The secret in many Asian flavorings is the three desirable taste components: glutamate acid (which tastes like kelp or konbu), inosinic acid (dried bonito), and guanil acid (shiitake mushrooms), in natural ingredients. Many Asian cooking ingredients have these desireable tastes in different ways. The flavor enhancers added to low-cost ramen, monosodium glutamate, disodium iosinate and disodium guanylate are done to approximate these desireable tastes without the expensive real ingredients.

The essence of flavorings is that key ingredients a good cook would use in many dishes. In Asian cooking, that honor starts with the ubiquitous soy sauce. It blends well with so many dishes that it has been widely adopted in other cuisines.

Soy sauce is actually a very intriguing flavor with many vintages like fine wines. In fact, it is rarely appropriate to substitute one for the other in a discerning recipe. A good instant noodle brand labeled simply as soy sauce flavor may taste quite exquisite and delicious!

• Common Ingredients
• Classic Chinese Flavors
• Essences of Japanese