BALANCING ACT

Umami's spicy sidekick, yakumi might not be on the tips of our tongues yet but it plays a significant role in the Japanese kitchen, writes ANNE HASEGAWA.

- ANNE HASEGAWA

It may be one of the most overused adjectives in food writing and conversation today: umami. Fun to say and delicious to savour. But its lesser-known cousin yakumi has yet to enter the Australian lexicon, despite playing an equally important role in Japanese cuisine. If umami is the Top Gun of Japan’s national kitchen, yakumi is its Goose.

Granted, Japan might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of spice. Unlike its neighbouring countries across the East, who lead with fiery hits of chilli and piquant flavour bombs that burst in your mouth, Japanese food is famed for its subtlety and restraint. But behind those complex, delicate flavours, you will find yakumi bringing balance and playing yin to umami’s yang.

Hitoshi Miyazawa, head chef at Melbourne’s acclaimed 16-seat kaiseki restaurant, Ishizuka, says that yakumi is one of the most important ingredients in Japanese cuisine.

“It is not a superstar ingredient, but it elevates dishes. Yakumi is shown through vegetables and spices that are fragrant and have spicy tastes.”

But just what exactly is yakumi?

Put simply, yakumi refers to any kind of natural condiment – be it a spice, herb, vegetable or seasoning – that adds depth of flavour to enhance and balance a dish. Yakumi elevates and ties a dish together, bringing a complexity that sparks our tastebuds’ curiosity and leaves us wanting more.

“The main purpose of yakumi is to add extra flavour or adjust overpowered ones. While umami is the depth of flavour in each ingredient and shapes the main taste of the dish, yakumi supports it,” explains Miyazawa.