[0:00] MSG might be one of the most
[0:01] misunderstood ingredients in cooking.
[0:04] Because depending on who you ask, it's
[0:06] either a magical white powder that
[0:07] instantly makes everything taste better
[0:09] or an artificial chemical used in junk
[0:11] food. And the problem is most
[0:13] conversations around MSG completely skip
[0:16] over the food science of what it does do
[0:19] and just as importantly, what it does
[0:21] not do. Because yes, MSG can absolutely
[0:24] make food taste better. But as we're
[0:26] going to see in some of these tests, it
[0:28] can also make food taste worse if it's
[0:30] used incorrectly. So, in this video, I
[0:33] have three big questions I want to
[0:35] answer. First, what actually is MSG?
[0:37] What exactly does it taste like and how
[0:40] is it made? Second, how much should you
[0:42] use when you're cooking with it? Like,
[0:43] is there an optimal ratio or can you
[0:45] fully replace it with salt? And third,
[0:47] what types of food does MSG improve the
[0:50] most? Can I add it to my chicken, ground
[0:52] beef, and roasted vegetables, or stick
[0:54] to more common use cases like fried
[0:56] rice? So, throughout this video, we're
[0:58] going to run through a series of taste
[1:00] tests. First is tasting MSG alongside
[1:02] other kitchen ingredients. Second is
[1:04] testing different salt to MSG ratios and
[1:06] scrambled eggs. And finally, a blind
[1:08] taste test with some spicy beef noodles.
[1:11] And by the end of this video, I promise
[1:13] you'll have a fundamental understanding
[1:15] of how MSG actually works when we cook
[1:18] with it. Now, before we get too deep
[1:20] into the MSG experiments, today's
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[2:41] world. And now that I've got my coffee
[2:43] secured, let's dive into that first big
[2:46] question. What is MSG? Because you might
[2:50] be surprised to learn that whether
[2:51] you've used MSG before or not, you've
[2:53] almost certainly tasted glutamates.
[2:55] They're naturally found in foods like
[2:57] tomatoes, mushrooms, soy sauce, meat,
[2:59] and parmesan reo. But most of us,
[3:02] including myself, have no idea how
[3:04] strong glutamates really taste because
[3:06] we've never tasted them in isolation.
[3:09] And that's exactly what we're going to
[3:10] do for this first test. So, in front of
[3:13] me, I poured out five glasses of water.
[3:15] And into each one, I'm dissolving 2 g of
[3:17] a single taste compound. Salt for salty,
[3:20] sugar for sweet, citric acid for sour,
[3:22] caffeine powder for bitter, and of
[3:23] course, MSG for umami. There's no
[3:26] aromomas, no fats, no cooking reactions,
[3:28] no texture. This is just pure isolated
[3:31] taste. Okay, so I'm gonna get all of
[3:33] these mixed up. And while I do that, let
[3:35] me break down what MSG is and how the
[3:37] five core tastes work because this might
[3:39] seem like a weird spot to start the
[3:41] testing in this video, but it'll make a
[3:44] lot more sense after I explain a few
[3:46] things. The easiest way to begin to
[3:48] understand MSG is to just break down its
[3:51] name, monosodium glutamate. Because when
[3:53] you look at the chemical structure, it's
[3:55] pretty simple. There's one sodium atom
[3:57] attached to a glutamate molecule. And
[3:59] the important part here is the
[4:01] glutamate. That's the compound
[4:02] responsible for the umami taste in MSG.
[4:05] The sodium is mainly there to stabilize
[4:07] the molecule and make it easier to use
[4:09] as a crystallin seasoning. Though
[4:11] technically it will provide a little
[4:12] taste. We'll talk more about that later.
[4:15] Now, all of these compounds I'm using
[4:17] here in this first test are isolated
[4:19] examples of the five taste. The sodium
[4:22] ions and sodium chloride or table salt
[4:24] primarily create the salty taste.
[4:26] Sucrossse molecules bind to our sweet
[4:28] taste receptors. Hydrogen ions are
[4:30] released from citric acid creating a
[4:32] sour taste. Caffeine is an alkoid
[4:34] compound that binds to bitter taste
[4:36] receptors. And the glutamate and MSG is
[4:38] primarily responsible for the umami
[4:40] taste. Now like I mentioned, glutamate
[4:43] itself is not unique to MSG. It
[4:45] naturally exists in lots of foods we've
[4:47] all tried before. And here's a full
[4:49] table from umaminfo.com showing just how
[4:52] much naturally occurring glutamate
[4:53] exists in a variety of different foods.
