Topic
Fermentation & Umami
Fermentation and umami is the topic of savoury depth and where it comes from. Jang, kimchi, koji, kombu dashi, aged fish and dried mushrooms sit together here because each one is a route to the same kind of taste.
The notes move between two questions: what a ferment is doing while it sits, and what the cook tastes at the end. Read one for a single preparation, or read across the list to see how far apart the starting points can be for a comparable result.
Notes in this topic
- Why Dried Shiitake Changes a Broth
Fresh and dried shiitake behave like different ingredients in a pot. The chemistry by which drying raises guanylate, and the measurements showing aroma and umami split by drying method.
2026-09-09 - Where Free Glutamate Lives
The glutamate behind umami clusters in a few food families. From kombu's measured numbers to tomatoes, Parmigiano, cured ham, and fish sauce, a kitchen map of the savory taste.
2026-09-07 - How Umami Multiplies
Mix glutamate with inosinate and umami compounds rather than adds. From the eightfold figure measured in humans down to the receptor mechanics that do the multiplying.
2026-09-05 - Dry Aging vs Wet Aging: What Actually Differs
Both are aging at the same fridge temperature. The difference is one thing, whether the meat is wrapped, and everything else follows from that.
2026-09-02 - How Kimchi Ripens, and When It Is Ready
Ripeness is a pH range, not a number of days, and temperature moves the clock enormously. Here is the target band and why published numbers disagree.
2026-09-02 - Fish Aging and Umami: What the K-Value Says About Freshness
The savory flavor of fish is built after slaughter, not before it. How aging raises umami, and how the K-value tracks freshness before bitterness sets in.
2026-08-18 - What Is Koji, and How Does One Mold Do So Many Jobs?
Steamed rice turns sweet, soybeans turn savory, meat turns tender. What koji enzymes actually do, which one drives which result, and why the mold is safe.
2026-08-18 - Why Kombu Dashi Steeps at 60 Degrees Instead of Boiling
Kombu carries an unusual load of free glutamate, and kombu dashi temperature is what draws it out: a steep near 60 degrees, never a boil.
2026-08-18 - How Does Fermentation Create Umami?
The savoriness in soy sauce and fish sauce was never added. Why fermentation creates umami comes down to enzymes and time taking proteins apart.
2026-08-17 - Doenjang and Gochujang Fermentation Science: How Meju Builds Depth
Doenjang and gochujang fermentation starts with meju, blocks of fermented soybeans that molds, bacteria, and time turn into savory, glutamate-rich depth.
2026-08-17 - Kimchi Salt Science: Why the Salt Decides How Your Kimchi Turns Out
Kimchi salt concentration is not seasoning, it is a decision. Around 2 to 3 percent picks which microbes run the ferment and keeps spoilage out of the jar.
2026-08-17 - What Is MSG Made Of? The Glutamate Behind Umami, Explained
What is actually in the jar? The glutamate that gives MSG its savory punch is the same molecule already sitting in a ripe tomato. Here is the chemistry.
2026-08-15