The Umami Ingredient That Your Gravy Has Been Needing

Umami — one of the five primary tastes – is a Japanese loanword that means something like "savory" or "delicious," although there is no exact English translation. Essentially, it's the kind of meaty, unctuous flavor that makes your mouth water and your mind urge you for another bite. This is, of course, a pretty desirable quality when it comes to food, so many cooks have a number of "umami bombs" they can add to dishes to make them extra savory. A prime example is adding soy sauce to gravy for a deeper, richer flavor. 

Now, hold on a minute –- soy sauce is famously associated with East Asian cuisine. Does that mean your carefully spatchcocked, dry brined Thanksgiving turkey will taste overpoweringly like Chinese food? No need to worry! Your gravy won't take on its flavor if you just use a splash — start with about a teaspoon or so. You will find that the soy sauce deepens the existing profile, making your palate more receptive to the meaty, savory gravy.

It turns out that the secret of umami is actually just science. Umami-rich foods like soy sauce work by activating the taste receptors on your tongue – amino acids like glutamates, nucleotides like guanylate, and minerals like sodium are all common components that cause this to happen. In turn, activated taste buds make your palate more receptive to flavor, resulting in that mouth-watering feeling you get when you eat some particularly tasty Chinese food. (That monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is a popular ingredient in Chinese takeout is not a coincidence.) Simply put, umami bombs let you taste things more intensely, whether or not you can identify the actual ingredient itself.

However, if your soy sauce bottle has gone empty and you haven't saved any packets from the last time you had sushi, you can add other umami bombs to gravy instead. A touch of fish sauce will also deepen a gravy's flavor (without an unpleasant fishy taste), as will Worcestershire sauce, mushroom powder, or miso paste. Your roast beef, turkey, or meatloaf will certainly thank you.