Comparing Ajinomoto and Nama UMAMI in Tamago Kake Gohan and Peperoncino: A Test by Ryuji, Komeo, Naoki Hayashi and Ryusei Kuwata

The shoot took place at Kuwata's office, and it was reportedly Ryuji's second time filming there. That day, Kuwata had summoned everyone saying they would "do moon-viewing," but the people who gathered were all in the food world: a cooking researcher, a chef and a pastry chef. Since it seemed a waste to just make dumplings, Ryuji decided to shoot a cooking video.

The subject was Komeo's Nama UMAMI. According to Komeo, its ingredients are bonito, sardines, shiitake mushrooms, kombu and odorless garlic, which are melted down into a thick mush in a pot and then turned into a powder. Komeo prefaced it by saying "honestly, anything goes," then let slip that it was "a new seasoning to replace Ajinomoto," prompting the others to quip, "You said it." Since Ryuji's channel regularly compares seasonings, they decided to go straight into an "Ajinomoto vs. Nama UMAMI" showdown.

When Kuwata asked whether this would be a problem with Ajinomoto, Ryuji replied that he hasn't been told to use only a particular product, and that he didn't think Ajinomoto would get angry even if Nama UMAMI came out tasting better.

As for why he created Nama UMAMI, Komeo said, as he had mentioned during a livestream, that it was out of "a grudge against Horie." This refers to an incident involving so-called MSG-free cooking, and Nama UMAMI qualifies as free of chemical seasonings. So, the idea goes, he wants Horie to use it in his ramen, and ramen shops across the country might as well switch to it too.

When it came to the ingredients, Hayashi filled in the details. The "synergistic effect" of umami is often described as the effect of combining inosinic acid and glutamic acid. Hayashi explained that what is actually happening is that amino acids are bonded together, and said Nama UMAMI puts this into peptide form. Ryuji recalled that when he tried it with Komeo before, it had a flavor that a single ingredient such as sardines alone couldn't produce.

Tasted straight, Nama UMAMI has extremely fine particles and is smooth and powdery. Everyone reacted with "The umami is incredible," but Kuwata, recalling the intense umami when he drank some that Komeo had dissolved, suspected something else was in it. Komeo's answer was cassava starch. The powder starts to get sticky when it absorbs water or humidity, so the starch is added to prevent that.

Hayashi explained that powdered sugar also contains about 3% cornstarch, and that it is a necessary element for keeping powder free-flowing. He further speculated that when the powder takes on moisture it thickens, which makes it cling to the tongue longer, so you perceive the umami more strongly. Ryuji offered his own take: since the tuber itself is rich in umami, perhaps umami from the cassava is coming through as well.

Ryuji's tamago kake gohan recipe calls for 3 to 4 shakes of Ajinomoto. Asked how much Nama UMAMI to use, Komeo said one teaspoon. Nama UMAMI is light: even a tablespoon (normally reckoned as 15 g) comes to only about 8 g, and a teaspoon is roughly 3 g. Horie apparently says one earpick's worth is enough, but Hayashi described the strength when tasted straight as feeling like about one-fifth that of Ajinomoto. Many of the reviews Komeo has received also say it tastes better when you use more, and that it seems weak if you use too little.

When Kuwata asked about Ajinomoto's ingredient label, "seasoning (amino acids, etc.)," Ryuji explained. Ajinomoto is made by having bacteria break down molasses, which is left over after pressing sugarcane, to produce umami, which is then refined. Some people take issue with the use of bacteria, but Ryuji added that the bacteria only do the breaking down, and you are not eating bacteria. Hayashi responded that it might be similar to fermented foods. Nama UMAMI costs 2,270 yen for 200 g.

The tamago kake gohan was made with 180 g of packaged rice and one egg. In Ryuji's method, the egg white is mixed into the rice first. This cooks the egg white and gets rid of its slimy texture, so even people who dislike egg whites can eat it. Kuwata happens to dislike egg whites, and says he mixes the egg well before eating it with sukiyaki, too.

They used 3 to 4 shakes of Ajinomoto and half a teaspoon of Nama UMAMI. Ryuji's recipe normally also includes oil, but it was left out this time to focus solely on comparing umami. For soy sauce, they measured one level teaspoon from a freshly opened bottle of Kikkoman. Using a spoon with Nama UMAMI still on it without washing it would throw off the conditions, so they took care to equalize everything, including rewashing the spoon partway through. Komeo said he normally uses Nama UMAMI only in cooked dishes, and hadn't tried uncooked uses such as sprinkling it on chilled tofu. He predicted that it would turn plain soy sauce into something like dashi soy sauce.

Kuwata and Hayashi were served the two bowls without knowing which was which.

After eating A, the two first reacted with "delicious tamago kake gohan." When they ate B, Kuwata started to waver. Hayashi's assessment was that A was like dashi soy sauce with a slightly longer finish, while B had a "familiar" taste. Kuwata also felt B was the more familiar flavor. Kuwata also described A as "tasting like oyakodon."

As they kept comparing, however, it became harder to judge. Hayashi explained that because of the synergistic effect, the umami builds the more you eat, so both A and B keep getting tastier. Ryuji tried it himself and agreed: when you go back to A after eating B, A "has already turned into C." Hayashi said the only reliable judgment was the gut feeling from the first bite of A, and on that basis guessed that A was Nama UMAMI.

Hayashi further noted that B was the one he perceived more strongly as the temperature dropped. His guess was that since it's a seasoning made purely of amino acids, it stays strong even as it cools, while Nama UMAMI, because it contains starch, may act less strongly on the taste buds as the temperature drops.

Asked which they preferred, Hayashi said A was the one he'd want to eat in the morning. Kuwata chose B because it was the familiar taste and the stronger one that hit harder in comparison. The answer: A was Nama UMAMI. Ryuji felt Nama UMAMI would be better at about two-thirds of a teaspoon, while also reaffirming his regard for Ajinomoto, saying its concentration is remarkable given that just 4 shakes can produce that taste.

Komeo said, "I'll go add a bit more," and proposed a version with a larger amount: one teaspoon of Nama UMAMI for 180 g of rice and one egg, double the original amount. It looks like a lot, but because the particles are so fine, you can't see it at all once it's mixed in.

When mixed, the aroma of dashi rose up, and Hayashi said his earlier "oyakodon" impression might have been a chicken-stock-like flavor. Kuwata said it also had something of a chawanmushi feel. Ryuji's analysis was that eating this makes it clear it isn't Ajinomoto, and that the two had seemed so similar earlier probably because the amount was too small. Increasing the amount doesn't make it salty. Hayashi summed it up as a matter of preference: a gentle, mellow lingering umami versus umami that hits hard from the very first bite.

On how to describe the difference, someone put it this way: Ajinomoto hits you with an instant "Whoa, tasty," whereas this one creeps up on you slowly with a "Mm, delicious." Ryuji described tamago kake gohan made with Nama UMAMI as an upscale dashi-soy-sauce tamago kake gohan.

Having finished the tamago kake gohan, Ryuji declared, "These aren't things you compare." Nama UMAMI is closer to Ajinomoto than dashi is, and closer to dashi than Ajinomoto is, sitting right in between. Ryuji's view was that there had never been a category like this before. Although it contains bonito and sardines, its aroma isn't very strong, so it can be used as an umami source. At the same time, it delivers complex umami, with a dashi-like aroma lurking in the background. Hayashi agreed that it felt like something with the aroma removed and specialized for umami.

Ryuji also thinks the best match would be miso soup. Making it with Ajinomoto inevitably gives it a manufactured taste, but with Nama UMAMI, the umami of sardines and bonito should make a complex miso soup. He pointed out that nobody these days gathers bonito, sardines, shiitake and kombu to make dashi, and reflected that he planned the test around tamago kake gohan only because he hadn't understood Nama UMAMI.

Next they moved on to peperoncino, one of Ryuji's signature recipes. According to Ryuji, garlic also gives off umami, and some Italian master chefs add fish sauce instead of umami seasoning. Many recipes also include anchovies, so umami should work well in peperoncino.

Here Hayashi talked about why Italian and Japanese food cultures are similar. Both countries are long and narrow and surrounded by sea, travel between Florence, Rome and Naples is quick, and various food cultures easily intermingle. Because they stretch so far north to south, ingredients from both cold and warm regions are available, good ingredients tend to gather in the capital, and logistics are good, so the cooking is built around bringing out the ingredients. As an Italy lover himself, Ryuji said he feels Italian cuisine builds flavors in a way close to Japanese cuisine.

Ryuji went on to share something he had heard from someone at Ajinomoto: Ajinomoto doesn't really catch on in Italy. That's because Parmigiano-Reggiano is a lump of glutamic acid and goes into every dish, so it's as if Italians had already been sprinkling something like Ajinomoto all along. Tomatoes are also high in glutamic acid, but Ryuji relayed that their history in Italian cuisine is actually not that long, apparently having spread only over the past 100 to 200 years. Hayashi said the umami of cold-brewed dried tomato water is amazing.

They used one bundle of pasta, and added Shiojiro salt to the boiling water in just the amount needed for a 1% salt concentration. They measured exactly 1 tablespoon of olive oil and added 1 clove of minced garlic and a pinch of chili pepper to prepare the sauce. Ryuji said he enjoys cooking in unfamiliar environments and under conditions where available ingredients are limited, and recalled that making fried rice at this office before had been fun too.

