UNWIDERSTEHLICH UMAMI
IRRESISTIBLY UMAMI
The Japanese word for “delicious” is known in Germany above all as the fifth taste – and it is trending around the world. An astonishing success story, one that can be savoured most deliciously at Mizu ...
Rack of lamb with vegetables – at first glance, that sounds like a Bavarian inn. But not when the sauce, based on a veal stock simmered for 12 hours, has been transformed into a Far Eastern delicacy with mirin, sake, soy sauce and ginger.
In the hands of our Mizu head chef, regional lamb becomes something entirely new – something that tastes far more of Tokyo than of Tegernsee. Born in Japan, he masters the art of infusing local ingredients with Far Eastern culinary magic in such a way that something surprising, something never experienced before, comes into being.
He also adds dried anchovies and shiitake mushrooms to the lamb sauce: “Concentrated umami power!”
Umami is perhaps the most important word when approaching the authentic, Japanese-reduced culinary art of Mizu. It is the Japanese term for the fifth taste, which, alongside sweet, sour, salty and bitter, shapes our sense of enjoyment. Savoury, intense or meaty – that is how one might describe it.
It was first defined in 1908 by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda at the Imperial University in Tokyo. Ikeda discovered the responsible chemical compound, monosodium glutamate, in kombu seaweed, a popular ingredient in local cuisine, and called it umami – the Japanese word for “delicious”. In the West, this discovery was long ignored. Only since Japan’s highly aesthetic and intensely flavourful cuisine has become a trend here, too, has the fifth taste been on everyone’s lips.
Our Mizu chefs, too, are true umami artists. For their dishes, which are as creative as they are rich in flavour, they make use of traditional Japanese cooking techniques.
The most important medium is the robata charcoal grill, a must in every kitchen between Kyoto and Tokyo. Fish or meat is cooked according to ancient tradition over binchotan charcoal, which develops extremely high temperatures without producing flames. In this way, the grilled food takes on a very special, gently smoky aroma. It is a technique once developed by Japanese fishermen on their boats; today, it has found its place in trend-setting kitchens all over the world.
At Mizu, the robata technique is also often used for fish – for example, for black hake from the depths of the Atlantic. Before it goes onto the grill, it is marinated with rice malt. The accompanying sauce brings concentrated umami power, owed above all to the use of kombu seaweed and truffle foam.
The chef adds king oyster mushrooms and chopped green shiso leaves, enriches the whole with a little dashi and butter – and the result is a dish that represents a creative fusion of Japanese and French cooking techniques, found in this form only at Mizu at Bachmair Weissach.
Of course, classic Japanese sashimi and sushi still remain on the menu, alongside the popular creations in the fashionable Nikkei style. Once shaped by Japanese immigrants in Peru, this culinary style combines South American and Japanese elements – from the colourful Tropical Roll with salmon, baked prawns, mochi pearls, avocado, cream cheese and trout caviar to the Spicy Salmon Tempura Roll, generously garnished with chilli sauce by the sushi master.
When it comes to fish and seafood, the chef makes no compromises whatsoever in terms of quality and freshness. His fish counter holds the finest produce from around the world – scallops from Hokkaido, Ora King salmon from New Zealand and loup de mer from Portugal.
But what is best served with such creative sushi, with sashimi and all the other delicacies from the sea? For Amelie Odemer, there is no question: “Sake, of course.” The young sommelière pours a Dassai 45 of the Junmai Daiginjo quality level – a comparatively mild sake with lightly exotic fruit and notes of anise, making it a beautiful companion to food.
She lists around 20 different sakes on the menu, alongside a wide selection of wines. The flavour spectrum ranges from light and floral to fruity notes and full-bodied, matured vintage sakes. And she immediately dispels a few common clichés: sake is not “rice wine”, but a beverage produced through an elaborate brewing process. It is not especially high in alcohol, but usually contains between 14 and 17 percent. And it does not have to be drunk warm, as is often assumed. Quite the opposite: depending on the type, a premium sake is even enjoyed chilled. As a rule of thumb, when in doubt, room temperature always works.
Odemer also features specialities on her list such as sparkling sake, which she likes to pour as an aperitif. In general, she particularly recommends sake with rice dishes, because, as she is convinced: “What grows together also harmonises well on the palate.”
The best sakes in Japan are produced from particularly high-quality rice. One important parameter for assessing the quality of this typically Japanese drink is the polishing ratio. Because the starch, which forms the basis of the sake brewing process, is concentrated inside the rice grain, the outer layers are polished away. What remains is between 80 and 35 percent of the rice grain. This figure is the polishing ratio, or semaibuai – the lower it is, the higher the quality of the sake.
“Premium sake has around 400 different flavour nuances, whereas wine has only about 200,” says Odemer. As a general guide, she recommends looking for the designations Junmai, Honjozo, Ginjo or Daiginjo, which indicate premium sake.
To finish, she pours a very special rarity: a 2015 Masuizumi Private Reserve from Toyama Prefecture, aged for many years in wooden barrels and indeed reminiscent of a mature Chardonnay.
CHARLOTTE MILLER