Umami; alongside salty, sweet, sour and bitter; is one of the basic tastes. Associated with "savoriness", the term was coined in Japan in the last century, but it can be found in lots of cuisines. It's been said that incorporating umami into the vegan diet can help one in making the transition from omnivore to herbivore:
Some ways to incorporate umami into the vegan diet? Here are a few:
- mushrooms
- nuts
- avocado
- olives
- seaweed
What do you think? Are these ingredients a good source of umami for vegans? Do you have any recommendations to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below!
Related: Ingredient Spotlight: Fermented Black Beans
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I'm a complete nutritional yeast convert. I don't even buy parmesan cheese anymore because I like the nutritional yeast better on my pasta.
Be careful with nutritional yeast, it has properties similar to MSG. The most notable downside to this is that people who get migraines may want to shy away from nutritional yeast.
I would never spread it on toast, but I like using small amounts of Marmite as a bass note when I'm making gravy for an umami punch.
Don't forget tomatoes. Especially the gel around the seeds, tomatoes are high in glutamates, the basic chemical that supplies umami.
I am confused about umami, what is it? a food or a flavor?
Soy sauce has been umami-ing my dishes lately, especially soups.
@smooshmallow It is a flavor...I believe (I could be wrong and often am) it translates to deliciousness. It is a sort of indescribable (not sweet, salty, sour, etc) flavor.
I really love umeboshi vinegar!
It is definitely a flavor - the best description I've heard is 'earthiness'. It is by far my favorite flavor - I'll take umami over sweet, sour, salty or bitter any day.
There's a great article about unami on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15819485
Balsamic vinegar, actually. I bet other vinegars are good too but it's what I have around. If you add just the right amount you get a lovely umami flavor before the pucker.
What is with all of the vegan recipes?????
@JeanBugs-I think this is vegan week, last week was soup week.
Okay, I think I get it. My husband likes to get down with umami he enjoys earthy, briny flavors.
I second the tomato comment! Especially tomato paste. Also red wine.
jeanbugs, its vegan week at thekitchn.
All good suggestions- tamari and alcohol are the main sources of umami I use. I add wine so most savoury dishes, it works wonders. Marmite is also a delicious way to add salty umami flavour, plus B12 (50% RDI per serving!) I'm a big fan of miso and if you want less salt, buy darker miso- the darker the miso, the stronger the flavour, so the less you have to use. Vegan worcestershire sauce is handy for umami too, as are roasted nuts and seeds.
Caramelized or roasted vegetables also add their own umami flavour to foods- try roasting your vegetable scraps for stock or caramelizing your onions instead of just sweating them out in a stir-fry.
Yes. I like soy sauce and mushrooms best as a source of umami. Although small amounts of nori are great, too.
My go-to umami elements are sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms (especially shiitake and porcini), olives, nutritional yeast, Bragg's, and aged balsamic. My favorite application of vegan umami is in my shiitake bacon. Yumtown.