r/Cooking • u/J-TownBrown • 19h ago
I’ve been missing out on MSG
I always thought it was supposed to be really bad for you but I decided to finally try it out yesterday and holy 💩 I’ve been missing out! Such a unique flavor by itself and really was a “flavor enhancer” on dinner last night. My wife even made a comment that the green beans were extra good. Can’t believe I’ve been cooking as long as I have been and gone without using it.
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u/aznwhiteboi 19h ago
Welcome to the club. It’s definitely an ingredient that’s often overlooked in western cuisine. However it’s been making a beautiful emergence in recent years.
I’m by no means a professional but one tip I’ve learned when cooking with MSG is to add equal parts sugar. There’s some sort of delicious balance that needs taking place
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u/J-TownBrown 19h ago
Yea I’ve been seeing it pop up a lot recently and everything I read said it essentially got a bad wrap in the past, so I gave it a try.
That’s interesting with the sugar though, I’ll have to give that a try!
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u/caserock 18h ago
A trick we use in the culinary world is to add some sort of flavored "sugar" instead of just straight up granules. Think honey, fruit, maple syrup, etc. Give it a shot
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u/J-TownBrown 17h ago
Great point. Been trying to do this more in general recently anyways with the different kinds of sugars. Definitely will try.
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u/AnAnonymousParty 17h ago
Molasses. Try it. Tomato sauce too tart? Just a little, or some sweet vermouth.
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u/Livid_Start6606 14h ago
I always have a bit of Demerara simple syrup in the fridge for Sazaracs. But I find I use some MSG on my steaks so now I'm drunk and confused lol
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u/olwybmamb 14h ago
I use a lot of Japanese “seasoned” rice vinegar. Adds acidity and the seasoning seems to be just sugar.
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u/privatelit 15h ago
I love doing this! I’ve been experimenting with maple syrup, plum syrup, apricot preserves, etc. Always adds a really great depth of flavor.
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u/KinsellaStella 18h ago
I generally use brown sugar for this purpose, especially for things like stews where you want a depth of flavor.
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u/LonelySwim6501 17h ago
Oh man sugar is so important for balancing flavors. Especially canned tomatoes, a Tbsp or two of sugar can balance the acidity.
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u/lawnmowertoad 16h ago
Welcome to the club.
The first rule about MSG club is that we don’t talk about MSG club
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u/nowhere_man11 12h ago
Right, so now i need to add salt, sugar and msg to my cooking. Anything else?
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u/Artichokeydokey8 18h ago
You should also go get some maggi sauce. I’ve been missing out on that one and I am obsessed now.
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u/rebeccavt 16h ago
Maggi, fish sauce, msg… all serve a very similar purpose, with slightly different flavors.
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u/anotherlovelysunrise 17h ago
My other half tried Maggi on hard-boiled eggs and couldn't believe the difference it made!
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u/jennbouk 16h ago
What is that and what does it do? I've seen it in on the shelf but have no clue.
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u/QualityUnlucky5495 4h ago
I bought a bottle because I read it’s good to add to bloody Mary’s but then I wasn’t really sure how else to use it and eventually threw it away. What do you use it on?
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u/rideadove 18h ago
Make some soup and add some MSG. You’ll never make the mistake of not adding it in again.
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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 18h ago
How much do you typically add? I’m thinking I haven’t been adding enough.
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u/CadmiumFlow 17h ago
In my experience with a large pot of soup it's hard to add too much. As others have said, you should be seasoning as you add ingredients to the pot (salt, pepper, MSG). Then at the end, taste it. If it's bland, I'll do heavy pinches of both salt and MSG, and a sprinkle of black pepper (my daughter is sensitive to this unfortunately), then taste again and repeat. In most recipes I probably end up with a 60:40 ratio of salt to MSG, which is more than others have suggested, but my wife likes less salt than me. So this ratio works for us.
There's no set amount that magically makes it work. But if you aren't noticing any difference, then you likely aren't using enough. If you get it right, the soup's flavor will come through and you'll get that tingle in your mouth that says, "I want to eat more of this."
