- YO!  Steak sauce.  I love it when it's good and I'm sickened when it's not.  It's all about umami IN steak sauce.  Umami is a japanese word which describes the fifth flavor sensation(or sixth depending how you look at it.)  There's sweet, sour, salty, bitter, (spicy), umami.  It's very hard to describe because it is its own dimension in "flavor-space."  So no linear combination of the other flavor dimensions could ever truly describe it.  The substance that's responsible for umami is called glutamic acid (commonly it's found as MSG, monosodium glutamate, a salt compound of glutamic acid).  it's found in seaweed, mushrooms, anchovies, tamarind, truffles and assorted other things I can't think of right now...  Back to steak sauce, here is a nice recipe that makes tastebuds happy.  You'll notice the tamarind to kick things up a dimension in flavorspace.

• 2 Tbsp tamarind paste
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp Tapatio hot sauce
• minced shallot to taste
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon of fresh squeezed ginger juice

Enjoy!

 I can't believe I actually have a blog now.  I am becoming a real nerd.  More soon.

BEn