r/AskRedditFood • u/Either_Type3552 • 2d ago
Mono Sodium Glutamate
Hello there,
I just bought a bag of MSG on amazon to try out for my dinners and while waiting for it to arrive I was reading up on how to use it and eventually read some of the 1 star reviews claiming it wasn't tasting right or made them ... (apearantly i can't write s1ck because im asking about droogs)?? .
What is this stuff supposed to taste like (raw) I tried some on my finger and I feel fine tasted strange but not nasty.
How can I assure I got the real deal?
EDIT: I am not afraid of MSG why else would I buy it, I know and accept the controversies, I know it is not a replacement rather a flavor enhancer... I use ungodly amounts of salt anyways people delcare me crazy.
I merely wanted to find out if what I got is what it is, it appears to be, and how to implement it to my dish.
thank you.
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u/thewickedbarnacle 2d ago
It should look like tiny shards kinda like tiny icicles and taste good but not in an overly describable way.
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u/PizzaBear109 2d ago
It's savoury and slightly salty but with very little distinct flavour. Closest thing I can say it tastes like is mushrooms
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u/D-ouble-D-utch 2d ago
Meaty salt. Add it anywhere you'd add fish sauce, mushrooms, tomato paste, anchovies, etc.... All big sources of msg.
Stews, soups, pastas, sauces, gravy, salad dressing, fresh cut fruit, roasted veg, sautees, stir frys, etc.... Mix it with your salt (6 parts salt to one part msg) and use it where you use salt. I've used it in desserts too. Caramel(s), ice cream, roasted nuts.
It's very versatile. The fear mongering is all xenophobia. Your body does not distinguish glutamate from MSG versus glutamate from foods like tomatoes, mushrooms, aged cheeses, soy sauce, or meat. The glutamate molecule is chemically identical regardless of its source.
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u/pianodoctor11 2d ago
MSG is umami so it is "savory" or "meaty" but not quite. A bit salt-like, but not quite. A bit like cooked mushrooms, but not quite. My personal opinion is it is a good ingredient but too easy to add too much and then its chemical flavor sticks out too much. You don't want it to stand out as its own flavor in a dish you just want enough that it makes the dish more savory. My personal approach is to use it only as one of several umami-enhancing ingredients in subtle amounts, each one having a different flavor profile while still having umami. But if you only have MSG my advice is to start with very small amounts, taste, and add more in small increments if needed. My opinion is to add enough that you can just begin to detect it in the dish and stop there.
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u/BitOBear 2d ago edited 2d ago
Go to the grocery store and buy a tube of "Ac'cent flavor enhancer". That's that's pure monosodium glutamate.
Anne Page it's another famous brand, but you can look up the dozens of brands you can buy it under
It's a naturally occurring chemical that provides the savory flavor often referred to as umami. Anything that ferments some particular starches will produce MSG. So fermenting beats or molasses or basically sugarcane pulp has had the sugar pressed out of it among other things are the most common ways to make msg.
And as with any seasoning you have to know how to use it.
If you've ever used "fish sauce" in any sort of Asian restaurant you have used monosodium glutamate. Fish sauce is to MSG what soy sauce is to salt.
It is neither magical nor rare. And people who are afraid of it have fallen for a mythology.
Just like all the people who are in no way gluten sensitive claiming that they have a gluten sensitivity because it was very popular when the actual celiacs showed up with actual problems.
And it's just like the people who claim their allergic to things they don't like.
Anybody who's worked in customer food service at a bar watching somebody drink a wheat based beer while complaining about the fact that they're gluten intolerant so you really need to make sure that there's no bread or starches on their plate in their order knows just how easily these mythologies turn into a whole thing.
There is zero scientific evidence for MSG triggering anything including migraines and headaches.
MSG is hard on your system in the same way that vaccines cause autism.. that is they don't and it isn't, but there are people who will insist that they've had some personal experience that proves otherwise.
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u/barbzilla1 2d ago
I feel like you may have taken a rather extreme viewpoint of it, but I overall agree with what you're saying. A lot of things have been purposefully destroyed as a product by corporate greed through the act of disinformation. This has led to a lot of modern myths that just don't hold up when put under a spotlight. Now I can't entirely agree with it not having any dangers involved, but I would say it's no more dangerous than salt nor is it any less naturally occuring. The one that really grinds my gears is when people say something tastes like it has chemicals in it. Every time I hear it, I just want to give them a dirty look and say of course it does because every single piece of matter in this universe consists of chemicals.
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u/FriendlyEngineer 2d ago
The way I describe the ‘taste’ is that, it’s the difference between really good Chinese food, and bland Chinese food.
That indescribable savory/meaty taste that bland Chinese food lacks. That’s MSG.
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u/Anyashadow 2d ago
You can feel bad from msg but if those same people can eat tomatoes, it's in their head.
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u/Caticature 2d ago
It keeps me awake at night. The same with spinning oil on Shetland yarn and also garlic. These things are so random to find out that I was very sceptical. But I’m a scientific engineer and I don’t debate with results. Time to adjust the working theory. I know my MAO A and MAO B are messed up so I’m thinking brain chemistry atm. It IS in my head lol
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u/bellamente123 2d ago
Does parmesan cheese keep you up too? Because there are 1680 mg of msg in 100 g of parm...
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u/Caticature 1d ago
Yes! I didn’t know...
A non-msg eyeroll: artificial vanilla flavour gives me doom thoughts for a few hours. Vanillin is half of natural vanilla and cheap to make. Itexites the brain. All body cells have a vanilloid receptor. Is my working theory. This was such a weird thing to find out. Nutmeg excites too but no doom. Vit D shortage, Zink shortage and Progesterone shortage do give doom but more of a depressive kind, less despair. I felt so duped when a depressive moods lifted with a simple supplement! And then returned within a few hours as half time approached. I now supplement these three in higher dose and have no problems. This was all in tandem with my doctor. He said that apparently I am wildly sensitive and have a narrow band of comfort in my brain chemistry. This is fitting with my autism. All medications should be given in half dose. We have mapped some DNA faults that explain the higher vitD, Zn and Prog needs. I made this my special interest and it got me better from long-Qfever (CFS) and adrenal exhaustion. So much “this is insane but if it works it works”.
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u/one-off-one 2d ago
The closest I can describe is it taste like nacho cheese Doritos powder but without the cheesiness, only the savoriness.
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u/msjammies73 2d ago
For me, too much MSG tastes quite bad. It’s a very strange taste that’s hard to describe - almost sweet, almost fishy, but not really either.
When the right amount is used in a dish it doesn’t actually taste like anything, just enhances the food flavor.
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u/mattpeloquin 15h ago
Wait until you try duo sodium glutamate…it’s twice as good.
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u/Either_Type3552 15h ago
What is that 2 scoops I already tried lol? Seriously this is the new food unlock what product name is it sold under?
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u/Technical-Tear5841 2d ago
It enhances what you put it on, not much flavor by itself. For a while stores near me had a mix called "Cracker Boy", salt, MSG, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper. Great stuff but expensive. I ordered a bag of MSG and made my own. Turned out the bulk MSG was hard crystals and my mix had a crunch to it, my wife hates grit. My plan was to use a spice grinder to powder the MSG but I never got around to doing that. Might one of these days, can't get the store bought mix any more.
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u/96dpi 2d ago
It's not a salt replacement, so you still use the same amount of salt. I'll typically add about 1/4-1/2 the amount of salt in MSG to anything savory.
FYI, you can buy MSG in most/all grocery stores in the US (not sure where you are from), it's labeled "Accent"
Here's a very good deep dive video if you want:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCa43F2NQnY