[4:56] Now, there are two key differences here.
[4:58] First, the foods on this list contain
[5:00] glutamate along with hundreds of other
[5:02] kind of taste and aroma compounds that
[5:04] shape their overall flavor. And
[5:06] secondly, compared to pure MSG, they
[5:09] have a really small amount of free
[5:11] glutamate. And to put this into
[5:13] perspective, 100 grams of MSG contains
[5:16] roughly 78 grams or 78,000 mg of free
[5:20] glutamate. And to naturally consume that
[5:23] same amount of free glutamate from some
[5:24] of the items on this list, you'd need
[5:26] over 100 lb of fresh tomatoes, 10 to 40
[5:29] lb of soy sauce, 16 lb of dried shiakei
[5:32] mushrooms, 14 lb of parmesan reano, or
[5:36] about 8 lb of comoo seaweed. And this is
[5:40] actually how MSG was originally
[5:42] discovered because back in 1908,
[5:45] Japanese chemist Kakun Iicada was
[5:47] studying kamboo broth, a seaweed broth
[5:49] naturally high in glutamate. And he
[5:51] noticed that it had a savory taste that
[5:53] didn't quite fit into the traditional
[5:54] categories of sweet, salty, sour, or
[5:56] bitter. So he eventually isolated the
[5:59] glutamate compound from the comoo and
[6:01] combined it with sodium to create a
[6:03] stabilized crystalline seasoning we now
[6:06] know as MSG. Now the MSG we can buy in
[6:10] stores today is typically produced
[6:11] through bacterial fermentation using
[6:13] carbohydrate sources like sugar cane,
[6:15] corn or sugar beets. And today MSG is
[6:18] used in all kinds of foods, soups,
[6:21] seasoning blends, snack foods, fast
[6:23] foods, restaurant cooking. And in the
[6:24] past decade or two, it has become way
[6:26] more popular in home cooking as well.
[6:30] And when it comes to the home cooking
[6:32] conversation, I think the biggest
[6:33] problem is that most people don't really
[6:35] understand what it does and what it does
[6:37] not do. And I'll tell you right now,
[6:39] it's not a magic powder that just makes
[6:41] everything taste better. I think what
[6:43] most people miss is that MSG is a
[6:45] seasoning tool that exists in a much
[6:48] larger flavor system. So, think about
[6:51] something like fried rice. You've got
[6:53] salt fats acids sugars aromomas
[6:55] fermentation compounds, browning
[6:57] reactions, and different textures. And
[6:58] all of these things are constantly
[7:00] interacting with each other to shape the
[7:02] final flavor of the dish. And MSG is one
[7:05] variable inside of that system. And just
[7:08] like too much salt, acid, or sugar can
[7:10] throw a dish out of balance, too much
[7:12] MSG can do the same thing. For example,
[7:15] here are four different chips. Two of
[7:17] them have MSG and two of them do not.
[7:19] Now, personally, I like the Doritos with
[7:22] MSG and the Simply Doritos that do not
[7:24] have MSG. And my favorite chip of all of
[7:27] them might be the Stator tortilla chip
[7:28] that's basically just Niximized corn,
[7:30] salt, and oil. But there's one chip here
[7:32] that I don't like as much, and it's
[7:34] because it has too much MSG. You can
[7:37] literally see the crystals coating the
[7:38] chip, and when you taste it, it's
[7:40] obvious that it's out of balance. Again,
[7:42] it's not bad, but it's just overdone.
[7:45] And this is the part that people really
[7:47] don't talk about, which is why this
[7:49] first taste test is so important because
[7:52] if you really want to understand what
[7:53] MSG is doing when you add it to food,
[7:56] you first need a reference point for
[7:57] what it tastes like on its own. Okay, so
[8:01] I've never done this before obviously,
[8:02] but there's kind of two things I want to
[8:04] figure out in this test. So first is
[8:05] just kind of comparing and contrasting
[8:07] the differences of the five taste. And
[8:09] then I'm also curious to see like how
[8:11] much of each taste in there. like how
[8:14] bitter does the caffeine powder taste,
[8:16] how sweet does the sugar taste, how
[8:18] salty, how sour, and how umami here on
[8:20] the end. And I use the same amounts, 2 g
[8:23] in all these. I only did two capsules of
[8:25] the caffeine powder because uh caffeine
[8:28] is supposedly very bitter and this is
[8:30] also 400 mg of caffeine worth, which is
[8:33] like two energy drinks. Um so yeah,
[8:35] we're we're going to take small sips of
[8:37] that guy. Um, so we may as well just
[8:39] start here on the end and see what
[8:42] bitter really tastes like.
