chai@utflis.UUCP (Henry Chai) (05/30/85)
Although I'm chinese, I'm not a great cook, therefore I may or may not be
correct in what I'm going to say so don't quote me!
In Hong Kong the name for MSG can be translated as "flavor essence"
or "essence of taste". (I don't believe more than a handful of
chemistry students would call it by its chemical name in chinese;
I don't even know what it is !)
I believe it is a trade name gone generic. (like Kleenex)
It is used in household cooking, but reputable restaurants tend
not to use it. There are cookbooks and recipes that call for it,
but there are also a lot that don't -- it's just a matter of taste.
(pun intended)
I personally don't like it, but my father like to add a pinch when
making those slow-cooked chinese style soups.
I never even knew what the "chinese restaurant syndrome" is before
I came to Canada; certainly I know of no one in Hong Kong who's
allergic to it. One reaction we may have is when you add too much
it makes you thirsty, as if you've used too much salt.
--
Henry Chai
Faculty of Library and Information Science, U of Toronto
{watmath,ihnp4,allegra}!utzoo!utflis!chai dan@rna.UUCP (Dan Ts'o) (06/02/85)
>In Hong Kong the name for MSG can be translated as "flavor essence" You mean in Cantonese... >or "essence of taste". (I don't believe more than a handful of >chemistry students would call it by its chemical name in chinese; >I don't even know what it is !) ... >allergic to it. One reaction we may have is when you add too much >it makes you thirsty, as if you've used too much salt. MSG - Monosodium Glutamate - the sodium salt of the amino acid glutamate, which is why it makes you thirsty like salt (sodium chloride) (gives your kidneys a workout trying to excrete all that sodium to maintain proper body electrolyte balance). Glutamate also very "natural", being an amino acid. It is also thought to be a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (it means that most neurons in your brain respond when glutamate is around, however I'm not sure it is clear that eating more means that either your blood level or CSF level of glutamate would increase...) In any case, this action may be in part responsible for "chinese restaurant syndrome". I wouldn't blame just Chinese restaurants. MSG is a major component in Japanese cooking (perhaps more so than Chinese cooking). I was in Monterey CA once and went to a Japanese cultural festival. There were more japanese there than all other peoples combined. They had the usual prize-giving contests. Several of these contests awarded 5 pound bags of MSG. I have heard elsewhere that it is not atypical for a Japanese family to consume several pounds of MSG a year. MSG is in most recipes for sushi rice (for all you sushi fans). MSG figures *heavily* in processed foods in the US of A. Look at any can of condensed soup. Canned chicken broth and especially soup bouillon cubes are mostly MSG. Also look at Doritos (cheese-flavored) and many crackers, etc, etc the list is endless. I would be interested to know how much glutamate is in really "natural" food. For example, if you make a simple vegetable soup (no meat base) which "tastes good" (bland soups do not qualify), how much glutamate is present in the result ? Anyone know ? Cheers, Dan Ts'o Dept. Neurobiology Rockefeller Univ. 1230 York Ave. NY, NY 10021 212-570-7671 ...cmcl2!rna!dan P.S. I *know* that MSG talk is old hat. Lets talk about something different, like how do you go about cooking a week's worth of meals (or a lifetime's) that are vegetarian *and* comparable in quality, "sensory experience", and innovation to nouvelle cuisine or new American cooking ? I can't do it for more than a day or two. It gets *very* boring. I would have to resort to seafood. (Note: only one stir-fry a week).