Umami: the fifth taste discovered in Japan

In short

The fifth taste

People long knew four tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Umami was found to be a fifth taste, caught by the taste buds separately from those four.

It is a taste that makes you want to eat. It is sometimes described as a savory, meaty richness.

Ikeda Kikunae and kombu

Ikeda Kikunae was a professor at Tokyo Imperial University. In 1907 he got glutamate out of kombu seaweed.

Glutamic acid itself was already known, but Ikeda showed that it is the part that gives the umami taste.

The next year he got a patent for a way to make a seasoning with glutamate as the main part, and in 1908 a seasoning made this way went on sale.

Umami in dashi

Umami is at the heart of Japanese cooking. For about 500 years, cooks in Japan have made dashi, a stock that takes the umami out of kombu and katsuobushi (dried bonito).

Glutamate from kombu and inosinate from katsuobushi work together and make the umami of dashi stronger.

Think about it

• Q1Think of a food you like. Which of the five tastes does it have?
• Q2Why do you think kombu and katsuobushi are used together in dashi?
• Q3Is there a stock or soup in your country that is like dashi?

There is no single right answer. Talking it over with someone at home is a good way to learn.