[8:45] Get that mixed up one more time. Okay.
[8:55] All right. They weren't wrong about
[8:56] caffeine powder. Holy smokes is that
[8:58] bitter. Wow.
[9:01] Jeez, that's bitter. Woo. Okay.
[9:05] Will not be taking another sip of that.
[9:07] Also goes to show that like everything
[9:09] else in the energy drinks is very
[9:11] important when it comes to taste because
[9:13] if it was mostly caffeine powder, no one
[9:15] would drink them.
[9:17] Okay, so let's go to number two. I think
[9:18] this is the salt. I'll find out shortly.
[9:24] That's salty. Very salty water there. Um
[9:27] 2% I think is like close to the, you
[9:30] know, salt level of like ocean water. So
[9:32] if you imagine that, that's kind of what
[9:34] I'm tasting here. Um, again, not like
[9:37] gross compared to the bitterness of
[9:39] caffeine, but it's very salty. Um, let's
[9:42] go to the citric acid, I believe.
[9:48] Ooh, the immediate pucker.
[9:53] But satisfying because like your mouth
[9:55] salivates and actually a nice one to
[9:58] come into after the salty. Like the
[10:01] salt, the sour kind of balances out that
[10:03] salty I was getting. Man, that's that's
[10:06] a pretty cool test. And also, if you are
[10:07] wondering, you can just buy like pure
[10:09] citric acid online. It's kind of
[10:11] interesting. Okay, now let's go to our
[10:13] sweet
[10:17] M. That is really interesting because
[10:21] it's sweet, but doesn't taste very sweet
[10:24] at all. Which kind of checks out when
[10:26] you think about how sugar is used in
[10:28] cooking. You typically need quite a bit
[10:29] of it. Like if you're making a lemonade
[10:32] for example, it's very sour unless you
[10:34] add quite a bit of sugar to it to kind
[10:37] of balance it out. Or if you're using
[10:39] sugar in baking, you typically need to
[10:41] use quite a bit of sugar to make things
[10:42] sweet compared to with salt. We're
[10:44] typically adding like one one and a
[10:46] half% to a lot of foods. So again, just
[10:49] kind of an interesting takeaway. And
[10:51] then lastly, we're coming to the star of
[10:53] this video, the MSG.
[10:57] Ooh. Okay, so this is a fascinating test
[11:00] and I think I've got two big takeaways.
[11:02] So, first, all of these absolutely have
[11:05] their own unique taste. Like, take a
[11:06] sip, plug your nose, you're going to get
[11:08] the the the unique taste that each one
[11:10] of these has. It's going to go up to
[11:12] your brain. It's going to let you know.
[11:13] There's no mistaking these. Like, these
[11:15] are not substitutes at all. Now,
[11:19] what's interesting about the umami is
[11:21] that you do get that kind of savory
[11:23] broth quality. I mean, you kind of just
[11:25] need to throw some in a cup so you can
[11:26] kind of understand what I'm talking
[11:28] about. Uh, that's probably the best way
[11:29] to do it. Now, I would say there might
[11:32] be a little bit of saltiness that I'm
[11:34] getting that does kind of remind me of
[11:36] this, but nowhere near the the dramatic
[11:39] salty effect. And that's kind of my
[11:41] second takeaway from this test. So, down
[11:43] here on this end, very bitter. Do not
[11:45] want to take another sip. Very salty.
