seasoning essentials: amazing flavor dust

How To Make seasoning essentials: amazing flavor dust

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  Step 1
  PREP/PREPARE
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  Step 2
  Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
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  Step 3
  Bonito Flakes (fish flakes)
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  Step 4
  Kombu (a variety of seaweed)
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  Step 5
  Shitake Mushrooms (dried)
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  Step 6
  Place the ingredients into the bowl of a spice blender, or mortar and pestle, and grind, grind, grind, until the ingredients are dust.
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  Step 7
  Place in a sealed glass jar, and keep out the heat and light.
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  Step 8
  Chef’s Tip: It should last for several months, if tightly sealed.
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  Step 9
  Chef’s Note: What the heck is unami? Unami is considered by food scientists as the “fifth taste,” coming after salt, sweet, sour, and bitter. Escoffier, the legendary 19th-century French chef who invented veal stock, felt sure that a savory fifth taste was the secret of his success. Five textures, five temperatures and five levels of umami, is how he now viewed it. Umami has been translated from Japanese as yummy, deliciousness or a pleasant savory taste. Certain items, like asparagus, tomatoes, cheese and meat, contain the taste, but it is strongest in dashi – that rich stock made from kombu (kelp) which is widely used as a flavor base in Japanese cooking. So, they homed in on the proteins that produced that certain taste, and eventually discovered and patented MSG. To me, the taste of unami is similar to a really good beef stock. Something that has been slow-cooked for a long time. Whether you believe in the existence of a “fifth taste” or not, this combination of ingredients produces a wonderful flavor enhancer without the downside of using an MSG enhanced product.
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  Step 10
  What to do with it? I use it to dust fish, chicken, and beef dishes… I’ve used it on a good hamburger with wonderful results, and even applied a dusting to a crisp salad. After some time you will find a lot of uses for this versatile spice. I've even been known to put some on my scrambled eggs. Enjoy.
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  Step 11
  Keep the faith, and keep cooking.
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