How to make your food 30x more delicious

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You’ve heard a lot about umami, but you probably don’t know the full story.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆-𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆:
-Clausen, MP.; Christensen, M; Djurhuus, TH; Duelund, L; Mouritsen, OG. (2018). The quest for umami: can sous vide contribute?. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 13:129-133. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2018....
-Kumazawa, T.; Kurihara, K. (1990). Large synergism between monosodium glutamate and 5'-nucleotides in canine taste nerve responses. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 259(3), R420-R426. doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.1990....
-Schmidt, Charlotte Vinther; Olsen, Karsten; Mouritsen, Ole G. (2020). Umami synergy as the scientific principle behind taste-pairing champagne and oysters. Scientific Reports, 10(1): 20077. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77...
-Mouritsen, Ole G., Klavs Styrbæk, Jonas Drotner Mouritsen, and Mariela Johansen (2014). Umami: Unlocking the Secrets of the Fifth Taste. Columbia University Press. doi.org/10.7312/mour16890.
-Mouritsen, O. & Khandelia, H. (2012). Molecular mechanism of the allosteric enhancement of the umami taste sensation. The FEBS Journal, 279(17). doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-4658.2...
-Schmidt, C.V., Mouritsen, O.G., 2022. Umami taste as a driver for sustainable eating. International Journal of Food Design 7: 187-203. doi.org/10.1386/ijfd_00045_3
-Yamaguchi, S. (1967). The Synergistic Taste Effect of Monosodium Glutamate and Disodium 5′-Inosinate. Journal of Food Science, 32(4), 473-478. doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1...
-Zhang, F.; Klebansky, B.; Fine, R. M.; Xu, H.; Pronin, A.; Liu, H.; Tachdjian, C.; Li, X. (2008). Molecular mechanism for the umami taste synergism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(52), 20930-20934. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0810174106
𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 (𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲) 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀:
-www.umamiinfo.com/umamidb/
-www.ramenchemistry.com/blog/ta...
-www.americastestkitchen.com/c...
-www.theatlantic.com/health/ar...
-www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/di...
-scienceandfooducla.wordpress....
-www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/di...
𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝘀:
- • MSG is neither terribl...
- • Everything You Need to...
- • Dan and Kenji Use MSG ...
- • The Science of Why Bac...
- • Why yeast extract is i...
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:
-Dr. Ole Mouritsen, Professor (emeritus) of Gastrophysics and Culinary Food Innovation at the University of Copenhagen
MinuteFood is created by Kate Yoshida, Arcadi Garcia & Bill Mead, and produced by Neptune Studios LLC.
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[@MinuteFood]

Thanks Bright Cellars for sponsoring this video and for the limited-time offer! Click here bit.ly/BrightCellarsMinuteFood to get $100 off your subscription and a free wine tote.

[@suchitraranibar9986]

So why indian food is more tasty without nucleotides I think indians love vegetable so much they start to hate meat and nucleotides or something

[@MultiLeandrini]

We're close to needing a full on course on this cooking science

[@Duspende]

One might even say a Crash Course

[@feynstein1004]

It's called Food Wars 😉

[@luzellemoller6621]

Ya

[@Himechinachae]

Food chem 😅

[@amphibiland7315]

@@feynstein1004NO

[@lachlansmart2373]

I always add both fresh and dried mushrooms, and a spoonful of vegemite into my mushroom risotto. Now I know why it works.

[@sueelliott4793]

I love vegemite with lots of butter on my corn on the cob, vegemite with everything. Ahhhh!! avocado vegemite toast.

[@zes3813]

wrggg

[@reecopeaco1004]

How did you find out about it

[@hitaishibarai9062]

As a non drinker I have always wondered why people who consume alcohol eat meat and drink alcohol at the same time.....

[@wobblysauce]

That is one point and another is it is a good way to hide a drinking problem

[@6023barath]

It makes a lot more sense now

[@danz9268]

I love that "after taste" if you immediately eat a grilled meat after you chug down a glass of beer.

[@gr18.n1k]

@@wobblysaucebro…

[@ItemHazard]

This makes sense on why in Korea they eat chicken and beer together so much

[@ZestyTime233]

Forget having a sweet tooth, i have a full set of Umami chompers, i can't get enough of that savoury kick! 🍴💕

[@bds8715]

umami mouth 👅😂

[@brukujinbrokujin7802]

Japan people have the best knowledge of umami. All their food are weirdly combined, yet taste great

[@brukujinbrokujin7802]

And if you kike stronger taste, go to south east asian countries. Their food are Umami with spices. Super strong.