[11:48] Way too much salt. Reminds me of ocean
[11:49] water. Very sour. Like this would be way
[11:52] too sour if you're using it for some
[11:54] lemonade. You'd need to add some sugar
[11:56] water to it. And then this is where
[11:58] things get interesting with with kind of
[11:59] the sugar water because I know there's
[12:02] sugar in there, but in no way I'm like,
[12:04] "Oh, this is super sweet." You know,
[12:06] it's like 2 g of sugar in there. And
[12:08] then that's similar with how kind of the
[12:10] MSG works to me because I know there is
[12:13] MSG in there because I'm getting the
[12:15] unique taste, but it's not like
[12:17] overpowering in a way that
[12:21] that you kind of get with these other
[12:23] three tastes. And that's going to be
[12:24] what's kind of interesting and why I'm
[12:26] going to ask the next question is how
[12:28] much MSG do we really want to be using
[12:30] when we're cooking. So that's what we're
[12:32] going to test with our second scrambled
[12:34] egg test. So now that we know what MSG
[12:37] is and what it tastes like in plain
[12:38] water, we've got some much more
[12:40] practical questions that need to be
[12:42] answered. First, how much should you
[12:44] actually use in real food? And secondly,
[12:47] how strong does MSG taste when it's
[12:49] combined with other ingredients like
[12:51] salt? And this is an area of MSG that
[12:54] I've never really explored. So to test
[12:56] this, I made six batches of scrambled
[12:58] eggs with unsalted butter where the
[13:00] total seasoning weight is going to stay
[13:02] exactly the same, but the ratio of salt
[13:04] to MSG changes each time. So the first
[13:08] batch is a control with no seasoning
[13:10] added at all. Then we've got 100% salt,
[13:13] 75% salt, and 25% MSG. 50/50, 2575, and
[13:18] all the way up to 100% MSG. And
[13:22] scrambled eggs are going to be a great
[13:23] starting point because there aren't a
[13:24] lot of competing flavors that are going
[13:26] to hide what's going on, which makes it
[13:28] easier to isolate exactly how MSG is
[13:32] changing the flavor. Because if you want
[13:34] to use MSG, well, there are a few core
[13:36] properties you need to understand before
[13:38] you start throwing it into everything.
[13:41] So, I'm going to get our egg samples
[13:43] cooked up with some unsalted butter, of
[13:44] course. But while I do that, I want to
[13:46] explain five properties of MSG that
[13:49] everybody should know. And then I'll
[13:51] meet you back here because I'm very
[13:52] curious to see the results and flavor
[13:55] differences between these samples. The
[13:58] first property that everyone should
[13:59] know, MSG is odorless. And this might be
[14:03] one of the most misunderstood things
[14:05] about MSG because just like salt or
[14:08] sodium chloride, MSG does not have an
[14:10] aroma on its own. Like if you smell it,
[14:13] it does not smell meaty, roasty, savory,
[14:15] or delicious. You have to put it on your
[14:17] tongue to elicit a response to your
[14:20] brain. However, if you contrast that
[14:22] with spices, when you open up the jar,
[14:24] you'll be hit with a distinct smell of
[14:26] cumin, chili powder, or cinnamon. And
[14:28] this is important to remember because
[14:30] MSG primarily affects taste, not smell.
[14:34] So if a dish smells incredible, that's
[14:36] coming from the volatile aroma compounds
[14:38] from the cooking process and the other
[14:40] ingredients, not the MSG. The second
[14:43] property, MSG is water soluble but not
[14:46] fat soluble. And again, this is exactly
[14:49] like salt. And we already saw this in
[14:51] the first test. MSG dissolves very
[14:54] readily in water. And because food
[14:56] contains a lot of water, MSG can
[14:58] distribute very efficiently through
[15:00] soups sauces eggs noodles marinades
[15:03] and rice dishes. But if you add MSG
[15:05] directly into oil, it will not dissolve.
[15:09] And this helps explain why MSG behaves
[15:11] much more like a salt compared to
[15:13] something like a spice or aromatic oil.
[15:16] The third property, MSG diffuses through
[15:18] food, but more slowly than salt. So once
[15:21] MSG dissolves, it's going to naturally
[15:23] spread throughout food via diffusion,
[15:25] which is moving from areas of high
[15:26] concentration to lower concentration.
[15:29] But MSG is a little different because
[15:31] it's going to generally diffuse more
[15:32] slowly than salt. And this makes a lot
[15:34] of sense if you look at the molecules
[15:36] themselves. Salt is extremely small.
[15:39] It's basically just a sodium and
[15:40] chloride ion, so it moves very
[15:42] efficiently through water and food.
[15:44] Glutamate on the other hand is a much
[15:46] larger molecule. So it tends to move
[15:48] more slowly through food systems and
[15:50] tissues. Now in something like a soup
[15:52] sauce or in our scrambled egg test, this
[15:55] usually doesn't matter very much because
[15:57] everything is already dissolved and
[15:58] mixed together. But if you were
[16:00] seasoning something like a steak, salt
[16:02] would generally penetrate faster and
[16:03] deeper into the meat compared to MSG. So
[16:06] MSG is often more of a surface level
[16:08] seasoning effect unless it has enough
[16:10] time and moisture to properly diffuse.
