i know that msg is used as a flavor enhancer. but most people seem to be allergic to it, reactions ranging from a mild inconvenience to in some cases hospitalization. it seems that using it could actually deter business rather than help it. i know that i think twice about what i have to do for the day before eating chinese food.
i’ve had chinese food without it that tastes great, so why use it in the first place?
We had a demonstration in my home ec class waaaaaay back in high school, burgers with and without msg. The burger with had a noticably “peppier” flavor. When movie popcorn switched from coconut oil to a healthier oil, sales dropped off, so they quietly switched back. I guess the same is true of msg; if it improves flavor and sells more food, they’ll add it.
Because it’s a flavor enhancer. Americanized Cantonese food, which is what passed for “Chinese” food for decades in this country, is made up of bland veggies like celery and water chestnuts in a rather thin chicken stock base–unlike, say, classic French cuisine which relies for its flavor on long-simmered beef and chicken stock–and eschewing the traditional Cantonese flavorings like onion, garlic, gingerroot, and “real” soy sauce (that La Choy stuff is just brown salt water) meant that chop suey and chow mein didn’t taste like much of anything.
Until somebody discovered that you could put MSG in it, and suddenly it tasted like something.
I work with people who hail from several different Asian and Indian cultures and countries, and from what they say, in many places outside the U.S. MSG sits in a little shaker on their tables at home to be used much like we use table salt here. They put it on everything. So, maybe a part of it is just “that’s the way it is, so deal with it.” There are certain places I don’t go very often because they make feel bad, certain steakhouses in particular (I can cook the same steak at home, and not get severe stomach distress, but go out to eat a steak and boom, I’m rushing for the bathroom 30 min. later). Obviously other people don’t have this problem, as this place is very, very popular. Unless you can provide a cite, I wouldn’t believe that “most people” are allergic to msg. . .it would seem obvious to me that plenty of people don’t have a problem with it. I do know that our American media tends to blow things out of proportion from time to time.
MSG does for flavor what binocculars do for vision by a slightly different method. They magnify flavor, apparently by making our taste buds more sensitive. It is also a salt, and as such, adds its own taste to the food. IIRC, The Great Master has spoken of this material before. Check the archives. xo C.
MSG is more than just “salty” it’s the flavor of umami, the so-called fifth taste after the basic four: sweet, bitter, salty and sour.
The Great Master ranks high with Google - searching on the terms msg and umami brings this up.
maybe i shouldn’t have used the word most in my op. what i’m speak from is personal observation. i’ve worked in two chinese restaraunts, one using msg and one not. i’ve had many tables ask whether or not msg is used because of their reactions to it.
also the place not using msg seems to have better food, but i also realize that there are a number of other factors that could contribute to this.
There are a lot of people who think they are allergic to MSG. There are very few who actually are. You’ve seen many people complain about the MSG in Chinese restaurants, but when was the last time you heard someone complain that Kentucky Fried Chicken gave them headaches?
then what could it possibly be that’s effecting these people if it’s not msg? are they just imagining it because some one told them that it could happen? what is it about chinese food that would be different?
and i’d think that reactions to various foods would more be stomach aches then headaches. at least that’s the reaction i get. i can’t recall any time a meal has caused me to have a headache… well other than the mess i’d have to clean after cooking.
Some people deffinately react badly to Chinese style food with or without MSG. And these people do have a tendancy to elieve MSG is the cause of the problem. I like to cook Chinese style food a lot, and I avoid any MSG (including within the ingredients of prepared sauces etc.) I had a friend complain after such a meal that she had got tummy ache, and said she allways got that after Chinese foor due to the MSG. Sertainly she had a bad effect from Chinese food, but it wasn’t caused by MSG.
So I susspect many who say they are allergic to MSG are actually just not good at digesting chinese food.
Personally I quite like the effect MSG has on food that I buy from chinese resteraunts, and it deffinately means the food does not need as much other flavoring to make it pleasant as it would otherwise need.
Cheers, Bippy
Basically, yes (maybe). That’s why I mentioned the media in my earlier post. I seem to remember many years ago (and probably earlier than that–1980’s) that msg was a buzzword around the media, news stories, FUD about how it’s bad for you, the FDA isn’t sure about it, etc. As I said, people all over the world pour this stuff on absolutely everything, and LOVE it. It hasn’t yet wiped out the rest of the world. . .but a (relatively) few cases of irritation cause the U.S. to be unsure about it, and it gets blown out of proportion.
Around this part of the country a couple years ago, mold was a big story–how it can be found in your home, and make you sick, etc. My girlfriend’s grandmother, of course, saw all this and now every time she coughs, she is convinced she’s going to die of mold poisoning. Her house has been inspected thoroughly, and there is no mold. However, you can not convince her that something besides mold is making her sick (or even that she’s not really sick at all). 
Once the seed is planted, it’ll grow out of control.
Yep. Other cultures use this stuff quite often in cooking. For example, my Oma used a food flavor enhancer called Vegeta in a lot of dishes. Vegeta is found at most import stores and in Europe.
(Vegeta is kinda like a vegetable based bouillon.)
I think the media is responsible for all this hype. JMHO.
Hell, I’m still okay…I think…
This link demonstrates that MSG was shown to be harmless in people who claimed to be MSG sensitive. It also suggests that “Chinese Food Syndrome” may actually be caused by histamines present in typical Chinese ingredients.
Thanks for the link, sturmhauke. That site corroborates the results of my own investigations about msg over the years.
QtM, MD