All language subtitles for Salt.Fat.Acid.Heat.S01E02.PROPER.1080p.WEB.X264-EDHD

[Samin Nosrat] Salt.

It's fundamental to all good cooking.

It enhances flavor.

And even makes food taste
more like itself.

In short, salt brings food to life.

Learn to use it well
and your food will taste great.

[seagulls squawking]

[relaxed intro music playing]

[woman over P.A.] Ladies and gentlemen,
we will soon make a brief stop at Nagoya.

[Samin] In every corner of the world,
people use salt to season their food.

It's one of the few elements
that unites all cuisines.

[sizzling]

[slow waltz playing]

To better understand
this extraordinary element,

I went to Japan,

where salt plays an especially
significant role in all facets of cooking.

Which makes sense,
because Japan is an island nation,

and all salt comes from the sea.

[wind gusts]

[waltz ends]

Can you tell me how many different salts
come from Japan?

[salt store clerk, in Japanese]
Japan has about 4,000 kinds of salt.

[Samin] 4,000 kinds of salt?

[clerk] They all differ,
depending on where they come from

and on the production method.

[Samin] And what exactly
distinguishes the different salts?

In general, the size of the crystal
determines the saltiness.

[clerk] If the crystals are small,
they dissolve quickly in your mouth,

so you can taste
all of the saltiness immediately.

This one is really salty.

[both laugh]

[clerk] Bigger flakes
will dissolve more slowly,

so the saltiness is gradual
and less intense.

Oh, very delicate.

We use stronger salts
for strong-flavored ingredients

like meat.

But for foods with a milder flavor,
like vegetables,

I would use a mild salt.

You can sprinkle salt on food
to enhance its flavor.

[ice cream machine whirrs]

Hmm.

So good.

[birds chirping]

[Samin] There are lots of different ways
to make salt.

In France,

salt makers turn seawater into their famed
fleur de sel using solar evaporation.

In the Himalayas, pink rock salt is mined
from ancient sea beds.

But in Japan, where it's too cold and wet
to produce salt using just the sun,

salt makers have come up with
an ingenious method, by using seaweed.

What kind of seaweed is it?
What's it called again?

-[Yuri] It's Hondawara.
-[Samin] Hondawara?

[Yuri] It’s a very good, special salt,
with lots of minerals.

It's very tasty.

[instrumental music playing]

[engine accelerating]

[water splashes]

[Samin] Wow.

So all of these patches here
are all Hondawara?

Yes, Hondawara.

And it grows in a long line
down the coast.

[salt fisherman, in Japanese] This seaweed
has a very distinct color and flavor.

[Samin] It tastes very minerally.

Like, I can taste rocks, almost.

Do you want some?

-No.
-No!

[both laugh]

[Samin] All right.

Let me try.

Have you ever fallen out of the boat?

You have to go sort of at an angle.

I haven’t really figured out
the artistry of it.

[fisherman] Do it in a cutting motion.

-[Samin] Oh, my God!
-[Yuri] Aw.

-Ah!
-[Samin] Yes!

[metal creaking]

[weeds rustling]

[Samin] How many days does it take to dry?

[fisherman] It depends on the weather,
but it usually dries in one day.

You know it’s ready
when the color changes.

This one is from yesterday.

Oh, just one day. And it turns all the way
from that brown into this.

And you can already start to see
all of the salt forming.

[fisherman] I think Hondawara
makes the best salt.

It's sea salt.

[Yuri] The flavor is mild and tasty.

[fisherman] Then the seaweed is sent
to the factory to make the final moshio.

[sloshing]

[dull clack]

[Samin] Do you think Japanese boots
will fit my big feet?

-[rubber creaking]
-[Samin humming]

[bursts into laugh]

Welcome to the salt factory.

[indistinct dialogue in Japanese]

[Ishii, in Japanese] Moshio is salt
that’s made with seaweed.

These cauldrons are filled
with concentrated seawater.

It takes 15 tons of seawater
to create just one kilo of salt.

[lid clicks]

[Ishii] Then we take the seaweed
and dip it inside.

-[Samin] So this is dried seaweed?
-[Yuri] Yeah.

Tasty.

-Very salty.
-Yeah.

