Does MSG actually make food taste better?

[00:00] MSG might be one of the most

[00:01] misunderstood ingredients in cooking.

[00:04] Because depending on who you ask, it's

[00:06] either a magical white powder that

[00:07] instantly makes everything taste better

[00:09] or an artificial chemical used in junk

[00:11] food. And the problem is most

[00:13] conversations around MSG completely skip

[00:16] over the food science of what it does do

[00:19] and just as importantly, what it does

[00:21] not do. Because yes, MSG can absolutely

[00:24] make food taste better. But as we're

[00:26] going to see in some of these tests, it

[00:28] can also make food taste worse if it's

[00:30] used incorrectly. So, in this video, I

[00:33] have three big questions I want to

[00:35] answer. First, what actually is MSG?

[00:37] What exactly does it taste like and how

[00:40] is it made? Second, how much should you

[00:42] use when you're cooking with it? Like,

[00:43] is there an optimal ratio or can you

[00:45] fully replace it with salt? And third,

[00:47] what types of food does MSG improve the

[00:50] most? Can I add it to my chicken, ground

[00:52] beef, and roasted vegetables, or stick

[00:54] to more common use cases like fried

[00:56] rice? So, throughout this video, we're

[00:58] going to run through a series of taste

[01:00] tests. First is tasting MSG alongside

[01:02] other kitchen ingredients. Second is

[01:04] testing different salt to MSG ratios and

[01:06] scrambled eggs. And finally, a blind

[01:08] taste test with some spicy beef noodles.

[01:11] And by the end of this video, I promise

[01:13] you'll have a fundamental understanding

[01:15] of how MSG actually works when we cook

[01:18] with it. Now, before we get too deep

[01:20] into the MSG experiments, today's

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[02:41] world. And now that I've got my coffee

[02:43] secured, let's dive into that first big

[02:46] question. What is MSG? Because you might

[02:50] be surprised to learn that whether

[02:51] you've used MSG before or not, you've

[02:53] almost certainly tasted glutamates.

[02:55] They're naturally found in foods like

[02:57] tomatoes, mushrooms, soy sauce, meat,

[02:59] and parmesan reo. But most of us,

[03:02] including myself, have no idea how

[03:04] strong glutamates really taste because

[03:06] we've never tasted them in isolation.

[03:09] And that's exactly what we're going to

[03:10] do for this first test. So, in front of

[03:13] me, I poured out five glasses of water.

[03:15] And into each one, I'm dissolving 2 g of

[03:17] a single taste compound. Salt for salty,

[03:20] sugar for sweet, citric acid for sour,

[03:22] caffeine powder for bitter, and of

[03:23] course, MSG for umami. There's no

[03:26] aromomas, no fats, no cooking reactions,

[03:28] no texture. This is just pure isolated

[03:31] taste. Okay, so I'm gonna get all of

[03:33] these mixed up. And while I do that, let

[03:35] me break down what MSG is and how the

[03:37] five core tastes work because this might

[03:39] seem like a weird spot to start the

[03:41] testing in this video, but it'll make a

[03:44] lot more sense after I explain a few

[03:46] things. The easiest way to begin to

[03:48] understand MSG is to just break down its

[03:51] name, monosodium glutamate. Because when

[03:53] you look at the chemical structure, it's

[03:55] pretty simple. There's one sodium atom

[03:57] attached to a glutamate molecule. And

[03:59] the important part here is the

[04:01] glutamate. That's the compound

[04:02] responsible for the umami taste in MSG.

[04:05] The sodium is mainly there to stabilize

[04:07] the molecule and make it easier to use

[04:09] as a crystallin seasoning. Though

[04:11] technically it will provide a little

[04:12] taste. We'll talk more about that later.

[04:15] Now, all of these compounds I'm using

[04:17] here in this first test are isolated

[04:19] examples of the five taste. The sodium

[04:22] ions and sodium chloride or table salt

[04:24] primarily create the salty taste.

[04:26] Sucrossse molecules bind to our sweet

[04:28] taste receptors. Hydrogen ions are

[04:30] released from citric acid creating a

[04:32] sour taste. Caffeine is an alkoid

[04:34] compound that binds to bitter taste

[04:36] receptors. And the glutamate and MSG is

[04:38] primarily responsible for the umami

[04:40] taste. Now like I mentioned, glutamate

[04:43] itself is not unique to MSG. It

[04:45] naturally exists in lots of foods we've

[04:47] all tried before. And here's a full

[04:49] table from umaminfo.com showing just how

[04:52] much naturally occurring glutamate

[04:53] exists in a variety of different foods.

[04:56] Now, there are two key differences here.