[16:14] Now the fourth property gets a little
[16:16] nerdy, but it's also one of the coolest
[16:18] parts of how umami actually works in
[16:20] cooking. And that is the taste of MSG
[16:23] can be amplified by other compounds.
[16:26] Specifically, the glutamate in MSG can
[16:28] be amplified by nucleotides called
[16:30] inocinate and guanolate. And these
[16:32] naturally occur in foods like meat,
[16:34] mushrooms, dried fish, and aged cheeses.
[16:37] And there was a study looking at the
[16:39] interaction between glutamate and these
[16:41] nucleotides. And what they found is that
[16:43] the glutamate by itself kind of produces
[16:45] a baseline umami signal. But when
[16:48] inocinate and guanolate are present,
[16:50] they amplify that signal dramatically.
[16:52] And you can see this mapped out in the
[16:54] horseshoe effect here. And practically
[16:56] this explains why certain ingredient
[16:58] combinations across cuisines work so
[17:01] well together. For example, kamboo
[17:03] seaweed contains a lot of glutamate and
[17:05] dried bonito flakes contain inosinate.
[17:08] So when you combine them into a dashi,
[17:10] the umami perception becomes much
[17:12] stronger than either ingredient
[17:14] individually. And this same principle
[17:16] shows up in a lot of other classic
[17:18] combinations. tomatoes and parmesan reo,
[17:21] beef and mushrooms, chicken stock and
[17:23] dried shiakeis, or even in Doritos, you
[17:26] will see MSG on the label, but people
[17:28] will often miss that also do sodium
[17:31] inocinate and guanolate are present as
[17:33] well. All of these foods are essentially
[17:35] stacking glutamate together with
[17:38] nucleotide rich ingredients to create a
[17:40] stronger umami perception. And the last
[17:43] property that everybody should know is
[17:45] MSG is heat stable. So, when you're
[17:47] adding MSG to your foods, it's going to
[17:49] remain stable through sautéing,
[17:51] simmering, scrambling, stir frying, or
[17:53] roasting. At very high temperatures
[17:55] above 437F or 225 C, MSG can begin to
[18:00] degrade, but unlike sugar, MSG is not
[18:03] going to caramelize, brown, or create
[18:04] roasted flavors. Its primary role is
[18:07] staying dissolved in the food and
[18:08] contributing umami taste. So now that we
[18:12] understand these five core properties,
[18:14] it becomes a lot easier to understand
[18:16] what MSG is actually doing in food and
[18:19] just as importantly what it is not
[18:22] doing. It's not creating aroma. It's not
[18:24] browning food. It's not magically making
[18:26] everything taste good. It's primarily
[18:28] contributing and amplifying savory taste
[18:30] in a very specific way. So with all that
[18:33] in mind, let's see how these different
[18:35] salt to MSG ratios actually taste in
[18:39] practice. Okay, so I've got all six
[18:41] samples ready to go. Um, still hot. Um,
[18:44] even though these three were cooked
[18:45] first, they're still warm. So, this is
[18:46] about as close as we can get them. The
[18:49] only thing changing here is just kind of
[18:50] the ratio to salt to MSG. Um, starting
[18:53] with the unseasoned on the end, 100%
[18:55] salt here, and then down, increasing the
[18:57] amount of MSG down here. So, I think
[18:59] let's start with unseasoned as the
[19:00] control and then just work our way down
[19:02] and see how these taste.
[19:05] Okay unseasoned.
[19:08] I get a little aroma from the butter,
[19:09] but clearly these are missing salt. If
[19:11] you were served these, you'd be like, I
[19:13] need some salt on these. But now, let's
[19:14] go to 100% salt and see how it tastes.
[19:20] Instantly, you get that just I mean,
[19:22] it's salty, right? Like, we love salt.
[19:24] We crave it. We need it. Um, that one is
[19:28] just so much better than the one that
[19:30] doesn't have salt in it. Um, now let's
[19:32] go to Should we go here first? No, let's
[19:34] keep going here. Let me take a little
[19:36] palette cleanser, though.
[19:39] Cherry lime Sprite, I think, should
[19:40] fully clear us of any saltiness. Okay,
[19:43] now let's go to 7525. I'm curious to see
[19:46] like how much or like if if it's really
[19:48] that different here. Um, but let's see.
[19:55] Yeah, that's interesting. A little bit
[19:58] more rounded. I think I like this one
[20:00] better than just the plain salt.
[20:03] Let's keep going. 50/50, I believe.
