Umami Meats unveils world’s first cultivated fish ball laksa

Umami Meats, a cultivated seafood start-up developing sustainable alternatives for endangered fish species, unveiled the world’s first cultivated fish ball laska at a private event in Singapore on 30 August 2022.

The cultivated fish balls were prepared using cultivated fish produced by Umami Meats and supplemented with plant proteins to enhance mouthfeel and bind the fish into the traditional fish ball structure.

“We’re excited to be able to showcase our first product prototype and to demonstrate the first visible and edible results of our team’s R&D advancements,” commented Mihir Pershad, Founder & CEO. As to why the company chose to develop fish ball laksa as a first prototype, Pershad added, “As a Singapore-based company, we wanted to craft a dish that embodied Singapore’s rich food culture. When we thought of classic, iconic Singaporean dishes, and laksa immediately came to mind.”

Umami Meats is focused on developing species that are expected to experience severe supply-side shortages in the coming years due to climate change, overfishing and continuously growing consumer demand. The company has developed proprietary, non-GMO process for producing fish muscle, fat, and connective tissue from a single stem cell and is actively developing the technology that will enable production of cultivated seafood products for a range of the world’s most vulnerable fish species.

The company has also been working closely with regulators at the Singapore Food Agency and has received an administrative exemption for serving its cultivated fish balls as part of Feed 9B Singapore Restaurant Week. “We are looking forward to receiving feedback from this first tasting event and learning how we can make further iterations even more compelling and delicious for consumers," Pershad concluded. "We are actively developing several additional prototypes based on our cultivated fish muscle and fats and look forward to launching them later this year.”