Fifth Taste ( also known as ) Umami

Fifth Taste  also The UMAMI

We might wonder "What is that taste? ". I was excited to learn every new thing about food in my culinary training days. It also reminds me of the time as a student that I enjoyed most. Every day as a culinary art student, I learned all tips and tricks about daily food-related subjects. "UMAMI" was one of the interesting topics too.

There are four types of taste in this world that everybody knows.
"Sweet, Sour, Salty and Bitter" are basic tastes that we deal with our food on a daily basis.
Then wondering "What is UMAMI?". Umami is the fifth taste that culinary professionals are familiar with. For most people in food service who might deal with it every day by not knowing it.
We can define easily and say "It is just MSG".

This type of mysterious flavor can be found in ingredients such as soy sauce, fish sauce, mushroom, Dashi (Japanese Dried Tuna fish), tofu, nuts, cheese, and beans. If we research it, we can find extensive data and history of UMAMI. Dairy products such as yogurt, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and mozzarella cheese are also the umami-rich ingredients too.

The Truffle mushroom is very rich in its umami flavor which also happens to be my favorite ingredient in the mushroom group. People may think the mushroom is ugly and really bitter, but it is really sweet and pungent flavor itself.

The recipe I would like to share today is just a cream of mushroom soup. We all might be wondering how does it relate to Umami. This is because of the rich flavor of mushroom and heavy cream to enhance the taste. Like the instant cream of mushroom soup, it is also easy to prepare for everybody who loves a creamy soup. Despite these similarities, this homemade recipe includes many fresh ingredients and is very beneficial to one's nutrition.

Creamy Mushroom Soup (5 serving)

1.5 cups     Bottom Mushroom fine chopped
1 cups        Heavy whipping cream or  ( 2 cups) half and half
4 tbsp        Flour
4 tbsp        Butter
1 Qt          Chicken Broth ( May use Vegetable Broth for vegetarian)
1 Qt           2% milk
1 tbsp        Parsley fine chopped
2 tsp          Salt
1 tsp          Pepper
1/2 cup      Fine chopped onion
1 count      Bay leaves
1tbsp         Melted butter

Instructions

1. In 6 qt pot, add butter and let it melt with very low heat then add the flour then stir slowly.

2. When the flour no longer sticks to the pan and it starts to blend with butter, add the cream and milk into the pot. Turn up the heat to medium. (May use the handheld whip to stir so there is no longer be the lump of flour in the soup)

3. Do not forget to stir while simmering the cream to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

4. When the cream starts bubbling, add the chicken broth to the soup together with bay leaf.
Then let it simmer with medium-low heat to boil the soup for about 15 more minutes.

5. In the separate stir-fry pan, add the butter on the stove top with medium heat together with chopped onion.

6. Stir the onion with butter to become translucent and flavorful.

7. Then add the chopped mushroom into the pan and cook together with onion for 5 minutes.

8. Add the cooked onion and mushroom into the soup pot then let it simmer again for 15 more minutes.

9. Finally, add the salt and pepper to the soup for your own taste.

10. Garnish with chopped parsley on top before serving in the bowl. It will be nice to enjoy the soup together with toasted French or focaccia bread.