[@user-bx8sj6qm3w]

Chinese food and Italian food as well! Best go to recipes for me.

[@thanosal-titan]

​​@@brukujinbrokujin7802That's a gift and a cursed at the same time for us. We often find ourselves not really enjoying many foreign cuisines because most of the time those foreign foods are just too bland and tasteless for our tounge

[@chappy3125]

Japanese gets old after a few meals sadly

[@jakeehrlich8113]

I’ve said this before. I’ve spent a lot of time teaching myself this stuff and you did an amazing job of summarizing it all here. Makes me feel a lot less special for knowing this stuff! Good job!

[@Yupppi]

In short: almost every recipe in existence and majority of your fridge/cupboard contains glutamates and nucleotides to make your food taste super umami.

[@DominikJaniec]

6:12 I love the use of this broken calculator, it excellently shows issues with math in kitchen ;)

[@UnemptyVoid]

As someone from Korea, I was always disappointed that English didn't have a word for 고소함 I feel like, especially in American media, people just throw the word in without knowing what Umami actually means, and I am happy to see videos actually explaining it deeply. In korean it is really simple, it basically means something between richness, buttery, savory-ness. A good example may be something like sesame oil, to even potato chips.

[@Omnilatent]

As a vegan who loves cooking, I was surprised how many of these combinations I "accidentally" use every day. Soy sauce and yeast flakes are my standard in virtually all my cooked food. Now I just get more of those dried shiitake shrooms!

[@BeesAndSunshine]

Before going vegan I hadn't heard of nutritional yeast, mushroom seasoning, or vegemite and oh man was I missing out.

[@Omnilatent]

@@BeesAndSunshine Same!

[@Metqa]

I"m neither vegan nor vegetarian, but I absolutely adore nutritional yeast, especially on popcorn. I'd take that seasoning over cheddar . Vegemite is another weird and wonderful product. and Miso Paste is just pure cooking gold. Take some dried mushrooms and powder them in a coffee grinder and shake it on everything. You will love it. Working in an health food store, I got to sample lots of product from the bulk bin or as they were going out of date. getting chances to try to cook up products so people would try it and buy it. Tofu, marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil, dredged with nutritional yeast and lightly pan fried is such a hit that a local Taco Stand offers it as its meat substitute in their mega burrito.

[@habitsofsuccess4322]

What I learned: The more I exercise, the more tasty I get

[@kevincarfray1091]

This perspective is fantastic. Well played 😂😂😂

[@leemorry535]

I love getting to actually know how the taste/food works so I can hack my cooking skills!

[@StratosFair]

Really appreciate the gorgeous drawings and animations in these vids :)

[@SgtSupaman]

I knew there had to be a scientific reason why putting cheese on meat always made it better.

[@lesleygarrett4223]

grilled goats cheese on a steak is too incredible to describe

[@somanayr]

I wonder if the interaction between glutamates and nucleotides is one reason why some people like Clamato (Clam + Tomato juice)? I was always too afraid to try it

[@thomasi.4981]

That sounds likely! I've only eaten clam maybe once so I don't associate that "something else" in Clamato with clam mentally so I've never been weirded out. I just approach it as tomato juice. That said, pretty sure most people are put off by clam because of it's weird sliminess.but in a drink all shredded to oblivion, that doesn't really apply anymore...

[@bigbeefscorcho]

I’ve always been huge on savory flavors so it was not surprising that most of the most umami forward dishes/ingredients are many of my favorites! Learned so much from this video, thank you

[@eileennono5039]

That's Japanese cuisine for you. Cook with umami intense foods, then add some powdered MSG for extra measure.

[@mrhouzef.]

Super interesting to know about the science behind these great food pairing and this "umami synergy" as a cook. Thank you for your videos!

[@RaskylC]

love that the spoon isnt straight down in the shot but angled slightly to the right , its really pleasing idk why

[@dryzalizer]

Incredible video, I learned so much! Thank you!

[@ximbomike]

Genius as always!

[@BIGWUNuvDbunch]

Absolutely godtier content as always. No wonder I love shiitake maki!

[@PCDisciple]

Incredibly underrated channel, great content, knowledge and narration!

