Fermentation

Perhaps the most effective way of increasing umami, and one that is particularly central to Japanese cuisine is fermentation. This again involves the breaking down of larger substances into their constituent parts, but what differentiates it from the other techniques described on these pages is the use of enzymes, bacteria and other living organisms to break down larger molecules in food into smaller compounds, or to convert one compound into another: carbohydrates into sugars; proteins into amino acids and sugars into alcohol. Many of the most prominent umami-rich substances, especially in Asian cuisines, are made using this technique.