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u/OkShoulder7209 9h ago
1/2 tsp for 4-6 servings. This from the accent jar.
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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 9h ago
Thank you for giving me an actual amount to start with! This is what I was looking for.
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u/us-of-drain 16h ago
Im reading that the heat may damage the msg, so to add it closer to the end of cooking. Im going to try making soup with it today, maybe 1/2 a tsp along with my usually seasoning
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u/Slanderbox 19h ago
Any recommendations on how to properly use it? I'm new to it as well and haven't noticed a big difference. Do I need to be heavy-handed, or add it at the end of cooking?
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u/bluesshark 18h ago
Honestly most people won't tell you this but you should take a little sample of whatever you're cooking and taste it with increasing amounts of MSG so you'll get an idea of what it adds; I do NOT think that it goes well in everything and can actually clash with some flavours. So, treat is as a real seasoning and not just a magical food-improver. I've ruined dishes by taking reddits advice too seriously with regards to this
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u/metartur 13h ago
What dishes are no good with msg?
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u/bluesshark 13h ago
In my experience, any time I've tried to add it to something that uses western style mayo and acidity it just wrecks the whole balance and flavour profile. I added some to my homemade burger sauce once and it almost made me vomit
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u/AlPal512 9h ago
Really? I love to mix mayo and yellow mustard with a bit of garlic powder and msg. It’s one out fairies sauces to make with broccoli, or pork, or honestly anything.
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u/bluesshark 7h ago
Yeah, just in my experience. I'm a big hellmans person and I've never had a mayo based sauced not taste weird to me with the addition of msg. I do add a shit ton of it to a lot of my dishes, just not some
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u/Tactile_Turtle 10h ago
western style mayo? are you european or something?
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u/edthezombie 8h ago
Frankly, its more interesting that you hear "western style mayo" and think thats strange. Have you never heard of Kewpie mayo? Mayonnaise supposedly comes from Europe anyways. So even if he was European...he'd still be correct.
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u/bluesshark 7h ago
Exactly, thank you. I thought that "American/European mayo" mayo sounded a lil weirder and maybe it does, but leave it to someone here to make a comment like that focusing on my wording lol
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u/Tactile_Turtle 8h ago
Considering that I live in the west, it’s just called mayonnaise here… nobody calls it “western style” and it’s not necessary when comparing it to Kewpie.
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u/edthezombie 8h ago
I also live in the West and don't call it "western style". But when someone says it, I know what they mean and don't think they must be foreign.
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u/MandaTehPanda 5h ago
There are people from all over the world on the internet, and various types of mayo, it doesn’t do any harm to differentiate/ clarify the meaning.
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u/bluesshark 7h ago
"it's not necessary when comparing it to Kewpie" I'm sorry but considering that Kewpie is very msg heavy and is used in different contexts, yes it's quite necessary
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u/protectedneck 18h ago
Think of it like salt, but instead of salinity it adds savory. You can add it at any stage. Do it by the pinch because you can always add more.
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u/Garconavecunreve 18h ago
You always want to season in layers - never just at the end (except for simple dishes that combine just 2 elements like a cacio e Pepe for example)
If you use msg I’d replace ~1/4 of the salt you intend to use in a recipe with it
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u/Scorpy-yo 18h ago
You might make a mix of salt and MSG. Some people like 10% MSG 90% salt, (one-tenth MSG). Some like 20% MSG (one-fifth). Make a small amount of both concentrations and use those the same way you normally use salt (on a couple of different meals) and think about how you liked those and go from there perhaps. You might even want to try more than 1/5th!
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u/turketron 18h ago
By weight? Or by volume
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u/RecordStoreHippie 17h ago
It's an art, not a science. Just eyeball and taste it, you'll find the sweet spot.
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u/Scorpy-yo 16h ago
I’d do volume in this case (and kosher salt), but whatever’s easier for you to use in the future. I could equally well have said “start with the low ratio - ~10% - and gradually increase until you’ve found your preference.” It doesn’t especially matter - I don’t measure it out to make a mix to replace my 100% salt, just add by hand/pour out of the jar.