[Ishii] We extract the essence
of the seaweed.

[Yuri] Ah.

[Samin] It's like making tea
with a tea bag.

[Ishii] The color of the liquid
should change quickly.

[Samin] It smells like the ocean
all of a sudden.

[Yuri] Yeah.

[Ishii] Then we take out the seaweed
and continue to boil it down.

Salt crystals will slowly form
as pretty squares.

How do you know when it is done?

[Ishii] Over time,
the salt crystals will clump together.

[Yuri] Wow.

[Ishii] This took about four hours.

Afterwards, we put this into a dehydrator

to eliminate all the moisture.

[swishing]

Beautiful.

For most people, at least in America,

salt is something
that we buy in the store,

and you don’t think about
where it comes from.

You don’t think about how it’s made.

-The water from the ocean becomes salt.
-Right.

[Ishii] Now, it’s salt,
so of course it tastes salty,

but this salt has umami
and depth of flavor from the seaweed.

It’s best with simple foods
that don’t have much seasoning,

like rice balls, edamame, or sashimi.

If you want to bring out
the natural flavor of the ingredient,

then you use salt.

[scales creak]

[gentle rattling]

-Can we have a taste?
-[Keneda] Of course.

[Samin] I always eat sashimi
with soy sauce, but here...

Moshio.

[Keneda] It’s tai red snapper.

Traditionally, it’s eaten
without any other seasoning.

It's so good. It's just so clean.

It’s really like Japanese cooks
have figured out

how to use every part of the ocean.

[waves washing]

[seagulls squawking]

[instrumental music playing]

[chopping]

[Samin] The single most important element
to good cooking is salt.

When you perfectly season something,
it zings in your mouth.

I don't really ever follow recipes.

So, to me,
tasting is the only way to know.

I start with some, and I taste it,

and I decide if I wanna add
a little bit more.

This could use a tiny bit more.

It really just comes down to three
basic decisions to make in your cooking.

These are really big, fat,
beautiful short ribs on the bone.

One of the most important lessons
that I can teach you

is the power of salting meat in advance.

So, for me, I want to always make sure

that I'm getting all the sides of a piece
of meat nice and evenly salted.

I do what I call the wrist wag.

In general, I season meat on the bone

the minute I bring it home
from the butcher shop.

I'll unwrap it, season it, wrap it up,
throw it back in the fridge.

That way, I know I'm giving salt
enough time to do its magic.

These are pretty big.

So I think more time is better,
ideally overnight,

and that way it emerges
not only more flavorful,

but also more tender.

This is Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

It’s the least salty salt there is,
so even though this looks like

maybe you’re gonna die of a heart attack,
you're not.

[rustling]

Salt isn’t just limited
to crystals, though.

Open your fridge and you’ll be surprised

by how many forms of salt there are
right under your nose.

After all, what are olives, cheese,

pickles, capers, but sources of salt?

[birds chirping]

[lift beeps, indistinct chatter]

[female voice talks indistinctly
over P.A.]

[monkeys screeching]

[Samin] No, no biting.

It's okay.

Bye!

I wanted to learn more
about the salty ingredients

of the Japanese pantry,
so I visited my friend Nancy,

who's taught me so much of what I know
about Japanese cooking.

[Nancy] I left San Francisco in 1988,

and I came here to teach English.

But also, in the meantime,
I met my husband.

He was my student.

And then, of course, you know, wrestling
with the idea of him marrying a foreigner

and for me to marry

a Japanese husband
and stay here for the rest of my life.

These were two things
we both grappled with.

Years went by, we had three kids.

I was teaching English conversation
lessons in our house,

and my husband had a free range egg farm.

[Samin] So you started learning
how to cook Japanese food?

I got a TV to learn Japanese,

and the shows I watched were
cooking shows.

[TV host speaking in Japanese]

[Nancy] And I couldn't
understand anything,

but I would just watch.

And I've been cooking all my life,

and so it was easy
just to make the recipes.

It's-- You're just sort of like a steward
of the ingredients.

[Samin] One thing
that is so extraordinary here in Japan

is that everyone just has this
really amazing understanding

of the forms of salt
getting layered into dishes.

Right. They always use
the local soy sauce, miso.

