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Parmesan
Parmigiano Reggiano
Few ingredients carry as much free glutamate as properly aged Parmigiano Reggiano, which is why a fine grating finishes a dish rather than just topping it. Every wheel is inspected and graded at 12 months, the minimum before sale, but the cheese only reaches its full typical character at around 24 months, and that older cheese is the one most worth buying for cooking.
Keep the rinds in the freezer. Dropped into minestrone, a pot of beans or a simmering tomato sauce, a rind softens and seeds the whole pot with savory depth, then gets fished out before serving. Grated into breadcrumbs, scrambled eggs or a vinaigrette, the cheese adds salt and roundness at once, so season after you add it.
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Tomato paste
Tomato paste is tomatoes cooked down until thick, which concentrates the glutamate that makes a ripe tomato taste savory rather than just sweet. The single most useful habit on this list is frying a spoonful in the oil with the onions, stirring so it does not scorch, until it turns a shade darker, before any liquid goes in. It loses its tinny edge and turns rich and roasted.
That move improves chili, lentil soup, braised short ribs, curries and pan sauces, not just pasta. Buy it in tubes if half-used cans tend to go moldy in your fridge.
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Anchovies as food
Oil-packed anchovy fillets are the stealth ingredient of Mediterranean cooking. Warmed in olive oil with garlic, they collapse into the fat within a minute or two and leave behind seasoning that reads as savory rather than fishy. Two fillets melted at the start of a lamb braise, a pan of broccoli or a tomato sauce will rarely be noticed, only missed if you leave them out.
Mash one into soft butter for steak or into a Caesar-style dressing. Salt-packed whole anchovies taste cleaner and meatier but need rinsing and filleting; jarred fillets in oil are the easy everyday choice.
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Worcestershire sauce
This English bottle is a fermented sauce, first sold under the Lea & Perrins name in 1837 by two Worcester pharmacists, and the classic recipe folds anchovies, tamarind, onion, garlic and cloves into a vinegar base. Because it already balances salt, sour, sweet and savory, a few dashes do more than most single ingredients.
Shake it into burger mix, meatloaf, shepherd's pie, a pan gravy, a Bloody Mary or the cheese for cheese on toast. It is also a handy route to anchovy depth for cooks who would rather not open a can. Recipes vary by maker and country, so check the label if you need it fish-free.
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Soy sauce
Brewed soy sauce starts as soybeans and roasted wheat cultured with koji mold, then fermented in brine, and that slow process is where its depth comes from. Look for "naturally brewed" on the label: some cheaper bottles are made from acid-hydrolyzed soy protein in about three days and differ noticeably in flavor and aroma.
Beyond stir-fries, a splash belongs in mushroom gravy, French onion soup, chili, roasted carrots or a marinade for pork chops, where it seasons without announcing itself. Japanese koikuchi, the dark all-purpose style that makes up over 80% of Japan's production, is the most versatile single bottle to keep.
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Fish sauce
Fish sauce is small fish such as anchovies layered with salt and fermented, sometimes for up to two years, until the liquid runs amber and intensely savory. Southeast Asian cooks use it much as Western cooks use salt, and that is the trick worth borrowing: a teaspoon in beef stew, chili, Bolognese or a pan of roasted Brussels sprouts adds depth without tasting of fish once cooked.
The smell from the bottle is the worst of it. Vietnamese nước mắm and Thai nam pla are interchangeable for most uses. Read the label: premium bottles such as Red Boat list nothing but anchovies and sea salt.
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Miso
Miso is soybeans fermented with salt and koji, and it is the easiest way to give Western food a savory, slightly funky backbone. White miso has a short fermentation, so it is sweet and mild: whisk it into butter for corn or salmon, into a salad dressing or into mashed potatoes.
Red miso, aged longer and sometimes for more than a year, is saltier and stronger, and suits braises, glazes for eggplant and hearty soups. Stir either in near the end of cooking rather than boiling it hard, so its aroma survives. One tub covers both a weeknight glaze and a pot of soup, which makes it worth keeping on hand.
