Msg
- Thread starter NJstout
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Adds "umami" flavors (one of the six tastes your taste buds can pick up) and the easiest way to describe umami is mushroom, yeast or other fungus sensation. It's used very often in Asian cooking.
I like it, personally. It adds a different layer and makes it seem more authentic.
I like it, personally. It adds a different layer and makes it seem more authentic.
Wetfoot
Well-Known Member
If you like it, use it. I think the main thing is not to 'go to the well too often' with it. I like it in rice dishes, considering it for BBQ, and it appears in Asian condiments like oyster sauce, which I like to use. If you put MSG in everything, your dishes will begin to taste the same. Don't substitute it for good culinary technique such as browning, reductions, etc.
As my wife is allergic to MSG, i have to be on the lookout for it all the time. It has several different names (autolyzed yeast extract, oleoresin/extractives of paprika, etc.) and is included in a great many things. 
It causes a chemical reaction in your brain that makes you think the food tastes better. If you can't cook worth a crap, go ahead and add it, at least your brain will think you can cook well when you eat it.
It causes a chemical reaction in your brain that makes you think the food tastes better. If you can't cook worth a crap, go ahead and add it, at least your brain will think you can cook well when you eat it.
CHefJohnboyardee
Well-Known Member
a little bit goes a long way!!!! just the amount that will stick to your fingers will change the taste of a whole pot of food.
i used it a lot at an asian themed restaurant. i don't use it now but sometimes i wish i had some just to help round out some flavors.
i used it a lot at an asian themed restaurant. i don't use it now but sometimes i wish i had some just to help round out some flavors.
remilard
Well-Known Member
As my wife is allergic to MSG, i have to be on the lookout for it all the time. It has several different names (autolyzed yeast extract, oleoresin/extractives of paprika, etc.) and is included in a great many things.
It causes a chemical reaction in your brain that makes you think the food tastes better. If you can't cook worth a crap, go ahead and add it, at least your brain will think you can cook well when you eat it.
Is this one of those fake allergies or can she actually not eat mushrooms and tomatoes? That would suck. It seems like most people who are sensitive to msg magically lose that sensitivity when they don't realize the food they are eating has huge levels of free glutamate.
We have some here because my wife is Japanese and sometimes she will make a recipe that has some in it. As said before, it adds umami flavor. I don't mean to disagree with Baron ken but it's not nearly as simple or insidious as he make it out to be. It is sort of like saying salt causes a chemical reaction in your brain that makes food taste better. Of course it does. It is a flavor just like salty, sour, sweet, etc.
That said, I don't use MSG because there are plenty of ways to bring out umami flavor in a dish which don't involve adding it.
That said, I don't use MSG because there are plenty of ways to bring out umami flavor in a dish which don't involve adding it.
CHefJohnboyardee
Well-Known Member
I hear allergic to garlic and onions all the time... crazies!
remilard said:
No, it's not a fake allergy. Free glutamate in mushrooms and tomatoes is from a naturally occurring source, unlike manufactured MSG which has very high proportion of the 'flavor-enhancing' glutamate (i.e processed free glutamic acid) that in some individuals can cause reactions.
If you are actually interested (from the tone of your post, I'll guess you aren't), you can find more information about hidden sources of MSG here.
My favorite is when people think they know whether another person has an allergy or not. Hmm, actually, it's not my favorite, it's kinda rude.
"You aren't a celiac, drink that wheat beer and quit whining!"
Hey, how about we just tone down the rhetoric and ad hominem in this thread?
This whole thing started when YOU, Baron, ended your post with this disparaging remark:
I cannot think of a better troll. I mean, really spectacular job. You manage to deride anyone who has ever cooked with MSG while spreading disinformation. What did you think was going to happen after you did that? Everyone in the thread would send you roses and congratulate you on your witty and insightful commentary?
Don't come in here crying that people have responded in kind.
This whole thing started when YOU, Baron, ended your post with this disparaging remark:
I cannot think of a better troll. I mean, really spectacular job. You manage to deride anyone who has ever cooked with MSG while spreading disinformation. What did you think was going to happen after you did that? Everyone in the thread would send you roses and congratulate you on your witty and insightful commentary?
Don't come in here crying that people have responded in kind.
My first reply was to voldermort who asked for thoughts on cooking with MSG.
You may call it trolling, but the question by the OP was quite open.
You turned a comment to him/her into '...deride anyone...'? I did not say that people who cook with MSG cook like crap, I said that if you do cook like crap, then adding MSG will make you think your food tastes better. That apparently led to all the experts on allergies coming out the woodwork.
As Wetfoot pointed out: Don't substitute it for good culinary technique such as browning, reductions, etc.
Oops, I poked the bear. Seems like a pretty sensitive bear. Please, continue to take seriously everything you read on the internet.
dataz722
Well-Known Member
Ok guys, can we tone this argument down a little? Probably something better suited for the debate forum.
A fake, sensitive bear
I have no doubt there are people allergic to glutamic acid. I also have no doubt there are lots of people who claim to be, but aren't. It is possible for these folks that they are allergic to something else, but mistakenly attribute the symptoms to MSG. (I knew a guy who ate out a fair bit and kept saying he often would get food poisoning. Finally in his late 30's he figured out he was just lactose intolerant
)Whether it is from a natural source or manufactured, makes not one iota of difference. Gram for gram, they are the same. Glutamic acid is glutamic acid, no matter the source. Now there may be less in some "natural" food than what is added to some prepared foods, but if you eat more of the "natural" food such that one matches the level of glutamic acid in a prepared food, then the response will be the same. If not, look for something else that might be the problem.
Yes MSG is "manufactured", but it comes from "natural source" Hydrolyze any protein (yeast, plant, whatever) and you'll release some glutamate which can then be purified from the other amino acids that are released. If you add a tenderizer to your meat, you will release some glutamate, just as if you added some MSG to it.