[@michaeln9931]

Just started watching the channel. That was probably the best sponsor segue I've seen on youtube. Holy moly that was good.

[@LavenderLushLuxury]

The BEST Food Science, KZbin Channel *Chef's Kiss* 👌👌👌

[@elishuster5943]

I'm sooo glad you mentioned shitakes! They're my favorite.

[@EliasMheart]

In regards to the transition at the end: Drinking wine with *some* mushrooms can be problematic for your health. This only really matters (afaik) for people who collect their own mushrooms, as these are not the typical ones sold, but I thought I should mention it.

[@ChemEDan]

That sounds like such a good combination tho 😋

[@TheOneSin7]

More mushrooms!

[@mysbhyv1707]

Thank you so much for this video❣ It's very informative and I appreciate the links 👍

[@winsontam6334]

This totally changes how I might use msg! Thank you!

[@ericfung3308]

Love the videos, entertaining and full of knowledge!! I would like to suggest making a video about aspartame. It's so controversial among my friend group that I'm honestly not sure who to believe. Cheers

[@thedragonguru2332]

Where can I please get the guide chart you pinned to the fridge?

[@MinuteFood]

Over at patreon.com/minutefood - come join us!

[@Srindal4657]

I once bought a book called "salt, fat, acid, heat", it taught me how to make food actually taste of something without fermentation. It's probably the best cooking guidebook I've bought

[@HebaruSan]

I feel like this should be called "ultra-mami"

[@zackaharisato9047]

Hey u got yourself a sub! As an engineer and a cook at home, im always experementing to make food more delish.

[@l3ftward]

a bit off topic, but i LOVE the sound affects of the umami! it just sounds so good and makes my autistic brain happy!

[@TheRealReem0h]

Patiently waiting for the day MinuteFood collabs with Kenji or Adam Ragusea

[@MinuteFood]

We are too :)

[@brachiosnores7829]

So THAT'S why I can't stop eating Wagamama's Takoyaki lol - super umami flavour ftw!

[@Lahorca]

I'm interested of knowing how much does 100g of dry mushrooms cost in other countries. Here in Argentina, they are quite expensive.

[@nessesaryschoolthing]

I imagine that's a matter of regional availability. From what I can read, tropical mushrooms usually grow out of old hardwood trees, and can't easily be grown right out of the ground like mushrooms do in more temperate or frigid climates. That's not conducive to mass cultivation, so you must need to either forage them or import them at a considerable mark-up, from the West coast of the US/Canada or the east coast of Asia I'd wager. In California, I can get about 700 grams of mushrooms (raw, not dried) for the same price as an average takeout sandwich. Not the cheapest food item, but not a luxury either.

[@flavioryu5922]

I live in the UK and i went to buy a bag of dried shiitake from a local grocery store. It was 400g for ~10£ (i will check tomorrow the exact weight of the bag and correct it if it was different)

[@lavamatstudios]

Here in Belgium it's €2 for 500g champignons. (cheap in terms of belgian costs of living) Other kinds are more expensive. Shiitake is pretty much the price @flavioryu5922 said, maybe a little cheaper.

[@nocapproductions5471]

Fresh mushrooms 3 euro for 500 gram, dried 10 euro for 500 gram. Netherlands.

[@cirrus.floccus]

The scientific reason why I add copious amounts of mushrooms to almost everything.

[@Dotochi]

So that's what packing in those bentos that keep making Rengoku go "UMAI!" :)...

[@thefreshest2379]

If you're not going to sell that cheat sheet it could still help to post it somewhere, I would use it 😄

[@MinuteFood]

Come get it at patreon.com/minutefood!

[@JC-op4co]

the Flowie at 5:00 made me have flashbacks and I had to have some ramen to fill me with determination

[@Ripmyrg]

5:00 i've seen that flower before...

[@OctorokSushi]

It's 2023 we out here min/maxing our umami, get with it or get left behind sucka!

[@tavern.keeper]

Aside from water content, is there a significant difference between dried and fresh mushrooms?

[@buffed_puff9908]

Yes! Dried shiitake mushrooms have more guanylate (GMP) after it's been fully dehydrated and then, more importantly, rehydrated. Many additional flavor compounds are created through the drying process as well. However, fresh mushrooms are still great to use on their own merits, but fresh and dried mushrooms are not an even 1 to 1 comparison

[@savannaha5038]

Mixing glutamates and nucleotides? 4:54 That's a wonderful idea!

