There are five tastes: salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. And the foods that we find delicious have one thing in common. It is a mixture of multiple tastes. For more information about the mechanism of deliciousness, please refer to this post.
If you want to reduce salt, you can add flavors other than saltiness. Seasonings that give a bitter taste are rare, so the main ones to consider in flavoring are sweet, sour, and umami. If we choose two from here, there are only three: sweetness x sourness, sweetness x umami, and sourness x umami. It may seem a little lacking, but don’t worry. In fact, there is one more taste.
Sixth Taste, Oil
Oil and fat are not yet recognized as a taste. However, it is known that the fatty acids produced when oil is broken down can be detected by the tongue.
In other words, oil can be considered as a taste. Of course, too much oil is not good for the body. However, if you use a small amount of oil that is known to be good for the body, such as olive oil, rice oil, or flaxseed oil, as a seasoning, it will not be too much of a problem.
Four Tastes Combinations
There is no substitute for salt. In order to reduce salt, you need to season your food with tastes other than saltiness. Specifically, sweetness, acidity, umami, and oil.
Of course, it depends on each person how much salt needs to be reduced, but just knowing the important concepts of salt reduction can be quite helpful.
Useful Ingredients and Seasonings
Here are some specific recommended ingredients and seasonings to help reduce salt.
Frozen Mushroom
Just freezing mushrooms greatly increases their umami flavor. They are convenient to use without thawing and can be used to increase the umami flavor.
Dried tomatoes contain three tastes: umami, sweetness, and oil. It is no wonder they are eaten as a snack. Just by adding them to stir-fries or pasta, they become much more delicious.
You can reduce the amount of salt used by simply using Ajishio instead of salt. Ajishio is a seasoning made by Ajinomoto, and is salt coated with Ajinomoto. However, you can easily substitute it by simply mixing ajinomoto and salt.
Some people may not like the strong taste of vinegar. Using vinegar with various flavors, such as wine vinegar or apple vinegar, can soften the smell of vinegar. And best of all, herb vinegar is easy to make at home. Just by dressing vegetables, you can make a side dish.
Soy sauce contains a lot of salt, but when you add some aroma to it, you can feel satisfied even with a small amount. Garlic soy sauce is an example of this.
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