And through my writing,

I’ve learned more
about each of these ingredients.

[birds chirp]

One of the most important forms of salt
in Japanese cooking is an ingredient

I was most familiar with
as a seasoning in soup.

But its uses go far beyond that.

[footsteps]

Where did you learn how to make miso
this way?

[Kazumi] The recipe
is from my grandmother.

In her time,
everyone made their own miso at home.

So I wanted to to try making it myself.

[thudding]

The first step is to steam the soybeans.

-[Samin] Should I mix it?
-[Nancy] Add some water.

[Kazumi] Then the koji.

[Nancy] Koji is a spore.
What we're using is rice koji.

[Kazumi] Koji is a type of fungus

that has good effects on fermentation.

[Nancy] And salt.

The artisanal salts participate
in the fermentation

in a way that industrial salt does not.

[Samin] You know,
people think it's really precious

to care so much about your salt
or something,

but there are a lot of people who care
about the taste of a lot of things,

of coffee, of beer.

To me, it makes total sense
to be that familiar with this element

that is really, I consider to be
at the base of all good cooking.

[Nancy] Absolutely. Yeah.

[Samin] Now we make balls?

[Nancy] So you make
the size that you like,

but the point is you wanna be squishing
all the air out.

-Okay.
-Squish all the air out, right?

[Nancy] Otherwise, you're going
to have mold introduced

-'cause air promotes mold growth.
-[Samin] Right.

[Nancy] Then you're going
to really pack it down,

make it as flat as you can.

We use rocks for weighting.

City people are gonna buy weights
made of ceramic.

She's going to put it someplace, cover it,

and she leaves it
for three years sometimes.

[Samin] Wow!

Seems like that time is really
what delivers the taste.

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Kazumi] This is a miso
I prepared two years ago.

[Samin] It's completely different.
I mean, just in texture and color.

So the koji has broken down the beans
in itself.

Oh, my gosh.

I don't know that I've ever tasted miso
like this before,

so full in my mouth.

Mild.

Yeah. Umami.

For Americans, miso is not an ingredient
that we really seem to understand.

You have miso soup, comes in a packet.

I can only imagine how good miso soup
made with this tastes.

And also you can put miso
in western foods like stews.

-Tomato sauce.
-[Samin] In tomato sauce?

Oh, it's such a good secret.

Miso is a flavorful source of salt.

But in Japan, there's one salty condiment
whose importance eclipses all others:

soy sauce.

Soy sauce packs so much flavor
that it’s the only seasoning you need

to turn something as simple as
chicken and rice into the perfect lunch.

[greetings in Japanese]

[Yasuo] We've been in business
for about 150 years.

I'm the fifth generation owner.

[Samin] How old are these barrels?

[Yasuo] Some of these barrels
are over 100 years old.

[Samin] Is this a common practice,
to use barrels like this?

Less than one percent of soy sauce
production is done this way,

but this is the traditional Japanese way
of making it.

This is where we prepare the mash
for soy sauce called "moromi."

[Samin] What's in the moromi?

[Yasuo] The mash contains soybeans,
wheat, salt, and water.

We mix all the ingredients together
in these wooden barrels.

Then wait for the microorganisms
in the air to ferment the mixture.

I don't make the soy sauce.

The microorganisms make it.

I just create an environment
where they can thrive.

They live inside these barrels
and on the surface.

The wooden material has air pockets
that they can inhabit.

I check on them every day.

And I talk to them.

My microorganisms work harder
when someone is watching.

The mixture will make popping sounds
when you get close.

I hear it!

It made a noise, right?

[popping]

The harder they work,
the tastier the soy sauce becomes.

After two years or so,
it’s ready to be pressed.

[Samin] And the average soy sauce
I could buy at the store,

how long are those fermented for?

[Yasuo] Industrial soy sauce
only takes about three months.

[Samin] I have a feeling
I've probably never tasted real soy sauce.

[Yasuo] Even most Japanese people
have never tasted real soy sauce.

[Samin] To me, I smell, like, caramel
and maple. It just smells so rich.

[Yasuo] There are only a handful
of real soy sauce makers left.

There's only one company still
in existence that makes wooden barrels.

In 2009, I placed an order for a barrel,

and it was the first order
they had received since World War II.

