: Soaking salted anchovies & umami Does soaking salted anchovies in water to reduce the saltiness, also reduce their umami component?

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Yes, it does, as both salt and glutamate (which provides the umami flavor) are water-soluble.

However, salt has a solubility in water of 359 g/L whereas monosodium glutamate's is 740 g/L so the resulting anchovies will have drained about twice as much taste than salt for any given amount of soaking.