[20:08] H
[20:10] 50/50 is starting to feel weird. Not
[20:12] bad. I still like these over unseasoned,
[20:14] but I think I like this one. 7525. 50/50
[20:18] definitely starts to feel weird. Um, now
[20:20] let's go to 7525.
[20:29] Again, it's it's not bad. It just like
[20:32] you can tell it's missing salt. like
[20:33] it's I mean now it is really just
[20:36] starting to taste like kind of straight
[20:37] MSG. Um it's kind of washing out the
[20:41] saltiness. Let's go all the way to the
[20:43] end with our um 100% just all MSG. No
[20:47] salt at all.
[20:53] Again, at 100% it's it's not bad, but
[20:56] it's just it's weird. like I'm I'm
[20:58] working against the bias that I'm kind
[21:00] of expecting salt um and not getting any
[21:03] feels kind of weird and out of place.
[21:04] Though technically there's a little
[21:05] sodium in there, but the glutamate is
[21:07] predominantly kind of what I'm getting
[21:09] out of 100% MSG. So, let me kind of
[21:11] quickly go back through one more time
[21:13] and then I'll give you my final thoughts
[21:15] here. But I think one of these I do like
[21:17] more than all the others.
[21:21] Man, it is crazy when you jump to just
[21:24] MSG to just salt. the I mean 100% they
[21:27] are not substitutes. Very very
[21:29] interesting.
[21:37] Okay, so this has been a very
[21:39] interesting test and quite illuminating
[21:41] in a couple of ways and I do have a
[21:42] couple of takeaways. So first things
[21:44] first, MSG and salt are not like a
[21:47] onetoone replacement for each other. If
[21:49] you try this test at home or like if you
[21:50] were served these eggs you'd be like
[21:53] what's going on? These taste completely
[21:54] different. There's I mean they're just
[21:56] fundamentally different tastes. Even
[21:57] though yes, this does have one kind of
[21:59] sodium ion in it, but not as much as
[22:02] sodium chloride. Then when we talk about
[22:04] mixing them, I think my favorite of
[22:06] these actually is the 7525.
[22:10] It's got enough saltiness, but it does
[22:12] have that hint of kind of the savory
[22:14] quality in there that you kind of get
[22:16] from the MSG and the umami, which I
[22:18] like, but there's kind of a diminishing
[22:21] return there when we get to the 50/50
[22:23] and the 2575. To me, these start to feel
[22:26] kind of out of place, and I don't really
[22:28] like them. Um, so if I was kind of
[22:30] ranking all of these, I would go 7525
[22:32] and then the salt after it in second
[22:35] place, and then kind of down the row.
[22:36] That being said, these aren't like, oh
[22:40] my gosh, the best eggs I've ever had.
[22:42] Like, just salt, eggs, and butter is
[22:44] still really good. Like, they're not
[22:46] dramatically out of this world better.
[22:48] Um, but I would say, yeah, definitely a
[22:50] little bit better. And this is got me
[22:52] interested for the last part of the
[22:54] video because I really want to try to
[22:55] answer like what types of food does MSG
[22:59] really work well in and then what are
[23:00] some foods that maybe it doesn't work as
[23:02] well in. So, that's what we're going to
[23:04] test in the final section of this video.
[23:07] But, I would highly recommend trying
[23:08] this for yourself, at least just doing
[23:09] one to one or mixing it up because it's
[23:11] a pretty interesting thing to kind of
[23:14] experience. You can start to understand
[23:15] what MSG really does. So, this scrambled
[23:19] egg test definitely helped me understand
[23:20] how MSG can change the flavor of a dish.
[23:22] And I did prefer the 3:1 salt to MSG
[23:25] ratio. However, this didn't blow me
[23:28] away, and I'm probably not going to add
[23:29] MSG every single time I need to make
[23:31] scrambled eggs. And this leads me to the
[23:33] final question of the video. What types
[23:36] of food really benefit the most from
[23:38] MSG? And after a few weeks of testing, I
[23:41] found four broad categories where I
[23:43] think MSG is worth trying at home. So,
[23:46] I'm going to break down each category
[23:48] and give you a simple experiment that
[23:49] you can recreate at home. And then, of
[23:51] course, I'll meet you back here for our
[23:52] final blind taste test. Because in front
[23:55] of me, I have two bowls of high protein
[23:57] spicy beef noodles. One of these bowls
[23:59] has MSG in them, one of them does not.