The survival of this soy sauce depends
on whether the barrel-making continues.

I'm trying to keep the tradition alive.

[sizzling]

[Yasuo] The flavor of the soy sauce
changes the flavor of the entire meal.

[speaks in Japanese]

[Samin] This smell of the crispy rice,
this like popping,

pop, pop, pop, crispy rice,
is to me, like my childhood,

because we have this,
the crispy rice in Iran, too.

-[Nancy] Really?
-Yeah.

Grilled rice balls and chicken,

it’s a meal that brings out the flavor
of the soy sauce.

If you have good soy sauce,
you don’t need any other seasoning.

The soy has a good umami
and complexity of flavor.

[Samin] Thank you.

[Yasuo] Thank you.

Thank you.

[Samin] A bit of soy sauce
goes a long way,

because considering that the rice itself
isn’t seasoned

before we added the soy sauce,

it’s just fascinating
that something so simple

can have so many
different characteristics.

[sizzling]

Your rice balls are delicious.

But the shapes are irregular.

I do a lot of approximation.

I mean it’s kind of like--
A thing I love is wabi-sabi.

That handmade quality that makes it human.

Someone described a really beautiful
master ceramicist.

And he would pick up a lump of clay
and put it on the wheel

and with just like two quick movements
he'd make this perfect bowl.

And then he’d lift it up
and just go, “tap.”

Just to put his little human touch in it.

Perfect.

So now I'm just going to make
the marinade,

to let this meat sit overnight in.

And since there’s some salty things
in here,

I really held back on how much salt
I put on the meat itself.

There’s some soy sauce...

some miso...

a little mirin. Rice wine.

Any time I’m making any dish, really,

I’m always thinking about the different
sources of salt that I can work in,

because you get other flavor benefits

beyond what we could have gotten
if we had only salted the meat.

And when I’m making something
that’s inspired by the cuisine of Japan,

I’ll use the sources of salt
that they use there.

This is sort of like, Samin Japanese.

Soy sauce and miso
aren't just sources of salt.

They're also sources of umami...

our fifth taste
after salty, sweet, bitter, and sour.

Umami may seem mysterious,
but it really just means savoriness.

It's what makes your mouth feel full,

and plays a big part
in making food taste satisfying.

[traffic noise]

[motorcycle rattles by, bike bell chimes]

[Yuri] This way.

I'm taking a short cut.

-That way.
-[Samin] That way?

She's a chef. She's busy.
She's in a hurry.

I understand. You have a restaurant.

Anybody who has a restaurant
always has to just--

[both] Hello!

-[Yuri] I'll see you later!
-[Samin chuckles]

[indistinct chatter in distance]

[Samin] Do you come here every day?

[Yuri] Not every day. It's, um...

one or two times a week.

[buzzing]

[Samin] These are like one million unis.

Do you see those ones are going
to Morimoto in Pennsylvania?

All the different restaurants
of the world?

[Yuri] Eel is my least favorite fish
to handle.

[Samin] It's so slippery!

What is this? Livers? Fish livers?

Not liver.

Brains?

How do you say "sperm sac"?

-It's a reproductive organ, right?
-Yeah.

[Samin] What do you usually look for?

[Yuri] Usually it depends on the menu.

I need a tai for a rice dish.

-Are you preparing the dish today?
-Tomorrow.

In that case, I think we should
take out the lungs and stomach.

[Samin] And so the fish tastes fresher
for tomorrow.

[Yuri] It's a pretty one.

So, Yuri, this is the tai from Japan?

-And we’re gonna cook tai meshi?
-Yeah.

[Samin] Thank you.

Tai meshi is a Japanese celebration dish.

It’s made by cooking fish and rice
in dashi,

a simple stock that’s made
with dried smoked fish and seaweed.

It's the perfect meal to show off
the many ways to use salt.

I've never really understood katsuobushi,

because I've never seen
the way it's shaved.

-It's just smoked fish.
-[Yuri] Yeah.

[Samin] Look at that!

This is a milder blend.

It reminds me almost of smoked salmon.

It's very delicate.

This one has a more deep, fishy taste,
closer to bacon or something.

[Samin] How long is it smoked?

One month.

One month.

