Dessert may be the most obvious vehicle to showcase a sweet-umami pairing, but we’re also seeing these mashups pop up across the menu in appetizers and center-of-the-plate proteins. Take inspiration from inventive combinations like pork belly pancakes topped with hoisin and ginger-maple dressing, hoisin-steeped pork shoulder topped with apple slaw, Pacific salmon glazed in a maple-soy sauce, and marinades made with soy and seasonal fruit juices. And, of course, this irresistible flavor pairing hines on dessert menus in items like ginger cupcakes frosted with ginger-soy buttercream and tangy plum cupcakes topped with plum buttercream.

The beverage category has also embraced sweet and umami offerings, especially in teas, beer and cocktails. Operators are adding interest to their menus ith items like roasted oolong iced tea with umami-rich preserved plum and sweet pears; a boozy punch made with makrut-lime-infused gin, ginger, pear, Ambrato vermouth and soy; and a golden ale brewed with pineapple and apple-smoked malt. Drinks with complex flavor profiles give adventurous consumers another avenue to challenge their palates and try something new.

Flavor is a balancing act. For instance, cooks, chefs, and menu and product developers use different drivers to achieve the perfect balance of sweet and salty tastes. I see a big opportunity to take this combination a step further by leveraging umami in recipes that have a sweet flavor profile.

So what does umami do? From a nourishment perspective, which considers the total flavor experience and nutritional balance, umami is a tool that increases customers’ perceptions of sweet and salty. Umami actually changes the way your brain processes taste on a neurological level. Umami also changes our perception of sour and bitter and reduces these often-undesirable taste attributes. This enables us to use less sugar and sodium in our menu items and still create a complex and rich flavor profile that satisfies.

This is not a new concept in many Asian cuisines, where sweet-and-umami hoisin sauce is spread on pancakes for mu shu pork or Peking roasted duck wraps, or beef for Vietnamese pho is dipped in a sweet-and-umami fermented soybean paste.