[24:01] So, I want to see if I'm able to pick
[24:02] these out in a triangle test at the end.
[24:05] So, while I get this set up, let me
[24:06] explain the four categories. Category
[24:09] one is what I'd call water rich savory
[24:12] foods. And this is probably the most
[24:14] obvious and common use case for MSG,
[24:16] which is why it often shows up in things
[24:18] like ramen, soup bases, bullion powder,
[24:21] seasoning blends, and canned soups.
[24:23] Because in these kinds of dishes, MSG
[24:25] can add a savory backbone across the
[24:27] entire bowl. So, if you're cooking any
[24:29] kind of soup, stew, braze, gravy, or pan
[24:32] sauce at home, MSG is a very good
[24:34] ingredient to try adding. And a very
[24:36] simple experiment you can do at home is
[24:38] just buying some unsalted broth, beef,
[24:41] chicken, vegetable, whatever you want.
[24:42] Then pour out three small cups, leave
[24:45] one plain, add salt to one and MSG to
[24:47] the last one, then give them a taste
[24:49] side by side and compare the
[24:51] differences. And after that, try
[24:53] combining the salt and MSG together and
[24:55] taste that version as well. The second
[24:58] category is roasted and sauteed
[25:00] vegetables. Because once vegetables
[25:02] begin browning, they naturally start
[25:03] developing deeper savory aromas for
[25:05] reactions like caramelization and the
[25:07] mayar reaction. But the actual taste
[25:10] structure underneath can sometimes feel
[25:12] a little flat or one-dimensional. And
[25:14] this is where MSG can work surprisingly
[25:17] well in vegetables like mushrooms,
[25:19] roasted cabbage, Brussels sprouts,
[25:20] onions, broccoli, or roasted potatoes.
[25:23] Now, importantly, this doesn't mean you
[25:24] should dump MSG on every single
[25:26] vegetable. In lighter, brighter
[25:28] vegetable dishes, especially in things
[25:29] that are fresh, acidic, herbal, or
[25:31] delicate, it's probably going to feel
[25:32] out of place or too heavy. And a very
[25:35] simple experiment you can do for this
[25:36] category is just making that same 3:1
[25:39] mix of salt to MSG. Set out two trays of
[25:41] vegetables, whatever you want to use.
[25:43] Add a little oil to both of them. Season
[25:45] one with regular salt and season the
[25:46] other with the salt MSG blend. Then,
[25:49] roast them side by side and taste the
[25:52] difference.
[25:53] So the third category is synergistic
[25:55] umami pairings. And this goes back to
[25:57] one of the cooler parts of how umami
[26:00] actually works where glutamate becomes
[26:02] significantly stronger when it's paired
[26:03] with compounds like inocinate and
[26:05] guanolate. So if you're cooking at home
[26:08] instead of just asking will MSG taste
[26:10] good in this dish you can start asking
[26:12] are there already ingredients in this
[26:14] dish that contain inocinate or
[26:16] guanolate? And umamifo.com has a chart
[26:18] showing which foods contain high amounts
[26:20] of glutamate, but also inoscinate and
[26:22] guanolate. So you can start
[26:24] experimenting with these combinations
[26:26] yourself. You could pair MSG with steak
[26:29] and dried titakei mushrooms, parmesan
[26:31] with a tomato sauce, or just some
[26:33] chicken in your fried rice. Now, the
[26:35] fourth category where MSG often works
[26:37] really well is spicy food. Because one
[26:40] thing that can happen with spicy dishes
[26:42] is that if they're mostly built around
[26:44] heat, salt, and acid, the flavor can
[26:46] sometimes feel harsh or one-dimensional.
[26:48] And this is where MSG can help. Because
[26:51] when you add MSG to a spicy dish, it's
[26:53] going to make it feel more savory
[26:54] instead of just aggressively hot. And
[26:57] this is part of the reason why MSG will
[26:59] commonly show up in things like spicy
[27:01] instant noodles, hot sauces, spicy stir
[27:04] fries, snack foods, taco seasonings, and
[27:06] a variety of other savory and spicy
[27:08] dishes. So, for my final taste test, I
[27:11] wanted to make my own version of a spicy
[27:13] noodle dish. And I made two bowls of a
[27:15] high protein spicy beef noodle. For the
[27:18] beef, I used 937 ground beef and added
[27:20] the 3 to1 mix of MSG to one batch and
[27:22] just regular salt to the other. Then, in
[27:24] the sauce itself, I added MSG to one
[27:27] bowl and left it out of the other. Then,
[27:29] everything got tossed together until
[27:30] glossy and finished with the same
[27:32] garnishes. And let's see if MSG actually
[27:35] improves spicy food. Okay, so I've got
[27:38] milk and some seltzer water ready just
[27:40] to make sure I cleanse my palette in
[27:41] between. But let's blindfold up and give
[27:43] these a taste.
