Experts from around the world share their thoughts on umami and original recipes where umami is brought to life.
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The renowed and creative Yuji Wakiya talk about the secret of Umami in Chinese cuisine.
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Yuji Wakiya
Owner/chef of Wakiya-
Ichiemicharou restaurant |
The stock used in Chinese cooking, tan, has many varieties compared to the dashi used in Japanese cooking. In Shanghai meals, stewed dishes are common, and I have included one such dish in my menu too, using a traditional ‘tan’ as a base. An ingredient of ‘Shantan’ is jin hua huo tui, which approximates to the bonito flakes which are the quintessential ingredient of Japanese dashi. However, jin hua huo tui gets its intense umami flavor not from the dried bonito fish, but from jin hua huo tui – pork leg meat, which has been cured for two and a half years.
Tans made from other kinds of dried foods, or gan huo – such as dried shark’s fin, dried abalone, dried shiitake mushrooms, dried scallops and dried shrimps – are also especially prized in China. These ingredients are all left to age for a long time in order that the umami content may develop, and then thoroughly reconstituted with water.
Each of the different tans can be tailored well according to circumstance and combined with other kinds to give a perfectly well-balanced finished product. Using these kinds of stocks, you can transform even those ingredients without a strong taste, such as Chinese vermicelli noodles (thin, transparent asian noodles made from mung-bean starch) into products brimming with umami taste. This is the key feature of Chinese stewed dishes.
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Yuji Wakiya’s Profile
Born 1958 in Hokkaido, Wakiya gathered his experience working at a number of restaurants, before becoming the head chef of “Turandot Yusenkyo” restaurant in 1997. In 2001, he opened his own restaurant, Wakiya Ichiemicharou, in Tokyo’s Akasaka district. He was a participant in the Madrid Fusion 2005 event in Spain, where chefs chosen from around the world introduce the techniques and philosophies at the very forefront of the culinary arts. He has recently published books such as “The Essential Wakiya-style Chinese Frying Pan Cookbook” (Kodansha). Wakiya is also an active contributor to society in the culinary field, being active in charity events and training for young chefs. |
 Chef Wakiya's
Seasonal vegetable and Chinese vermicelli noodle stew
Ingredients: |
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| pak choi |
200g |
| chinese vermicelli (Cellophane) noodles |
200g |
| dried scallops (reconstituted) |
20g |
| dried pork (Chinese bacon/pork cured in soy sauce) |
100g |
| garlic (finely chopped) |
1/2 tsp |
| ginger (finely chopped) |
1/2 tsp |
| shoaxing cooking wine or sake |
1 tbsp |
| shantan |
500cc |
| jin hua huo tui |
800g |
| whole chicken (ro-chi) |
1 |
| pork shin meat |
1kg |
| water |
20 litres |
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Method:
| 1) |
Make the shantan. Add the jin hua huo tui (dried pork), whole chicken (briefly parboiled), pork shin meat (briefly parboiled) into water and boil for eight hours, keeping an eye on the flames. (The water should about half-fill the pan) |
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| 2) |
Leave the dried scallops to soak in water overnight, then steam for thirty minutes. The leftover liquid is removed and set to one side. The noodles are placed in boiling water to reconstitute. |
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| 3) |
The green tips of the pak choi leaves should be cut away, and the base of the leaves cut into long thin strips. Add these to lightly salted water and boil quickly. |
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| 4) |
Finely cut the dried pork. |
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| 5) |
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the garlic and ginger, then add in the finely torn dried scallops and fry some more. |
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| 6) |
Add in a tablespoon of shoaxing cooking wine, the shantan, noodles, the liquid from the reconstituted scallops and the sliced pak choi, and cook. |
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| 7) |
Season with salt and pepper, cover with an otoshibuta (wooden lid which rests directly on the contents of the pan) and boil down for about one minute. |
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This recipe was demonstrated by Chef Yuji Wakiyai at the Umami Open Symposium held at Tokyo’s Panasonic Centre in June 2006 |
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