Ode to MSG
May 24th, 2007 by Andrew
To the tune of "Be our Guest" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
Oh MSG, MSG,
How I despise you MSG.
You make me thirsty after lunch,
Even though I've drunk much tea!Oh MSG, MSG,
How I abhor you MSG.
You are laced all through my food,
I am dizzy till past three!Oh MSG, MSG,
How I detest you MSG.
You make food taste really good,
But that does not include me!Oh MSG, MSG,
How I revile you MSG.
You're in most of China's food,
MSG, you're not for me!
A lot of the food here in China is laced with MSG. It's so common in the food that the after-effects are sometimes called 'Chinese Restaurant Syndrome'. Sometimes I'll get light-headed after eating a meal that's heavy in MSG, other times I'll get a mild headache. It takes a lot of effort to eat out at a restaurant and have MSG-free meals.
3 Responses to “Ode to MSG”
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on 25 May 2007 at 7:17 am1DonI love the poetry! I was wondering about that myself. Apparently the effect of MSG depends on genetic factors, and while I find (and from the sounds of it, you as well) that it MAKES NO DIFFERENCE to the taste of food, obviously others find it very significant in enhancing their eating experience. It’s supposed to provide the “Umami” flavour to foods. Perhaps we are the unfortunate ones.. living like with an impaired sense. Bah! I can still enjoy my food without it!
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on 25 May 2007 at 8:41 am2GailIt does actually make the food taste better. In some cases, it tastes really, really good. But there’s a price to pay for it.
I think that’s Andrew’s point.
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on 25 May 2007 at 8:43 am3AndrewThanks, Don. It’s a bit hard to tell what the effects of MSG are until you’ve sampled the same meal with and without it. In the supermarket there are a wide variety of brands of MSG that you can buy right off the shelf, so it would be possible to do a test. Apparently small amounts of MSG occur naturally in soy sauce. Given the heavy soy usage in Chinese cooking it’s less surprising that they lace MSG through everything.