[Samin] How long does it take
to make dashi?

-[vendor, in Japanese] About 30 seconds.
-[Samin] Thirty seconds?

So this is where all the time and
the work is, and then it's fast for me.

-[vendor] Thank you so much.
-Thank you!

So it's just vegetables
that are salted overnight?

[Yuri] Yeah.

[vendor, in Japanese] These are salted
for about five to seven days.

[Samin] This is the kind of pickles
you put in your soup?

-[Yuri] Yeah.
-Cabbage?

Yeah. Kind of a cabbage.

You should immediately taste the salt
when you lick it.

-Ooh!
-Mm-hm.

It tastes like sauerkraut.

[vendor] It should be eaten with rice.

[Samin] What I've noticed is, you know,
the base of the food here is rice.

And there's not really
any salt in the rice.

And so everything that you make,
starting from the most basic foods,

is layering umami and salt.

Miso and soy sauce
and all of the different kinds of pickles.

There's so much umami,

so much sweetness and salt
that you introduce into a simple meal.

So we can eat just rice and egg,

and you get so many different flavors.

[Yuri] Thank you!

[faucet stops running]

When planning a meal,

I always consider how much to salt
each individual component

so that it all comes together
into the perfect bite.

[bubbling]

Often, when there's water involved,

it's about having a salty enough
environment,

so that in the short time
that the food spends in the pot,

it will become seasoned from within.

The less time a food spends
in a pot of salted water,

the saltier the water should be.

And the only way to know how much to use
is to taste your way there.

Needs a lot more.

[spoon clinking]

[soft sprinkling]

People freak out when they see how much
salt it takes to properly season water.

But you have to remember,

most of that water
is going to go down the drain.

Okay.

Once it’s salty enough
to make you make a face like that,

then it’s salty enough.

Really what you’re thinking about

is how long your food
is gonna spend in there.

These green beans, they'll only be
in there. for three to five minutes.

So their environment has to be
wildly salty.

For rice, it’s a totally different story.

It’s gonna absorb all the water
and all the salt that it cooks in.

So if you make these pots equally salty,
your rice will become inedibly salty.

Honestly, I’ll just add a pinch or two.

And that’s basically that.
Let's check on the green beans.

I think it tastes perfect.

[birds tweeting]

So we're gonna cook
a bunch of different things

to show off the different uses of salt?

Right.

[bubbling]

[Nancy] What we're gonna do

is boil them for eight minutes
for room temperature eggs.

I like it to be...
just the center of the yolk is shiny.

This is one of those tricks that I love.
It's being able to control it,

like stop it cooking in the ice water.

People are always like,
"How do you get that egg so perfect?”

All you need to do is just have of bowl
of ice water and set a timer.

[gentle thudding]

[cracking]

[Samin] I always feel jackpot
when you get under that little membrane.

[Nancy] I know...

So, we're gonna...

open up the miso.

So this miso has been aged
for about one summer.

I'm gonna make this.
I'm gonna flatten it out like this,

-and gonna-- and then I'm just--
-[Samin] Oh, my gosh!

It's a little miso comforter.

[Nancy] Then we're gonna put them
in the fridge for four hours.

I can also leave them at room temperature
and a little bit less time.

That's another way to speed it up.

So, the miso,
what it really does is to season--

Actually the salt permeates
into the white, because it's porous.

It does transform the white
to a certain degree.

-[Samin] The texture of the egg white?
-Exactly.

I mean, eggs and salt are delicious,

but I really love the added
fermentation element of this salt.

-[Samin] The extra funk.
-[Nancy] Right.

Hello.

-[Samin] Hi!
-[Nancy] Hello, Yuri!

[all laughing]

-[Samin] Now we'll make the tai meshi?
-[Nancy] Mm-hm.

[fish scales creaking]

[knife slicing]

You're a master.

[thuds]

[birds chirping]

[Samin] So we just want
a crispy skin on the outside?

[Yuri] Yeah.

It's like a seasoning.

The smoky flavor makes it so yummy.

-[Samin] It is like another seasoning.
-Yeah.

[Samin] So, what goes in dashi?

Dashi is katsuobushi and kombu.

[Samin] The kombu,
it's just a dried seaweed?