[@JaccovanSchaik]

6:48 Never mind the wine, I want that glass!

[@MinuteFood]

It's my favorite wine glass, by a mile!

[@racheltyrellcorp9694]

Umami drinks ? Hell yeah, Saké it is !

[@pandaguan]

So that's why seafood tastes so good.

[@iwansays]

So I haven't been missing on these. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Because if I had been, I would be improving my experience after watching this video.

[@DavidSusiloUnscripted]

I’m here for the cute animation.

[@Ellipsis115]

3:26 dmamn they made us want that

[@paladin656]

I'd love to get a better look at that science-y glass at @6:49. Anyone know where that came from?

[@brothermine2292]

Are you sure we would want 30x the effect of umami? Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia article: "By itself, umami is not palatable, but it makes a great variety of foods pleasant, especially in the presence of a matching aroma. Like other basic tastes, umami is pleasant only within a relatively narrow concentration range." Here are two more excerpts, interesting for other reasons: "The optimum umami taste depends also on the amount of salt, and at the same time, low-salt foods can maintain a satisfactory taste with the appropriate amount of umami. One study showed that ratings of pleasantness, taste intensity, and ideal saltiness of low-salt soups were greater when the soup contained umami, whereas low-salt soups without umami were less pleasant. Another study demonstrated that using fish sauce as a source of umami could reduce the need for salt by 10-25% to flavor such foods as chicken broth, tomato sauce, or coconut curry while maintaining overall taste intensity. "Some population groups, such as the elderly, may benefit from umami taste because their taste and smell sensitivity may be impaired by age and medication. The loss of taste and smell can contribute to poor nutrition, increasing their risk of disease. Some evidence exists to show umami not only stimulates appetite, but also may contribute to satiety."

[@swedneck]

"it's gonna be MSG" first thing shown in the video is the word "umami" "of course"

[@sleepyvietnamese]

In vietnam, people literaly add MSG everytime they cook.

[@EMAngel2718]

Was that a double Miles at the end there?

[@feynstein1004]

There was so much umami in this video my clothes spontaneously disintegrated 😋

[@RyanDB]

Aaaand now I have Megolovania in my head, baha

[@DaveTexas]

MSG is your friend! Years ago, I discovered that the kids (and my husband) liked almost everything better when I added a dash of MSG to it. Especially vegetables, which always used to draw complaints. Sadly, I won’t cook with mushrooms of any sort. Mushrooms taste like dirt to me. Some more than others, but all taste bad to me. There aren’t many foods I won’t eat, but mushrooms are one of them. Asparagus is the other biggie..

[@hackarma2072]

It may be you have a hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to some odorant molecules. The same molecule often has a different smell depending on its concentration. For example the metallic smell of coins becomes a dirt smell in abondance (learned it in a chemistry video by NileRed)

[@DaveTexas]

@@hackarma2072 I actually don’t have a sense of smell. Too many surgeries on my sinuses when I was a child have left me with scar tissue all throughout my nasal passages. I have to rely purely on taste for flavor, which might be why I like MSG so much. I also prefer spicy (hot) flavors like Tabasco, red pepper flakes, hot chili oil, cayenne, etc. Mushrooms taste like dirt to me, for whatever reason…

[@purramtejwani]

Hey, loved the video I am definitely going to try it. Just a small thing, I am a vegetarian and I hate mushrooms 😂, is there any study materials I can refer to get alternatives to Mushrooms.

[@nahometesfay1112]

You could make mushroom stock then take out the dried mushrooms. The video mentioned several options but in the description is a website with many more options.

[@purramtejwani]

@@nahometesfay1112 Thanks, I'll check out the description. I think, I'm a bit allergic to mushrooms, so that might not work My family on the other hand, would love the idea, 😀 thanks a lot !!

[@Vexcenot]

Would Flowey being sentient with a goat makes him more delicious?

[@KyleHuynh989]

where can I get that umami cheat sheet??

[@MinuteFood]

Join us at patreon.com/minutefood!

[@Bxu021]

Sorry XD I got distracted, the background music is so good XD

[@llamatronian101]

I shall continue adding a dash of fish sauce to my burger patties.

