The Rule of Thumb:
- Use 1/2 teaspoon per pound of meat.
- Use 1/2 teaspoon per 4-6 servings of vegetables/casserole/soup.
Stephen Witherly is a fan of the natural sources of MSG, too. “If you want to make something taste good, put Parmesan on anything,” he said. “The Italians have known this for about 2,000 years.”
As for disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate, they’re forms of five-prime nucleotides, which are found in breast milk and mushrooms, appear not to be dangerous, and serve as powerful flavor-enhancers when paired with MSG.
Witherly says you can find potent mixtures of salt, MSG, and five-prime nucleotides at Japanese and Korean grocery stores. (Ajinomoto is the major brand in Japan; in Korea, the stuff is often called soup base.) Or you can make it yourself — ideally at the “magic number” of nine parts salt, one part MSG, and 0.1 part five-prime nucleotide.
“You will get a pleasure blast like you can’t believe,” Witherly said. Extracted from here.
Post by Chef JimmyJ at SMF on 2/12/2017 in response to a question about the use of MSG and many comments who said NO.
MSG is more than a hundred years old and used by millions of people added to every bite of food that goes in their mouth. MSG a form Glutamic Acid…A NATURALLY OCCURRING AMINO ACID and building block of protein, can be extracted from foods with high concentrations like Kombu Seaweed, through breaking down protein by cooking like when browning meat or through fermentation. Glutamic Acid aka Glutamate is found in every living thing that we eat. Humans recognize Glutamate as necessary to life and crave it from Birth.Yes BIRTH! Human Breast Milk contains 22mg/100g, same as eggs and just slightly lower than beef, fish and chicken. Just a taste and a minutes old Baby latches on and can’t get enough and how many would say, ” STOP you are feeding your baby MSG! “. While there are people who have sensitivity the media attack of the late 60’s and 70’s and paranoid health nuts of today have demonized MSG to the point that a majority think it’s bad. Just not true. Some studies have shown that many peoples ” issues ” with MSG are psychosomatic and can be brought on by being told a MSG FREE food they ate contained MSG. MSG is natural, safe for most to consume, tastes great, and truly enhances the flavor of food.
Now add the Ribonucleotide extracts Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate aka I&G, found in Shiitake Mushrooms and meats, and you Super Activate the flavor enhancing effect of MSG. I have both MSG and I&G in my arsenal and have played with and used them extensively. Check your labels, most ready to eat foods contain both MSG and I&G.
Any of you MSG sensitive eating Chinese Food because the menu says ” No added MSG “? Guess again…The main ingredients, Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, Fermented Yellow and Black Beans and the Ancient Chinese Secret ingredient Chicken Powder (dry chicken soup base), all contain Glutamates that are chemically indistinguishable from MSG and the Chicken Powder contains both MSG and I&G directly…Adding additional MSG just adds more flavor. Like dipping a ripe sweet Strawberry in Sugar.
In the same post and in response to my question about how much, Chef JJ responded: “add 1tsp to a gallon of Soup. A pinch in most dishes”
http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm328728.htm
http://www.msgfacts.com/nutrition/food-and-nutrition.aspx
- Using MSG (monosodium glutamate) gives flexibility for reducing the salt in recipes. Play around with reducing the salt while adding a sprinkle of MSG. Often it’s possible to reduce the overall sodium in a recipe by almost half without diminishing the good taste.
- MSG harmonizes well with salty and sour tastes, but it contributes little or nothing to sweet or bitter foods.
- Where does MSG work best in recipes and in cooking? Think meats, poultry, seafood, vegetables, soups, casseroles, egg dishes, gravies and sauces.
- MSG is added to foods before or during cooking. Add it at the same time during the cooking process as you would add salt, pepper or other seasonings.
- Approximately one-half teaspoon of MSG is an effective amount to enhance the flavor of a pound of meat or four-to-six servings of vegetables, casseroles or soup.
- As with all flavorings and spices, taste levels may vary from individual to individual.
- Likewise, don’t overdo. Overuse of MSG or other seasonings may result in an undesirable taste.
- MSG makes good quality food taste better, but will not improve the flavor of poor quality food.
Note: Popular brands for MSG that you can most likely find in your local grocery store in the spices/seasonings section: Accent, Ajinomoto or Vedan brand
Originally Posted by DaveOmak View Post
FWIW……..
Science – These magical foods are loaded with natural MSG
Monosodium glutamate is a powerful flavor enhancer that, despite what you may have heard, is widely accepted in the scientific community as a safe additive. In fact, MSG or other “free glutamates” occur naturally in many of the most flavorful foods, some of which have been used to enhance flavor in cooking for millennia.
What makes MSG and other free glutamates so potent, researchers believe, is that they trigger special glutamate receptors in your mouth, unlocking the savory taste known as umami.
How do you get free glutamates in your food naturally? Here are some of the foods with the most, according to a review of studies by the Australia/New Zealand food board and a Japanese NGO devoted to umami:
Kelp: 230–3380 mg /100g
Seaweed: 550–1350 mg
Marmite 1960 mg
Vegemite: 1431 mg
Fish sauce: 727–1383 mg
Soy sauce: 400–1700 mg
Parmesan cheese: 1200–1680 mg
Roquefort cheese: 1280 mg
Dried shiitake mushrooms: 1060 mg
Oyster sauce: 900 mg
Miso: 200–700 mg
Green tea: 220–670 mg
Anchovies: 630 mg
Salted squid: 620 mg
Cured ham: 340 mg
Emmental cheese: 310 mg
Sardines: 10–280 mg
Grape juice: 258 mg
Kimchi: 240 mg
Cheddar cheese: 180 mg
Tomatoes: 140–250 mg
Clams: 210 mg
Peas: 200 mg
Potatoes: 30–180 mg
Scallops: 140–159 mg
Squid: 20–146 mg
Shimeji mushrooms: 140 mg
Oysters: 40–150 mg
Corn: 70–130 mg
“If you want to make something taste good, put Parmesan on anything,” food scientist Steve Witherly tells Business Insider. “The Italians have known this for about 2,000 years.”
So it’s logical that a bit of kelp, seaweed, soy sauce, or any other of these ingredients, when added the right way, could punch up the flavor of an existing recipe as well. Yes, a lot of this stuff comes from East Asia (including artificial MSG, invented in Japan).
“Asians are way ahead on the savory side,” Witherly says.
If you want a shortcut to umami heaven, you can, of course, use artificial MSG. Witherly swears by it in his home-cooking, particularly what he calls the “ideal mixture” of 9 parts salt to 1 part MSG (plus a bit of disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate). You can buy that potent combination in premixed forms at most Korean and Japanese grocery stores.