[Yuri] Yes, that's right.

-So you put the kombu into cold water?
-Mm-hm.

[Samin] And then we just wait

-until it comes up all the way to a boil?
-Yeah.

[Yuri] Then add the katsuobushi.

[Samin] This is the dried smoked fish.

[clack]

-[Samin] And that's dashi.
-Yeah.

[Samin] It is this kind
of secret ingredient

that Westerners don't really understand,

'cause we don't have something like dashi
that we add at the base of every dish.

[Yuri] Mm-hm.

[Yuri] Light soy sauce.

[Samin] The idea is
that the fish will cook

in the same amount of time it takes
for the rice to cook

-and they'll be done at the same time.
-Yeah.

Plus, the fish heads
will have a little juice.

And the rice absorbs all of the flavors.

All right.

[birds chirping]

[Samin] Beautiful.

[Nancy] Okay.

This part's a little bit easier
than putting the miso on.

[Samin] So this stuff,
you could make another batch?

-Another batch, a few times. Miso soup.
-You can make miso soup?

[Nancy] I'm just gonna cut it in half.

[Samin] Ooh, the egg yolk is so perfect.

-Here, put it back in.
-Okay.

[Nancy] I'm gonna put
some cinnamon spice powder on.

Hmm.

-[Nancy] How's that?
-[Samin] Perfectly salted.

The miso flavor goes so far.

And it's a very deep flavor.
I understand why four hours is enough.

It's wonderful.

[birds chirp, cars swoosh by]

[chopping]

[Jazmine] This is usually what I do
when I cook dinner with my friends.

People are braising meat

and using knives and all the other things
you do in a kitchen,

and I’m generally given the cilantro.

-[Samin] You’re a professional at it.
-[Jazmine] You know what?

I’m very good at doing the dishes
and I think that is my calling in life.

It’s an important part
of being at a dinner party.

[stove clicking]

So this pan’s hot. You wanna
put your hand there and feel it?

-Okay.
-Another way to test that it's hot enough

is to just put... some water on there.

And if it sizzles away immediately,
that's how you know it's hot enough.

-Have you ever made short ribs?
-Never.

You're like a beautiful blank slate for me
and this is such a good lesson.

So, I’ll just go like that.

[sizzling]

That sound, that sizzle,
you always wanna hear the sizzle.

So there’s the salt crystals
that I put on the meat.

But then, in the marinade,

I put some soy sauce,
which has salt in it, some miso.

-You see that?
-Yeah.

It's getting perfectly browned.

Since this is a Japanese-y kind of meal,

-We made some dashi. Know what dashi is?
-No, I don't.

It’s like the secret flavor key
to why Japanese food is so good.

And then I’m just gonna sneak
a little miso in.

[spoon clinking against cup]

[Samin] It's like a flavor bomb
in your mouth.

It's really good.

It’s just flavorful.

It feels like I just had a whole meal
in one sip.

[broth running]

That’s about good. You know, for me,
it’s like, I wanna go a knuckle high.

-Okay.
-That's enough that I know

it’ll create the steam and simmer
in there.

[aluminum foil rustling]

[Samin] It's kind of perfect.

Scoot it all the way back.

[birds chirp]

[cheerful guitar music playing]

[Samin] Between these dishes, there are
so many forms of salt on this table.

-[Nancy] Right.
-We have miso,

soy sauce,

salt itself.

-This is good eating.
-Yeah.

[Samin] Oh, so beautiful.

[In Japanese] Let's eat!

This is so good, Yuri.

Even though there's so many
different flavors, you know,

and so many different ingredients
that you've used...

The more I travel and taste
the different cuisines of the world,

the more I realize that good cooking
is universal.

The ingredients may change,

but the fundamentals are the same.

And it all begins with salt.

-Do you hear that?
-[Jazmine] Oh, I hear the bubbling.

[spoon clinks]

This is like what it means when they say
"falling off the bone" tender.

The bones just literally slip out.

-Oh, my God.
-Damn, that's good.

-Holy crap.
-It's so good!

That's so good.

[Samin] The meat
is just a flavor powerhouse.

Even the middle part of the rib
is perfectly seasoned.

Hmm.

Perfect.

[waves crashing]