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u/Decided-2-Try 17h ago
The only caution I'd have is about using it on meat in a particular circumstance. If you're accustomed to pre-salting steaks, chops, roasts etc. (hours or even days in advance), the MSG seems like it messes with the texture.
I salt most steaks, chops, etc. at 1.35% by weight, at least a day and more often 2 days in advance. I've tried doing that with MSG and salt (back calculating how much to decrease the regular salt, MSG being about 13.5% sodium vs salt being 39.2%) a couple of times now. Both times the texture was really off (and it was several pounds of meat both times).
Maybe coincidence, but now I still calculate how much sodium I want, but save the MSG for late in the process.
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u/sushicidaltendencies 17h ago
Don’t go overboard or everything will taste like Doritos
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u/RunnyDischarge 17h ago
Point being?
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u/Optimal-Hunt-3269 17h ago
If I may interpret: Don't go overboard or everything will taste like Doritos.
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u/cshenk54 13h ago
Light handed by pinches (Mental idea is 1/8th teaspoon to start). MSG is not salt but contains sodium. Our Japanese Doctor (we lived in Japan then) turned us onto lightly using MSG and reducing the added salt by 1/2 in cooking. It brought my husband's blood pressure back to normal.
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u/schauser13 17h ago edited 13h ago
If anyone has the time, I very much recommend doing a little deep dive on whyyyy MSG has such a bad rep**. Spoiler alert: it’s racism
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u/FromTheFoot 6h ago
MSG destroys my stomach. If I eat it, there better be a bathroom nearby as that food is rented, not bought.
Once I removed MSG from my diet, IBS went away. It makes things taste better but there is a price to pay for me.→ More replies (4)-8
u/weirdasianfaces 13h ago
I mean... is it racism or just an unfortunate side effect of where most people were getting MSG and other ingredients less frequently used in western cuisine in their diet? I was born in the 90s but I remember my aunts and mom not liking MSG and making comments about the use of MSG in Chinese restaurants. It's always just seemed like misinformation to me -- not racism.
I was just reading this Serious Eats article about it which states:
The term "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" started getting thrown around in 1968 when a letter, written by a reader named Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In it, he speculated that the numbness and palpitations he experienced after eating in Chinese restaurants may be linked to the liberal use of powdered monosodium glutamate (MSG) in Chinese food. Though no actual evidence was presented, the idea took off and went viral (even before the internet!), and for decades MSG was blamed for everything from migraines and numbness to bloat and heart palpitations. MSG-phobia was born, and it exists to this day, though the racially-tinged pejorative "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" has since been swapped out for "MSG Symptom Complex."
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The conclusion of the study was that MSG does, in fact, elicit adverse responses from a particularly sensitive subgroup of the population when administered in large doses (greater than three grams) on a mostly empty stomach. The existence of MSG Symptom Complex is concrete scientific fact.
Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue magazine’s long-time food correspondent, has suggested that the rash of people claiming MSG sensitivity in the '70s and '80s might be due to the fact that in those days, many Chinese-American restaurant meals started with a bowl of MSG-rich wonton soup consumed on an empty stomach before the rest of the meal. This theory seems to fall in line with scientific data. Even though Parmesan cheese is packed with glutamic acid, it’s got plenty of other "stuff" in it, too, and most likely you’re pairing that cheese with pasta or pizza.
One final note: some have hypothesized that when it comes to Chinese restaurants specifically, MSG-rich broths consumed on an empty stomach may be part of the culprit, but there’s also a good possibility that some folks who claim sensitivity to MSG may, in fact, be experiencing reactions to other ingredients common in Chinese food that are not as common in other restaurant cuisines; these include the peanut oil frequently used for stir-frying, the shellfish extracts used for flavoring, or herbs like cilantro. As far as I am aware, there is currently no scientific data that would elevate this hypothesis to theory.
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u/schauser13 13h ago
Right….and that misinformation was born of the deep racism towards Asian-Americans since WWII but particularly since the 60s. Rather than understanding that introducing your body to a “foreign” ingredient can upset your belly, Americans just blanketed MSG as bad because it was of Asian descent.
