A taste of umami
INTI’s School of Hospitality students and staff recently welcomed Professor Aiko Tanaka from Osaka Shoin Women’s University, Japan, who conducted a workshop on the flavour and concept of umami.
The cookbook author and food activist shared insights and knowledge on traditional Japanese cuisine and its penetration into Western cultures and civilisation over the last few decades.
Tanaka further described how Western cooking has also influenced Japanese cuisine to what it has become today, which is a fusion of culinary practices and cultures.
Introducing them to local Japanese ingredients that are fundamental to Japanese cuisine, Tanaka and her team provided the students a taste test of katsuo, or commonly known as bonito flakes, and kombu (kelp), which are base ingredients for making dashi, a savoury soup stock that is a fundamental base for Japanese food.
“The umami (savoury) component resonates strongly in dashi and it is an element discovered by Japanese scientists. The umami flavour, in itself, is from products containing glutamate. It is what makes Japanese cuisine unique to the taste receptors.
“Also, you will notice that the flavours in Japanese cuisine may seem monotonous, but there’s so much depth and variety within the umami flavour if you research it,” said Tanaka during the workshop.
She also put together a cooking demonstration with her fellow colleagues from the university, taking the students on an appetising journey of traditional Japanese cooking.
Starting with the dashi, the students and faculty had the opportunity to sample different types of soup as they profiled every flavour that they came across from each sample broth.
They were also treated to the preparation and tasting of traditional miso soup. Tanaka introduced the different types of miso, their region of origin and usage in different types of Japanese dishes.
Hiroaki Ukita, owner and chef of Franc ét élégant in Osaka, Japan, used both Japanese and local ingredients and herbs to produce a broth that represents the fusion of umami flavours that is found worldwide.
Showcasing the use of ramen noodles in Japanese cuisine, both Chef Ukita and Tanaka detailed the history of ramen, which came from China, and how it ended up with the Japanese dashi.
The culinary students were also given the opportunity to work alongside Chef Ukita in preparing the soup at the school’s training kitchen.
“Tradition has a lot of wisdom that we have yet to understand. Even the traditional ways of eating carries so much knowledge about longevity and health.
“We need to take time to research and understand how these traditional ways of eating can positively impact our livelihood today. One of the ways we do this is by integrating food traditions in our education system,” said Tanaka.
The students also had the opportunity to network and mingle with the delegates from Japan to gain further insights on Japanese culture and cuisine.