At the grocery store I only see "MSG Free" labels on soy sauce, ramen, noodles, etc. but nothing for chips, burritos, burgers, etc.

I know there are people who dislike MSG, but the MSG scare was also racist scaremongering, and I wonder how many people think they dislike MSG because the media said Chinese food will kill them while gulping down a big mac and bag of doritos every day

  • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    As a Chinese person who's lived in the West, MSG-free labels are actually helpful because they tip me off as to which grocery items are shitty knock-off versions adjusted to Western tastes.

    Incidentally, one of the surprising things I learned while living in Japan is that MSG is fucking everywhere in Japanese food, to the point where some okonomiyaki joints leave a shaker of it out on the table to use as seasoning alongside the salt and pepper. Despite that, I've never seen crackers complain about msg in Japanese food :thinking-about-it:

    • Bobson_Dugnutt [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      MSG is naturally found in kombu, which is used a lot in Japanese cooking. MSG was discovered by a Japanese biochemist working with kombu broth:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate

    • Ideology [she/her]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      For me, when the wok comes out of the cabinet, so does the msg. Gotta follow those recipes to the letter.

    • silent_water [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      MSG is fucking everywhere in Japanese food, to the point where some okonomiyaki joints leave a shaker of it out on the table

      :panting: