The Hilo Meishoin Mission monthly newsletter is often full of history and interesting facts about the people and places of Japan. Reverend Junshin Miyazaki is great if you are interested in getting information about your family tree or knowing where your grandparents lived in Japan.
Rev. Miyazaki’s October 2024 newsletter is as follows:
“Four basic tastes have long been known: salty, bitter, sour and sweet. The fifth basic taste umami was founded by a Japanese chemist, Dr. Kikunae Ikeda. Ikeda was born in Kyoto in 1864. His father Harunae Ikeda was a samurai of the Satsuma clan. The shogun government ended in 1868. Harunae was a progressive and gave Kikunae a good education. However, his business failed, and the family became impoverished. Kikunae left home and went to Tokyo by himself when he was 17.
“He graduated from the Department of chemistry at the University of Tokyo with a scholarship from the government, and after teaching at a teacher’s college for seven years, he became an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo in 1896. In 1899, he went to Germany on a government scholarship to study physical chemistry for two years, then spent another five months in England, returning to Japan in 1901.
“He was interested in practical applied research. He obtained dozens of patents during his lifetime. In the spring of 1907, his wife bought some dashi kombu (kelp). There were four types of taste: salty, sweet, sour and bitter, but Kikunae believed that dashi kombu had a taste other than those four. Kikunae came up with the idea that he could extract the flavor component from the kombu. He boiled large quantities of kombu and studied its ingredients. In 1908, Kikunae discovered that the component of the taste was glutamic acid, which he named umami. He patented a process for producing a seasoning using glutamic acid.
“Kikunae approached Saburosuke Suzuki, Jr., a businessman he knew, about commercializing glutamine acid. The product was named Ajinomoto, and sales began in May 1909 by Suzuki Shoten. Ajinomoto was imported to Hawaii as early as 1910. The Suzuki Shoten opened an office in New York in 1917. The company grew and in 1946 changed its name to Ajinomoto Co. In 1963, it partnered with Kellogg’s to launch corn flakes in Japan. The famous ‘Hondashi’ showed up in 1970. Dr. Kikunae Ikeda held important positions and died in 1936 at the age of 71. The cauldron he used to boil the kelp is still kept at the University of Tokyo.”
Here are some interesting facts about umami taste:
Umami helps us recognize amino acids and proteins. Since proteins are vital to our health, it is an important taste.,
The purest form of umami is in monosodium glutamate, which is Ajinomoto!
In recent studies, it was revealed that the presence of umami receptors are in the tongue as well in the stomach.
Seaweeds are great sources of umami taste. They are low in calories and high in nutrients and antioxidants. 3.5 ounces, or 100 grams, of ransu kombu has 2,290-3,380 mg of glutamate. The nori in sushi has 550-1,350 mg and although wakame has only 2-50 mg of glutamate, it is still a very healthy food.
When soybeans are processed and fermented, it raises their total glutamate content as proteins are broken down into free amino acids, particularly glutamic acid. Soy sauce has 400-1,700 mg of glutamic acid, miso has 200 – 700 mg.
The longer cheese ages, the higher the amounts of glutamic acid, or umami flavors, are present. As cheese ages, their proteins break down into free amino acids through a process called proteolysis, which raises the levels of free glutamic acid. Parmigiano Reggiano cheese has 1,200-1,680 mg of glutamic acid, comte cheese has 539-1,570 mg, Roquefort has 471 mg, and Emmenental has 310 mg.
Kimchi is vegetables that are fermented with Lactobacillus bacteria, which breaks down the vegetables by producing digestive enzymes such as proteases, lipases and amylases. Proteases break down protein molecules in kimchi into free amino acids through proteolysis. This raises levels of umami compounds.
Green tea is high in glutamic acid, which gives this drink a sweet and bitter taste. 3.5 ounces of green tea yields 220-670 mg of glutamic acid.
Some seafoods have both glutamic and inosinate or disodium inosinate. Anchovies have 630 mg of glutamic acid, shrimp has 120 mg of glutamic acid and 90 grams of inosinate, dried baby sardines have 40-50 mg of glutamic acid and 350-800 mg of inosinate.
Tomatoes are one of the best plant-based sources of umami flavor. 3.5 ounces yields 150-250 mg of glutamic acid and dried tomatoes, 650-1.140 mg. Drying tomatoes raises umami flavors as it reduces the moisture and concentrates the flavors.
Dried shiitake mushrooms have 1,060 mg of glutamic acid, while common mushrooms have 40-110 mg and truffles have 60-80 mg.
Oyster sauce has 900 mg of glutamic acid per 3.5 ounces.
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.
