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Kombu and shaved katsuobushi side by side
  • Concept
  • 旨味の相乗効果

Umami synergy

One plus one makes eight.

Umami synergy is when two umami compounds together taste far more than the sum of their parts. Glutamate on its own gives a clear but modest umami. Add inosinate from fish or meat, or guanylate from dried mushrooms, and the intensity multiplies. The effect has been measured: at a 1:1 ratio of glutamate to inosinate, the umami is perceived as seven to eight times stronger than either compound alone. That is the whole reason Japanese broths are almost never made from a single ingredient.

Background

Facts

The compounds
glutamate (an amino acid) is amplified by inosinate (from fish and meat) or guanylate (from dried mushrooms)
Strength
strongest at roughly 1:1 glutamate to inosinate, when perceived umami is seven to eight times more intense than the compounds on their own
Classic pairs
kombu plus katsuobushi (awase dashi), kombu plus niboshi, and kombu plus dried shiitake for a vegetarian broth
In practice
an analysis of the ichiban dashi at a storied Japanese restaurant showed a ratio of exactly 1:1, meaning the kitchen had found the optimum without ever measuring
Outside Japan
the same mechanism is at work in Parmesan on tomato sauce and bacon in pea soup, so it is not Japanese as such, just used most deliberately in Japan

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