaweed broth, it tastes distinctly. But the most important impression is the density. Taste is by definition the chemical sensation responsible for detecting non-volatile compounds in potential food. An innate reaction to taste serves as a guide to what is nourishing, or as a warning about what is dangerous. Sweet and hypothetical "fat" means energy, salty - mineral salts, sour and bitter - anxiety due to rot and poison, and "limestone" warns the fruit fly that food contains toxic calcium ions for it.
Step 7
Umami is a signal to us. Attention squirrels! It will be satisfying! Eat! Even more interesting, the presence of umami enhances the sense of taste. It is not entirely clear how exactly. There are hypotheses according to which monosodium glutamate induces other molecules that cause the perception of certain aromas to persist longer on taste buds. Anyway, umami means more flavor. This is why we love to drink wine with aged cheese. This is why when we are hungry we think of broth. Therefore, to create the basis for many dishes, we will start with garlic and onions. Amino acid and sulfur compounds - sulfoxides are flavor enhancers. Therefore, we put dried porcini mushrooms in borscht - this is another source of umami. This is guanosine-5'-monophosphate, found in mushrooms. In 1960, Akira Kuninaka discovered it in a shiitake mushroom. Fish sauce also gives flavor to Thai dishes. Inosine monophosphate, present in fish, is another compound that makes minds feel.
Step 8
It is these effects that are exploited by crooks in the food industry. For them, a substance that can convince our brain that water is food, and in addition, enhance the sense of taste - this is the Holy Grail.
Step 9
All cultures are looking for umami, but the Japanese have an edge. Because in their hands is kombu seaweed, which contains the most glutamate of all food ingredients. Traditional Japanese shops are exclusively dedicated to the sale of kombu. These are black dried algae, in the form of flat sheets that smell like prunes.