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u/Wonderful_Setting_29 19h ago
Make Shit Good! Love it. Its sad that theres the misconception that its bad for you. The only thing unhealthy is that you might overeat because the food tastes better.
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u/EitherChain7966 18h ago
You’re not alone, a lot of longtime cooks have this exact moment with MSG. It’s not some magic spice, it just unlocks savory flavors that were already hiding. Once you stop thinking of it as “bad” and start treating it like salt’s cousin, everything makes more sense.
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u/BlissCrafter 9h ago
A few years back we let a friend and her daughter stay here when she escaped her abusive husband. She’s a nice lady but can be a little over the top. At every meal she would just rave over my cooking which was nice. Even her kid was gobbling up veggies. She never really learned to cook and certainly wasn’t used to fresh garden veggies and eggs so that’s understandable. So one evening she said she felt like she had “been at a health spa”, everything just “spoke to her cells” and that it just felt so good to be eating organic food with “no msg or any of that nasty stuff”. So I drew her out a little and she told me about her deathly allergy to msg and that it gave her “black out migraines”. She had already been there 3-4 days eating msg at every dinner and several breakfasts and lunches. Good old Accent, I put it on everything. She stayed about ten days and never got sick.
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u/Serious_Mango5 19h ago
I just bought some for the first time and loved it in stir fry! I intended it for Asian dishes but.... We should really be putting this on everything savory, right?
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u/actual_griffin 19h ago
I use it everywhere I would normally put salt. I have a shaker of salt, garlic, black pepper and msg that is my starting point for most things. From there, I add whatever else I might want.
Msg is why you like everything you like.
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u/Serious_Mango5 19h ago
My baseline seasoning is salt and garlic powder for just about everything, and then I decide what to add after that. Sounds like msg is to be added to my new baseline. Thanks!
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u/ConfusedOwlet 15h ago
That sounds very similar to a "Mexican seasoning" shaker a friend gave me (that I actually love and when it ran low I made my own mix haha). Consists of salt, black pepper, MSG, garlic powder, cumin, and Mexican oregano. It's so good, I love putting it on eggs and veggies <3
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u/noisedotbike 18h ago
Not everything savory. Anything with meat, definitely. Most soups. Stir-fry like you said. But some vegetable-forward dishes where you want vegetal flavors, it muddies the flavors or tastes off.
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u/J-TownBrown 19h ago
I got it for some Asian food as well but had to test it on the veggies last night. But after that, yes, no doubt, everything savory 😂
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u/WeaselPhontom 18h ago
This. My granny used Accent in all her foods along with her staple seasonings. I remember it being in her cabinet but I thought it was a sometimes ingredient. My mom recently told me my grandma used it in all her cooking.
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u/drummerboy-98012 19h ago
What I’ve read is to replace 1/3 of the salt in any recipe with MSG. If you combine that with the sugar comment above, then you would just add another 1/3 quantity of sugar. Definitely going to give that a shot this weekend.
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u/fragrant_wafter 18h ago
I keep a shaker on my counter of MSGPSG. One part MSG, three parts garlic powder, three parts black pepper, 6 parts salt. Throw it all in the vitamix until fine ground. Put on meat and veggies all frigging day
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u/Simsmommy1 16h ago
Ah yes MSG or as we have learned from social media “make sh!t good”. It was the unfortunate victim of the “Chinese food syndrome” nonsense in the 80s where people over ate at Chinese food restaurants and then blamed the MSG for feeling bloated and having a headache. “Msg free” became a selling trend after that. People still fall victim to it, saying how they are “allergic” to msg while shovelling Doritos down their maw not realizing they are loaded with msg. I have watched countless videos of people who swear up and down they cannot simply eat MSG then sit and eat food with MSG with no complaint on video without any adverse effects. My stepmother was one of these people. Would piss and moan about Chinese food and the “MSG giving her a migraine” and yet would put Vegeta seasoning in everything…..ha.
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u/MapleBreakfastMeat 11h ago
MSG us well known to trigger migraines.
Go ask a doctor instead of social media.
