In the early 1900s, the Japanese isolated a fifth taste that they call “umami,” a savory taste high in pleasure-stimulating glutamates. This recipe is off the charts with umami (cooked mushroom, shellfish, soy and mirin). Other foods replete with umami are aged cheese, aged wines, braised meats and ripe tomatoes. To best pair umami with wine, keep away from highly tannic reds because glutamate accentuates tannin’s bitterness. Other than those, many wines match up deliciously with umami. Fermentation itself creates the umami taste; aging wine heightens it. Wines with slight sweetness matched with umami ought to carry an NC-17 rating.
— Bill St. John, Special to Tribune Newspapers
THE FOOD: Shrimp with mushrooms and pea pods
Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a skillet over high heat; add 8 ounces white mushrooms, quartered. Cook, stirring, until softened, 5 minutes. Remove from skillet. Add 1/3 cup pea pods to the skillet; cook, stirring, until pea pods begin to color, about 2 minutes. Remove. Add 1 tablespoon oil; 1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined; and 1 teaspoon minced ginger. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until shrimp are opaque, about 4 minutes; return vegetables to skillet. Add 3 tablespoons each soy sauce and mirin and 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar; cook until heated through. Makes: 4 servings
THE WINES
2012 Domaine des Aubuisieres Vouvray Cuvee de Silex, Loire, France: With just a hair’s breadth of sweetness, this chenin blanc also offers up scents of wet white rock and terrific acidity; perfect for all fish. $16-$18
2011 Treana White, Central Coast, California: A 50/50 blend of marsanne/viognier for a West Coast version of a Rhone white: waves of peachy, honeyed aromas and a rich, juicy, fruit-laden texture. $18
2012 Cantina Andriano Floreado Sauvignon Blanc, Alto Adige, Italy: Like a cross between Old World citrusy flavors and acidity with New World melon and white peach fruity aromas; nice finishing minerals. $15-$20