umami

American  

[oo-mah-mee] / uˈmɑ mi /

noun

1. a strong meaty taste imparted by glutamate and certain other amino acids: often considered to be one of the basic taste sensations along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.

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Etymology

Origin of umami

First recorded in 1960–65; from Japanese: literally, “savory quality, delicious taste,” equivalent to uma-, the inflectional stem of umai “(to be) delicious” + -mi, a suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives

Example Sentences

Savory elements can come early or late, depending on what they are — meat and tomato paste benefit from time, while miso, soy and other delicate sources of umami are often better stirred in toward the end.

From Salon

“You can achieve a gorgeous slightly umami and sweet flavor by blending steamed or canned sweet corn kernels with oat milk and straining it,” she explains.

From Salon

For those who aren’t big on crafting their own syrups or infusions, Rajendran recommends experimenting with fermented, umami flavors made from fiber-containing foods, like miso, tahini and gochujang, and adding them to your lattes for a hint of savory.

From Salon

It adds depth to weeknight beef stew when hours of simmering aren’t on the table, and lends a savory, umami backbone to mushroom stroganoff that tastes far more intentional than the effort required.

From Salon

You’ve got your pickle plates and umami popcorns, lupini beans and housemade Cheez-Its, smoked oyster dips and caviar on absolutely everything.

From The Wall Street Journal