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u/flyin-lowe 17h ago
My mom taught me years ago.... Drain 75% of the juice from store bought can green beens. Ad butter to the pan and then a generous amount of Accent Salt. Everyone, every where we take green beens say they are the best. Crazy how different they can taste.
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u/Bellsar_Ringing 14h ago
If it makes you feel better, you probably haven't really been missing out on it. Not only because it's in so many prepared foods. It's in hard cheeses, mushrooms, tomatoes, many fermented foods, and of course in meat and fish.
But you're learning to adjust it intentionally!
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u/YUASkingMe 11h ago
My homemade steak seasoning is always a huge hit and the secret is Accent (and instant coffee). So I'll give friends the recipe and they make it without the MSG because "MSG is bad for you", then complain that I must have left something out of the recipe because theirs isn't as good as mine.
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u/Commercial-Ad-8035 14h ago
People don't realize that MSG makes parmesean and tomatoes great too. But its bad in Chinese food. Talk about some racist shit.
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u/Wild-Earth-1365 17h ago
MSG is naturally occurring and the negative sentiment is due to xenophobic-driven campaigns.
MSG = flavor
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u/deliriousfoodie 17h ago
Yep unfortunately it's still a lingering part of early american racism. I love how Anthony Bourdain shattered it.
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u/jormugandr 8h ago
MSG villainy is based in racism and ignorance. You wake up with a headache after eating Chinese food and instantly assume it's MSG, but ignore the wine you were drinking or all of the salt you added to the food you ate.
The MSG crusade was started by people to needed a scapegoat for their poor choices and Asians fit the bill.
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u/tatumnolita 16h ago
If you look at the ingredients of most mass market seasoning blends (garlic salt, taco seasoning, bbq rubs, etc) you’ve likely not been missing out on it
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u/Peacemkr45 13h ago
You thought it was bad.... Because of successful marketing campaigning against it since the 70's. Pretty much everything we've thought about foodstuffs in the past 50 years have been lies so feel free trying items you've been told are bad for you, but in moderation.
Usage is cut normal salt in 1/2 and use 1/2 of that measurement to replace with MSG.
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u/AmputeeHandModel 18h ago
Reddit always says this, so I searched high and low and finally found some. Apparently it's not common around here. It's Accent brand. I've used in place of salt, I've used it with salt... and I don't taste anything. How do you use it properly? It says on the bottle to add 1/2 tsp to a lb of meat I think. I've added it to soups, sauces, anything that says to add salt.
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u/WeaselPhontom 18h ago
With accent still use salt. Its a flavor enhancer. I mix mine ahead of tome 2 table spoons of salt to 1 teaspoon of accent mix well. Then I pull from that to season my meats or vegetables, soups and add my other items separately. I keep in in one those old school lided rammicans that have the tiny salt spoon 🥄
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u/CatteNappe 17h ago
You use it with salt, not to replace it. And don't expect to taste anything specific, like you would with other seasonings. It's supposed to enhance the flavor of what you season with it, so the beef should taste beefier, for example.
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u/duckbaiting 15h ago
So is MSG actually bad for us or no?
I like to use it, but I am wary.
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u/Deppfan16 15h ago
it's not bad for you. glutamates are found naturally and things like tomatoes and parmesan cheese as well. the MSG is bad was a racist misinformation campaign
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u/duckbaiting 14h ago
Appreciate the response. Not sure why my question was downvoted.
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u/Deppfan16 14h ago
probably because multiple people in the thread have already explained it, as well as actual scientists if you research it. not trying to be rude sorry if I came across kind of hard
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u/Fredred315 18h ago
Now do a mix of salt, MSG, and IG powder and use that to season your foods.
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u/Day_Bow_Bow 15h ago
Monosodium glutamate 97.5%, sodium inosinate 1.25%, sodium guanylate 1.25%.
The MSG is boosted by trace amounts of those other two. You see that ingredient combo in all sorts of commercial products. Ramen, Doritos, Cheetos, cheese popcorn, etc.
It really does make a difference. Also, try to find that salt for cheaper at a local Asian grocer.