[@thecatmanager]

Kraft Mac and cheese with nutritional yeast 🤩

[@cameroneridan4558]

Question!!!! What about mushrooms that arent Shiitakes? I unfortunately *HATE* shiitake mushrooms (and truffles too) :( I love mushrooms in general though, Enoki and Oyster and brown Champs are some of my favourites, which of these or other non-Shiitake non-Truffle mushrooms are good spurces of glutamates and nucleotides for that savoury goodness?

[@DaviidReiis]

Tip: You can grate dry shiitake and you won’t notice it in your food afterwards

[@cameroneridan4558]

@@DaviidReiis ...the flavour is the problem dude

[@CommieHunter7]

Vegans find nucleotides in the 'plants' that are most like animals (digestion not photosynthesis)

[@cmatthew91]

Where can we download the umami cheat sheet?

[@MinuteFood]

All our printables are perks you get by joining us at patreon.com/minutefood

[@luzellemoller6621]

"My children are very in to Mario, so I'm going with parana plants" thank you for fun.

[@silviavalentine3812]

4:02 "god tier" Oh boi the gen z vibe is strong with this one

[@RebuttalRecords]

That broken calculator made me laugh

[@pierrecurie]

That goes a long way towards explaining why autolyzed yeast extract is in god damn everything

[@delfinagabrielaborrellisar7125]

Do you guys happen to know if brown butter is bad for you? I’ve seen countless recipes online that have it and everyone says it’s delicious, but I’ve asked some people that have studied to become profesional chefs, and they say that its pretty bad for you. I dont know if this is enough to make a video about, but I’d love to see one made by you guys!

[@tacitus_]

I'm sorry that you worry about stuff that doesn't really matter. That must be exhausting and your food must be bland. 😢

[@majesticsnowleopard]

It isn't in any way worse for you than normal butter. You just cook the butter a little bit until the milk solids are brown in color (not burnt) and smells nutty and delicious

[@Rephic]

5:02 is that flowey the flower?!

[@crayonpepper]

XACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT

[@marste-zh2bh]

Hello, there is a typo in the thumbnail: the cheese is called parmigiano, not parmiggiano.

[@ok-tr1nw]

4:55 in this word its cook or be cooked

[@seraphuziel]

Ever see the Penn&Teller episode where they debunked ked MSG "allergies/headaches"? A damned good study.

[@connorto6590]

Did no one notice flowey from undertale?

[@ProfessionalBugLover]

is this why i love shirmp and soy sauce so much

[@pbp6741]

Have you written your book yet?

[@MinuteFood]

It's on the agenda, but in the somewhat distant future...gotta find the funding, and the time!

[@primenumberbuster404]

​@@MinuteFood cool.

[@theredbar-cross8515]

We almost got a face reveal there!

[@MinuteFood]

Those cute little molecules are the only faces this channel needs!

[@KangJangkrik]

MSG is the best umami source, change my mind.

[@Planetkid32]

0:55 lol

[@ChiaraOhneLink]

So, now I am allowed to put Parmesan on Seafood Pasta?

[@jlammetje]

What the fudge is “MSG”?

[@ee5142]

I had subtitles on and got jumpscared

[@tusharchoudhary7880]

As a Gentleman, I shall incourage ester egg like (mario, Undertale, etc)

[@loganwolv3393]

Idk dried mushrooms never seemed to be more umami than regular ones.

[@ms9001]

where is the umami cheatsheet?

[@papyrusisverycool2372]

4:56 flowey?

[@dvklaveren]

Apparently, pork is pretty rich in nucleotides too, explaining why it tastes so nice in carbonara combined with a cheese like pecorino.

[@upuat]

Where's the cheat thingy. I want to print it :(

[@MinuteFood]

You can get it by joining us at patreon.com/minutefood!

[@upuat]

@@MinuteFood oh! Missed that part hehe thanks

[@hcn6708]

4:54 FLOWER? FROM UNDERSTORY?

[@desmond3828]

You should’ve talked about how we taste umami in greater detail

[@mineonlydiamonds]

I learnt why some people make steak in wine

[@danieldc8841]

Why are you calling it a multiplier but using a plus sign 😮

[@EdwardPasternak]

Anyone know were I could get that glass shown at the 6:48 min (kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXm7ZJSXgdKdg6s) mark?

[@MinuteFood]

Here it is! cognitive-surplus.com/collections/wine-glasses/products/wine-chemistry-glass?variant=39930909556813

[@EdwardPasternak]

@@MinuteFood Awesome! Thank you!