[27:46] All right, spin
[27:48] three. Let's start with sample one.
[27:53] Noodles first. Sweet, spicy, tasty.
[27:58] Man, this is a really good quick high
[28:00] protein dish. Good for the summer.
[28:03] See if we can see if there's any
[28:06] difference between these.
[28:08] Also very good. See if I can get some
[28:10] beef in there, too. Two. Also very good.
[28:13] Not sure if there's a difference yet.
[28:15] Let's go to three.
[28:19] This third one definitely feels the most
[28:22] balanced of them. Let me go back to one
[28:25] and two. All right. Try to get a clean
[28:27] palette.
[28:29] Ah, I don't know. I don't know.
[28:32] Okay, so this definitely wasn't as
[28:34] obvious as I thought, but I think I have
[28:36] an answer. So, I had a couple bites of
[28:38] like the beef specifically on two that
[28:40] felt kind of flat to me, whereas three
[28:43] felt like it had that extra kind of
[28:46] savory deliciousness deliciousness. And
[28:49] then one, man, it starts to run
[28:52] together. I think one and three are
[28:55] going to be the same and two is
[28:56] different, but let's see.
[28:59] Okay. Green MSG.
[29:02] Nothing. Nothing green. Okay. So, one
[29:03] and three were the same, man. Okay.
[29:08] So, when I taste these again, it's
[29:09] really the beef where I'm getting the
[29:11] biggest difference. The one with MSG is
[29:12] just way more delicious, for sure. It's
[29:14] got that kind of savoryness, that
[29:17] underlying, you know, umami that you
[29:19] really like. Whereas the the beef where
[29:21] I didn't add any MSG to at the end does
[29:24] just feel a little bit flat. However,
[29:26] overall, this wasn't as obvious as I
[29:30] would have thought. Both of them are
[29:31] definitely delicious, but adding some
[29:33] MSG to your beef makes it really, really
[29:36] quite good. So, after doing all the
[29:38] testing in this video, I think the
[29:40] simplest way that I can sum up MSG is
[29:42] that it raises the flavor floor of the
[29:44] dishes you add it to. Meaning, the
[29:46] effect is probably more subtle than you
[29:48] realize. However, in the right dishes,
[29:50] it can absolutely enhance existing
[29:52] savory flavors to make your dishes feel
[29:54] more complete. And I think the answers
[29:56] to my three big questions are now pretty
[29:59] clear. First, what is MSG? And at its
[30:03] core, MSG is simply a highly
[30:04] concentrated source of glutamate, the
[30:06] compound responsible for the savory
[30:08] taste we call umami. It's odorless,
[30:10] water- soluble, can be amplified by
[30:12] nucleotides, and is heat stable during
[30:14] cooking. Second, how much should you
[30:15] actually use? And I've got three options
[30:17] here for you. First, try adding 1% by
[30:20] weight of the food, like ground beef,
[30:21] for example. Second, make a 3:1 mix of
[30:24] salt to MSG and just sprinkle it over
[30:26] whatever you want. Or third, try
[30:28] gradually adding it to your water-based
[30:30] foods until you can taste the
[30:32] difference. And my last question, what
[30:34] types of food benefit the most from MSG,
[30:36] which those four categories I just
[30:38] outlined are a great place to start. So,
[30:41] now that I understand MSG a lot better
[30:43] in this video, I kind of have a lot more
[30:45] experiments and other tests I want to
[30:47] try. And this is where I would love to
[30:49] hear from you. So, if you use MSG in
[30:52] your cooking, have you found any
[30:54] interesting use cases, combinations, or
[30:56] maybe lessons I didn't cover in this
[30:59] video. But anyway, that's going to wrap
[31:01] it up for me in this one. I hope you all
[31:03] have enjoyed. I hope you now understand
[31:04] MSG on a much deeper level. And thank
[31:07] you again to Commenter for sponsoring
[31:09] this video. Kept the uh throat nice and
[31:12] clear during this uh voiceover. So,
[31:14] that's going to wrap it up for me. I
[31:15] will catch you all in the next one.
[31:17] Peace out.