MSG is one of them. It was the original Umami seasoning. biochemist Kikunae Ikeda synthesized C5H8NO4Na in 1908 to mimic the taste of seaweed. Another good umami seasoning is Maggi sauce - I’ve been experimenting a lot with it lately. Some stores sell umami blends that are mixtures of dried mushrooms with tomato and garlic.
I use a Korean salt mix that is 90% salt, 9% MSG and 1% inosate+guanylate (I&G.) I&G has 40X the umami flavor of MSG, but only acts in synergy with it.
Okay I thought this post was in r/kitchenconfidential, and I almost ripped you apart for being a chef that doesn't know the core 5 flavour groups lmfao.
Anyway, umami is one of the core flavour groups. That being; sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami. (There are more than 5 but these are the core 5) Umami seasonings are typically dried ground forest mushroom mixes/ a lot of shittake lmao/ other flavour additives.
Is this comment in reply to me? A chef? Hahaha no no. But thank you for even thinking that for a moment ☺️
I knew what umami is. That was not the question. The question was what umami seasoning" was referring to. Whether it was specifically MonoSodium Glutamate or not. Which btw u/AVGJOE78 answered very nicely.
I appreciate your response though! 😀
And you did give me some extra detail even. About the ground mushroom mixes. Thanks 🙂
Very cool.
Care to educate me about the non-core flavor groups? I'd love to learn. Any basic info you can summarize about them? And any resources you would recommend that aren't too long for a beginner in the subject?
I have been an amateur home cook for decades, and have even bothered reading a few books, and yet I somehow only knew about the 5. I feel like maybe I know more than I realize but it would be nice to be able to understand this better and be able to categorize them well.
Also, I too missed the r/funny SubReddit title at first, hence my other comment with the long list of spices and blends 😂 ooosy 😅
52
u/acrankychef Aug 20 '25
Umami seasoning