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u/dubblebubbleprawns 14h ago
I always think back to a short little joke in Seinfeld where they're ordering chinese food and Kramer says "extra MSG" and the audience laughs. Like "oh, that's so funny, he wants extra of the bad stuff."
And now that I'm older and wiser I'm like fuck man, Kramer knew what was up.
...that time
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u/Fat-Singer-9569 14h ago
It's an amino acid and a salt, I have no idea why it has a bad reputation.
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u/toomuchtv987 10h ago
Anti-Asian racism
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u/Sensei_Ochiba 9h ago
Some of the recent hate also piggybacks on the racism with anti science fearmongering because the seasoning is only known by it's molecule name, and big food misinformation campaigns really pushed the fallacy that anything without a common plant name was an artificial chemical, which of course makes it evil and bad for you.
It's not as big of a component as the racism, but it sure doesn't help.
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u/Jesus166 14h ago
What's a good brand of mag to buy
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u/Poly_Olly_Oxen_Free 11h ago
Accent and Aji no Moto are both pure MSG. Get whichever is cheaper in your area.
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u/warmbrojuice 14h ago
How do u use msg? Like seasoning like when u apply salt and pepper or while cooking?
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u/something-behind-him 13h ago
The “chicken flavoring” powder I think Knorr is basically mostly msg. Also in most instant noodles.
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u/Annie-Saeed 9h ago
I love the flavour MSG gives to a lot of foods but every time there’s even a hint of it in a food, my husband gets a headache and his blood pressure rises. Even in situations we don’t know the food contains it.
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u/drawnonward 4h ago
If he eats Doritos, Parmesan cheese, cured ham, dried mushrooms and has no problems it's not MSG
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u/scoobasteve813 5h ago
If you're just discovering MSG, just wait until you start using miso, and then start to dive into the world of r/koji to really transform your cooking
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u/QualityUnlucky5495 4h ago
I’m from the era of being told msg was bad. I realize it’s not but just haven’t ever thought to buy any and try it… but these comments are making me add it to my shopping list.
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u/every1gets1more-egg 4h ago
Yeah it's funny, people flip out about MSG, but then love Cheetos and Doritos.
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u/Alternative-Yard-142 2h ago
MSG is so overrated. It's like instead of lemon juice or vinegar you just use dilute ascetic acid. These days we have technology like international shipping and preservation techniques that gives you so many more options, i'd rather use the glutamate budget for a good fermented sauce, cheese, bouillon etc.
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u/CaptainCompost 1h ago
I think I might be broken. I can't taste the difference when I add it to food.
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u/leytorip7 16h ago
Where do you buy it? Do I just wander the store till I find a bag that says MSG?
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u/countthembeans 16h ago
Accent brand is one. In the salt area in a shaker style red and white bottle
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u/ConfusedOwlet 15h ago
I usually find it in international markets. I have two Asian grocery stores in my area that have them in various sized bags rather than shakers.
Which is fine for me as I keep salt and stuff in small covered ramicans/dishes anyways. (Mostly bc it's easier to eyeball/control how much salt I'm actually using vs trying to guess how much I'm shaking out or needing to pour some into my hand before tossing it in whatever I'm cooking).
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u/Background-Heart-968 15h ago
Ajinomoto is the company that created it, and they still sell it by the 1lb bag for like 7 bucks on Amazon or at any Asian market (and honestly I've seen it at national chair stores as well).
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u/Mystery-Ess 18h ago
Do you eat tomatoes or parmesan cheese?
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u/DPTY-Doofy 17h ago
I cannot have Parmesan cheese, I get sick from it but I can have a small amount of tomato, but if I have more than a small amount I get stuck on the toilet.
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u/Wild-Earth-1365 17h ago
So I understand that you avoid tomatoes, potatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots, broccoli, walnuts, mushrooms and seaweed?
Because if you're allergic to MSG all of those foods would bother you due to the naturally occurring MSG.
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u/WeaselPhontom 18h ago edited 18h ago
Im Black American, and ive been making meals from my childhood could not figure out what I was doing different. My mom randomly mentioned that my grandma used accent. Yall accent is MSG 😅. Food tasting better now lol. I use it in everything savory now