umami – Clinical Alimentary

Mushroom soup is really very tasty and oyster mushrooms are the only suitable mushrooms for the low FODMAP diet. I love mushrooms and I went on a foraging course to help identify them but I haven’t picked any as yet – to nervous about picking the wrong ones I suppose. I would love to come across an oyster mushroom in the wild and they may be sold as wild mushrooms but I suspect they rarely are – I found the ones I used in this recipe in an Tesco store and they weren’t too costly.

I have written about the umami flavour before here and I have just read a really interesting article in the Guardian newspaper online here. I was astonished to read that glutamate the flavour that is responsible for the meaty rich flavour is also found in human breast milk and our tongue has a specific receptor for it – no wonder we like it! So much for MSG and the reports of it being ‘toxic’ according to some who like to say all ‘chemicals’ are bad – spoiler alert – all food are based on chemicals!

Ingredients

300g of oyster mushrooms.
2 teaspoons white miso (check the label for other high fodmap ingredients).
2 teaspoons of Tamari sauce.
1 teaspoon of ginger.
1 tablespoon of oil.
2 tablespoons of lactose free cream.
1 and a half pints of water.

Method

Chop mushrooms and add oil to a pan.
Fry the ginger and add the chopped mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes.
Add some hot water to the miso and dissolve then add the water, miso and Tamari sauce to the pan.
Cook for 10 minutes
Blend till smooth

Serve with cheese on toast floats for an additional umami flavour! It really couldn’t be easier.

Here is a picture of me and my mum on our foraging course in the Lake District – lots of mushrooms here but they were foraged by an expert!

It is autumn and the evenings are becoming darker. It is the season for mushrooms and many people really miss mushrooms when following the low fodmap diet. But if you are following the Kings College Low FODMAP diet oyster mushrooms are suitable. They are not as available as a few years ago and are now usually found in the section labelled up as wild mushrooms – so perhaps suitable for a treat only.

Mushrooms have an umami flavour – an earthy, complex meaty flavour that is very important particularly if you are vegan and missing the deep, rich flavour that meat offers. Mushroom also offers a texture that is robust, filling and satisfying. This is the flavour provided by glutamate (the natural variant of mono-sodium glutamate – MSG, a food additive) a chemical that in the past has been implicated in Chinese or Asian food intolerance or ‘Chinese restaurant syndrome’. It might be the FODMAP content rather than the glutamate that lead to perhaps some gastrointestinal upset in some people and not specifically the glutamate content – we have no evidence that ‘Chinese restaurant syndrome’ exists from eating food where MSG has been added (see the Compound Interest info-graphic above.) Some foods containing glutamate listed above also contain histamine, which also is implicated in developing symptoms such as palpitations, chest pain, headaches, asthma, flushing and gastrointestinal upset. They are cheese, fermented foods such as miso and tomato. These foods are possibly the foods which might have lead to Chinese Restaurant syndrome, although this reaction is likely to occur infrequently. If you do suspect a histamine intolerance and have the symptoms above see a dietitian who will provide help for you to check if you have. Please avoid information from the internet on histamine intolerance, as it is usually far too restrictive and might lead to nutritional deficiencies. Although actually we have no evidence that most people with IBS have histamine intolerance – in my opinion we need much more research in histamine reactions.

Who wouldn’t want to have this fantastic flavouring naturally found in mushroom, parmesan and soy sauce? I have developed a recipe for you. You can replace the parmesan with a vegan alternative, if you wish, and it really doesn’t change the flavour. Risotto is such a tasty filling meal for autumn evenings this recipe contains lots of umami from white miso, oyster mushrooms and parmesan cheese. Do enjoy it!

Ingredients

160g Oyster mushrooms
1 tablespoon oil
250g arborio (risotto) rice
15g white miso diluted with 700ml boiling water
20g vegan or standard parmesan
50g toasted pine nuts
3-4 sprigs of thyme
additional grated parmesan

Method

Now the only rule really in making risotto is that you shouldn’t leave it alone for a second! It takes time to prepare but it is worthwhile putting that additional work in – you get out what you put in.
Grate the parmesan and set aside.
Toast the pine nuts in a drizzle of oil until they are brown -watch them closely as they can easily burn. Set aside to cool and then add the thyme (chopped) and mix well.
Add the oil to the pan and gently fry the mushrooms for 5 minutes. Then add rice to the pan and cook to 2 minutes.
Start to incorporate the miso based stock slowly to the pan over 10-15 minutes and keep stirring – this will prevent the rice from sticking to the pan.
The rice is ready when it is al dente (slightly firm to bite)
You may need additional liquid – water is suitable – depending on the rice you use.
At this point stir in the grated parmesan and serve topped with toasted pine nuts and extra grated parmesan to taste (you shouldn’t need any seasoning as the flavours are deep but add some at this point after tasting the dish if you wish.)
Enjoy!