june-2010

59
and then a large piece of kombu. “Do you see how when the
light hits it, it has that rich green color?” he asks. “That’s
what you want.”
Soon, we’re sampling bonito fl ake, fresh dashi and
fantastically delicate sous-vide experiments with sea bass
and mushrooms. The chef fi elds a few questions:
What’s the point of using a light soy sauce? “It’s better for dishes
that require salt.” How would you describe umami? “A ‘mouthfi
lling’ deliciousness.” I brined cod at home last night and it tasted
weird—why? “I’m not sure...”
Cimarusti is just back from Japan, where he worked with
Yoshihiro Murata, a three-Michelin-star superchef who
owns Kyoto’s famous Kikunoi restaurant. Murata is highly
admired for his dashi, which is made with soft spring water.
“You need to steep your kombu for an hour at a hundred and
forty degrees for the best dashi,” Cimarusti says. “After a lot
of research, Murata found he could extract the maximum
“The dishes that are most iconic in
our culture are very rich in umami,”
says chef Michael Cimarusti. “A BLT
is like an umami bomb.”
amount of glutamic acid by working at this slow pace.”
We nod dutifully, taking careful notes, as Cimarusti, who
grew up eating his share of red sauce, moves on to umami’s
importance in other cuisines. “The dishes that are most
iconic, even in our culture, are very rich in umami,” he says.
“A great example is a BLT or spaghetti and meatballs—that’s
like an umami bomb.”
On the way home, inspired to experiment in the kitchen, I hit
a Japanese grocery store. Unable to fi nd the precise ingredients
I need to make a true high-end dashi, I pick up some MSG
in a salt shaker. The next day I cook a homemade chicken
mushroom soup with a little soy sauce for some friends. They
lap it up—umami victory. Then we all add a touch of the MSG,
and the fl avors really do seem to deepen.
Tsai calls this cheating, of course, and he has a solution. “If I
had to make a natural umami dust, I would take soy powder—
maybe even some really fi ne-ground Parmigiano-Reggiano and
bonito fl ake, which has a nice smokiness,” he says, adding that
Chinese chefs have their own name for umami, one that means
“lingering savoriness”: wei dao.
I’m back to tasting 100 percent now, but I have new problem:
I’m looking for umami everywhere. In everything. All the
time. Note to anyone inclined to invite me to a barbecue: If I ask
for shiitake mushrooms and parmesan on my burger, you’ll
understand. Ketchup is no longer enough.
L.A.-based writer and avid cook ADAM BAER vows never to use MSG
again—unless, of course, he’s in a rush.
WE LOVE HOW
EASY IT IS