by Max Barry

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Region: Forest

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Good summary here:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151106-is-msg-as-bad-as-its-made-out-to-be

Worth noting that KFC uses MSG and MSG-like ingredients in most of its menu, in particular in the fried chicken "secret recipe" coating. And KFC does taste really, really good.

As a Chinese person, I'd note that the common Chinese stereotype of MSG is that its that ingredient that gets added to food a lot in America, thought admittedly to Chinese food there. A proper Chinese chef in China wouldn't dream of using it, is the idea.

From a personal point of view, I don't cook with it, but we've often bought processed foods where it is an ingredient. Subjectively, I find it makes me very thirsty, though no more so than ordinary salt.

Nattily dressed anarchists on bicycles wrote:If David Chang is correct, then basically anything fermented has relatively large amounts of naturally occurring MSG. Presumably, the more proteinaceous the stuff being fermented, the more MSG. I wonder how many MSG sensitive people have a big bottle of soy sauce in their fridge, so they can add a splash of liquid MSG to basically anything they want to taste good. I just took a straight spoonful for the first time ever, and yeah, that's a big salty dose of mushroomy meaty cheesy awesomeness.

There is a Turkish spice mix called "Tuzot" (which is literally the combination of the Turkish words for 'salt' and 'herb'). When used to season foods, it gives them a nice umami taste, and it is rich in MSG.

I had bought a pack and used it in foods when I was in Turkey, and it made a big difference (in the positive direction). Then I remember reading an article supposedly on all the negative effects of MSG and I panicked and discarded the rest.

I regret it now, and it is hard for me to find this mixed seasoning in the US (perhaps even impossible).

I highly recommend that you try it if it is available where you live, though. Unless you are afraid of MSG, haha.

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