.. to want to share my Chinese 'fakeaway' tip with y'all

[Sabire9]

DS bought me a very badly produced recipe book published by a TikTok chef. The guy's family own a Chinese takeaway and the book details how to reproduce your typical takeaway dishes.

I'm always doing stir fries at home, and they're never quite right. However, I've now found out how to recreate noodles with the elusive Chinese takeaway taste at home. Basically you have to USE MSG, and specifically you have to BROWN OFF THE MSG in the hot oil before adding your noodles. Makes all the difference and I'm going to save bucks.

You're welcome.

I’m sure this is true, msg tastes absolutely delicious to me which is unfair because it gives me the most debilitating migraine.
I LOVE the taste of those golden curry melty blocks, but the msg does not love me. Likewise those fish n chip crisps. Instant msg migraine.
I only made the connection after eating a couple of portions of crispy ‘seaweed’ one night when everyone else had a Chinese takeaway, and became extremely ill.
I suppose some people are just super sensitive/ intolerant to it, but these days I know within minutes if I’ve eaten it accidentally. For me it’s like the feeling of the very worst hangover.
My teenagers though obvs love TikTok and cook with it liberally with no ill effects.

It’s a really interesting phenomena, because so many people report experiencing weird symptoms after eating Chinese food, but MSG sensitivity does, in studies, seem to be entirely based on the knowledge or belief of it being there when eating Chinese food. People will report “Chinese restaurant syndrome” in blind studies when they’re eating something which they’re told contains it but doesn’t.

MSG is also very common in Japanese cuisine - particularly in dashi, miso, ramen, curries, rice marinades, snacks, seaweed wraps for sushi etc - yet people don’t report feeling the same effects, because it isn’t as widely known that it’s used outside of Chinese cookery and they don’t know it’s in there.

I always start a stir fry with finely chopped spring onions then take them out but use the oil to brown the meat and veg, add them back in at the end.

if you buy a bunch and prep them, you can freeze them then just add a handful to the oil at the start

I didn’t know you could buy MSG though

I always cook my egg fried rice in sesame oil (and stir fry my Chinese veggies /meats in it as well).

I didn’t know you could buy MSG (where do you get it?)

Its bad for you if you are coeliac or have a gluten intolerance!

It also gives me palpitations so I avoid it.

MSG is also very common in Japanese cuisine - particularly in dashi, miso, ramen, curries, rice marinades, snacks, seaweed wraps for sushi etc - yet people don’t report feeling the same effects, because it isn’t as widely known that it’s used outside of Chinese cookery and they don’t know it’s in there.

It was a Japanese chemist who synthesised MSG. Msg is not found in quality Japanese food. Ajinomoto is the original and most well known msg seasoning! Msg is found in a lot of street food in SE Asia because the common condiments and seasonings come loaded with it. I can usually identify the msg regardless of cuisine because while it doesn't make me sick, it produces a distinctive thirst. I don't accept that msg is a toxic substance but neither do I believe that people's physiological responses to it are imaginary.

Can I come for tea please?

That sounds like a histamine reaction. A lot of Chinese ingredients are fermented and full of it.

Double blind studies would mostly disagree. My favourite was the one where they split a restaurant into two halves; one half got MSG, one half didn’t. But they told the conditions they were the other way around.

Guess what happened?

Also, Parmesan has the most naturally occurring glutamates of any food but there’s no ‘Italian restaurant syndrome’. Because it’s mostly racism. Now there may be people who are sensitive to any number of ingredients. I have a weird thing with some citrus. But there’s widespread belief and therefore a nocebo effect of MSG. Nocebo is just as powerful as placebo, which has been shown to be extremely powerful indeed.

Amazon sell it.

I love Chinese food but something/s in it can trigger migraine and a raging thirst. Parmesan, Stilton, Walnuts, chocolate, Smoked Mackerel or haddock trigger my migraine too. My daughters lips resemble Pete Burns/Katy price after some Chinese dishes but we can't work out the trigger. I'm going to buy some msg now as our local South Asian supermarket sells it & see how we go with it. I'm dieting and hungry, visions & smells of Chinatown food now evoked by this thread!

MSG gives me a headache every time

Sorry @Sabire9 but that's very 'old news', but it's a controversial ingredient.

Water is a chemical

I thought MSG was really bad for you and that's why most places specify they don't use it

No it’s because people thought they reacted to MSG so places advertised they didn’t use it

No it doesn't 'just' fill you up - msg is a salt (to be accurate, a sodium salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid found naturally in many foods), its a lot stronger than table salt, its a flavour enhancer, increasing the umami flavours that are typically associated with high protein foods.

This can mean (but not for everyone) that it makes you feel satiated quicker than if you didn't use MSG. It doesn't actually fill you up though and this doesn't work on everyone, for some people it will encourage them to eat more!

It is used in chinese cooking because it is a flavour enhancer, nothing more and nothing to do with all you can eat.

Some people are sensitive to it or allergic to it.

It's not known to cause reactions purely based on gluten, as (if it is made from wheat, it may not be) any gluten is completely hydrolysed by the manufacturing process. So unless someone with a gluten sensitivity or a coeliac is also sensitive to/allergic to msg itself, it is safe for them to eat, it is considered a gluten free product.

Adding MSG = normal.

Browning MSG = wtf? Unnecessary. It's like salt, use it in the same way in your cooking.

I've both and love them. Second one is my favourite. Third one apparently due soon.

If your DDs are swelling to that extent, you need to take her to the GP for allergy testing.
Allergy testing is not something you experiment with at home. Anaphylaxis can be fatal.

@LancashireButterPie Thanks, duly noted, didn't cross my mind that it could be anaphylaxis. A family friend has a similar reaction to bacon, his GP did sod all & fobbed him off so better warn him to push things.

It’s good in fried rice too, same method.

The tips for softening meat I will try, thanks

In a pinch one can use a tiny bit of Marmite instead of MSG. The yeast in Marmite has naturally occuring glutamates. It has the umami flavour, It also adds a salty, fermented note, which mimics the effect of soy sauce, fermented bean paste, or oyster sauce often used in Chinese cooking. Might be a good option for those who fear using straight MSG.