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Monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate is the purest form of the taste on this list, and its reputation lags well behind the evidence. It is made today by fermenting starch, sugar beets, sugar cane or molasses; the FDA classifies it as generally recognized as safe; and in trials with people who believe they react to it, scientists have not been able to consistently trigger reactions.
Use it as salt's helper: a pinch in a vinaigrette, egg salad, soup, popcorn or tomato sauce rounds everything out. It carries about a third of the sodium of table salt, so swapping part of the salt for it trims sodium without losing savor. Start small, since a little goes a long way.
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Marmite
Marmite is a concentrated yeast extract made from the by-products of beer brewing, first produced by a company founded in Burton upon Trent in 1902. Its love-it-or-hate-it reputation as a toast spread hides its best use: as a stock booster.
Half a teaspoon dissolved into gravy, French onion soup, a beef or mushroom stew or a pot of lentils adds a meaty, rounded depth that nobody will identify as Marmite. It also works whisked into melted butter for roast potatoes. New Zealand Marmite is a different recipe, made under license since 1919, but either works in cooking when used sparingly.
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Shiitake
Dried shiitake mushrooms
Dried shiitake carry guanylate, the compound that multiplies the savory effect of glutamate, so pairing them with soy sauce, kombu or parmesan pays off twice. Soak them in warm water until soft, then slice the caps into stir-fries, risotto or a vegetable braise, and use the strained soaking liquid as stock; shiitake are the basis of a vegetarian dashi.
Discard the tough stems, or simmer them in stock and fish them out. The high grade sold as donko, grown in cooler weather, is worth the extra cost for dishes where the mushrooms stay whole.
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Boletus edulis
Dried porcini
The European counterpart to dried shiitake, porcini intensify in flavor when dried and come back to life after about twenty minutes in hot, not boiling, water. The soaking liquid, strained through a paper towel to catch grit, is as valuable as the mushrooms: pour it into risotto, beef stew, mushroom soup or gravy.
Even a small handful chopped into a pan of ordinary button mushrooms makes them taste far wilder. Grind a few dry pieces into powder and rub it onto steak or stir it into a sauce for deep, woodsy savoriness. A small bag lasts a long time, which offsets the price.
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Kombu
Kombu is the kelp in which umami was first identified: in 1908 Kikunae Ikeda traced the savory taste of kombu broth to glutamate, and the dried seaweed remains one of the richest natural sources of it.
The simplest use is soaking a piece in cold water for a few hours or overnight to make a clean, savory stock for soup, rice or poaching fish. A strip tucked into a pot of dried beans or grains seasons them gently as they cook. Lift it out before the water reaches a hard boil, and pair the stock with bonito flakes or dried shiitake when you want it bigger.
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Katsuobushi
Katsuobushi is skipjack tuna that has been simmered, smoked, dried and cultured with mold until rock hard, then shaved into flakes. Its umami comes from inosinate, identified in 1913 by Shintaro Kodama, which is why kombu plus bonito flakes, the classic dashi, tastes far bigger than either alone.
Steep a handful in just-simmered water for a few minutes and strain for a quick stock, or scatter the flakes over buttered rice, blistered green beans, a fried egg or okonomiyaki. Once a bag is open, seal it tightly, because the flakes lose their smoky aroma in the air.
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Oyster sauce
Oyster sauce is oyster extract reduced until thick, brown and savory-sweet, and it is the quickest way to make a weeknight stir-fry taste like a restaurant one. Away from Chinese cooking, a spoonful glazes roasted broccoli, enriches a pan sauce for pork and seasons garlicky sautéed greens in one move.
Labels vary widely. Many bottles are thickened with cornstarch, darkened with caramel and topped up with MSG, so look for one that lists oysters near the top for the fullest flavor.
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Nutritional yeast
Sold as golden flakes, nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast with a nutty, cheesy flavor that does for plant-based cooking what parmesan does elsewhere. Sprinkle it over popcorn, roasted vegetables or pasta, blend it into a cashew cheese sauce or tofu scramble, or stir a spoonful into gravy and soup for extra body.
It is mild enough to use generously, which makes it a gentle starting point for anyone wary of fishier options on this list. Many brands are fortified with vitamin B12, a useful bonus for vegan cooks, but check the label, because not all are.
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