The pasta, boiled firm, went into the frying pan along with some of its cooking water, and about half a ladle of pasta water and the oil were shaken together to emulsify. According to Ryuji, water and oil bind surprisingly well even on their own. He usually uses about 5 shakes of Ajinomoto, but this time used 7. For Nama UMAMI, he used 1 tablespoon. Hayashi said that, judging from the tamago kake gohan results, that amount might be about right.

When the Nama UMAMI went in, the powder absorbed water and thickened immediately, and the aroma became noticeably stronger. The final seasoning was just a pinch of salt, kept light so the difference in umami would be clear. The appearance and moisture levels were nearly identical, but the difference in aroma was so great that Ryuji said, "No need for a blind test." They finished with a drizzle of olive oil and started tasting.

Of the Nama UMAMI version, Kuwata said it didn't taste like just a peperoncino; it had a seafood aroma like pescatore, and you could taste every ingredient, including the aroma of the noodles. It was likened to a dashi pasta, and someone said it tasted like a premium version of Nagatanien's osuimono (clear soup) pasta.

With the Ajinomoto version, the garlic and chili come through directly. Hayashi said, "This is the peperoncino you usually get at restaurants." Kuwata said it was delicious but lacked depth, while adding that it was more than good enough for home cooking and could be served at a restaurant.

Ryuji mentioned that when he appeared with Komeo before, simply adding soy sauce to dashi had made it extremely tasty, and he poured soy sauce over the Nama UMAMI version. It turned into a Japanese-style dashi pasta, Goemon-style, and the reaction was that it had a strong mushroom flavor even though there were no mushrooms in it. Ryuji described it as soy sauce making Nama UMAMI blossom.

When soy sauce was added to the Ajinomoto version, it also became quite delicious. But according to Hayashi, the Ajinomoto version, lacking dashi, has the soy sauce flavor standing out, whereas the Nama UMAMI version has a complex umami like mushrooms with a dashi aroma. Since he hadn't noticed much mushroom flavor with the tamago kake gohan, Hayashi speculated that it depends on the dish, and perhaps the fat in the oil plays a role.

Hayashi further pointed out that Italian and Spanish cooking doesn't visibly combine things from the mountains and things from the sea, but the Japanese sensibility is to put both in, as in oden. With Nama UMAMI, you can add both in invisible form, so pairing it with Italian food might take it to the next level. Another view raised was that if Ajinomoto is the one that brings out everything around it, Nama UMAMI may be the one that shows tremendous potential when the things around it properly bring it out. It was also described as a feeling of ingredients adding up, of the ingredients "becoming a team."

The issue that came up was cost. Since 1 tablespoon is 8 g, 200 g works out to 25 servings, calculated at 98.8 yen per serving.

In response, Hayashi proposed mixing Ajinomoto and Nama UMAMI. Using half a tablespoon of Nama UMAMI instead of a full one and combining it with Ajinomoto would bring the cost down. The idea is that combining the two produces a different flavor, just as a "C" that was neither A nor B emerged during the tamago kake gohan test. Ryuji said this might be difficult for Komeo's branding, but that he himself had no problem suggesting it. When they actually tried the blend, the verdict was that the different umami elements layered together and created a synergistic effect, and Ryuji said they don't clash; in fact, they pair well. However, the positioning was that this isn't something to do at a restaurant, but it's a valid way to use it at home.

Kuwata said the value of Nama UMAMI lies less in the cost of its ingredients than in time. Considering the effort of preparing shiitake and kombu to make dashi, being able to easily enjoy a Japanese-style dashi pasta is a big deal, in his view. There was also talk of using it the way you might add anchovies, and that adding mushrooms would likely make it even tastier, as well as what would happen if it were compared with Hondashi, and Ryuji described the day as a "study group" or a "lab."

In the end, Ryuji summed it up by saying it wasn't about winning or losing. He felt the peperoncino was better with Nama UMAMI, which gave it a deeper flavor. For tamago kake gohan, on the other hand, Ryuji himself favors Ajinomoto. The next thing to try is miso soup, which he said would definitely be delicious.

What Komeo and Ryuji both emphasized was the importance of quantity. They wrapped up the test by saying they need to create many simple recipes that make it clear "just add this much": one teaspoon for tamago kake gohan, one tablespoon for pasta, and so on.

Finally, Komeo confessed how sales of another product, "Komeo's Osechi," were going. While about 4,500 units of Nama UMAMI have sold, fewer than 100 of Komeo's Osechi have sold. Ryuji said he couldn't recommend it since he hadn't tried it, then closed the video by saying that anyone interested should go ahead and check it out.