[04:58] First, the foods on this list contain

[05:00] glutamate along with hundreds of other

[05:02] kind of taste and aroma compounds that

[05:04] shape their overall flavor. And

[05:06] secondly, compared to pure MSG, they

[05:09] have a really small amount of free

[05:11] glutamate. And to put this into

[05:13] perspective, 100 grams of MSG contains

[05:16] roughly 78 grams or 78,000 mg of free

[05:20] glutamate. And to naturally consume that

[05:23] same amount of free glutamate from some

[05:24] of the items on this list, you'd need

[05:26] over 100 lb of fresh tomatoes, 10 to 40

[05:29] lb of soy sauce, 16 lb of dried shiakei

[05:32] mushrooms, 14 lb of parmesan reano, or

[05:36] about 8 lb of comoo seaweed. And this is

[05:40] actually how MSG was originally

[05:42] discovered because back in 1908,

[05:45] Japanese chemist Kakun Iicada was

[05:47] studying kamboo broth, a seaweed broth

[05:49] naturally high in glutamate. And he

[05:51] noticed that it had a savory taste that

[05:53] didn't quite fit into the traditional

[05:54] categories of sweet, salty, sour, or

[05:56] bitter. So he eventually isolated the

[05:59] glutamate compound from the comoo and

[06:01] combined it with sodium to create a

[06:03] stabilized crystalline seasoning we now

[06:06] know as MSG. Now the MSG we can buy in

[06:10] stores today is typically produced

[06:11] through bacterial fermentation using

[06:13] carbohydrate sources like sugar cane,

[06:15] corn or sugar beets. And today MSG is

[06:18] used in all kinds of foods, soups,

[06:21] seasoning blends, snack foods, fast

[06:23] foods, restaurant cooking. And in the

[06:24] past decade or two, it has become way

[06:26] more popular in home cooking as well.

[06:30] And when it comes to the home cooking

[06:32] conversation, I think the biggest

[06:33] problem is that most people don't really

[06:35] understand what it does and what it does

[06:37] not do. And I'll tell you right now,

[06:39] it's not a magic powder that just makes

[06:41] everything taste better. I think what

[06:43] most people miss is that MSG is a

[06:45] seasoning tool that exists in a much

[06:48] larger flavor system. So, think about

[06:51] something like fried rice. You've got

[06:53] salt fats acids sugars aromomas

[06:55] fermentation compounds, browning

[06:57] reactions, and different textures. And

[06:58] all of these things are constantly

[07:00] interacting with each other to shape the

[07:02] final flavor of the dish. And MSG is one

[07:05] variable inside of that system. And just

[07:08] like too much salt, acid, or sugar can

[07:10] throw a dish out of balance, too much

[07:12] MSG can do the same thing. For example,

[07:15] here are four different chips. Two of

[07:17] them have MSG and two of them do not.

[07:19] Now, personally, I like the Doritos with

[07:22] MSG and the Simply Doritos that do not

[07:24] have MSG. And my favorite chip of all of

[07:27] them might be the Stator tortilla chip

[07:28] that's basically just Niximized corn,

[07:30] salt, and oil. But there's one chip here

[07:32] that I don't like as much, and it's

[07:34] because it has too much MSG. You can

[07:37] literally see the crystals coating the

[07:38] chip, and when you taste it, it's

[07:40] obvious that it's out of balance. Again,

[07:42] it's not bad, but it's just overdone.

[07:45] And this is the part that people really

[07:47] don't talk about, which is why this

[07:49] first taste test is so important because

[07:52] if you really want to understand what

[07:53] MSG is doing when you add it to food,

[07:56] you first need a reference point for

[07:57] what it tastes like on its own. Okay, so

[08:01] I've never done this before obviously,

[08:02] but there's kind of two things I want to

[08:04] figure out in this test. So first is

[08:05] just kind of comparing and contrasting

[08:07] the differences of the five taste. And

[08:09] then I'm also curious to see like how

[08:11] much of each taste in there. like how

[08:14] bitter does the caffeine powder taste,

[08:16] how sweet does the sugar taste, how

[08:18] salty, how sour, and how umami here on

[08:20] the end. And I use the same amounts, 2 g

[08:23] in all these. I only did two capsules of

[08:25] the caffeine powder because uh caffeine

[08:28] is supposedly very bitter and this is

[08:30] also 400 mg of caffeine worth, which is

[08:33] like two energy drinks. Um so yeah,

[08:35] we're we're going to take small sips of

[08:37] that guy. Um, so we may as well just

[08:39] start here on the end and see what

[08:42] bitter really tastes like.

[08:45] Get that mixed up one more time. Okay.

[08:55] All right. They weren't wrong about

[08:56] caffeine powder. Holy smokes is that

[08:58] bitter. Wow.

[09:01] Jeez, that's bitter. Woo. Okay.

[09:05] Will not be taking another sip of that.

[09:07] Also goes to show that like everything

[09:09] else in the energy drinks is very

[09:11] important when it comes to taste because

[09:13] if it was mostly caffeine powder, no one

[09:15] would drink them.

[09:17] Okay, so let's go to number two. I think

[09:18] this is the salt. I'll find out shortly.

[09:24] That's salty. Very salty water there. Um

[09:27] 2% I think is like close to the, you

[09:30] know, salt level of like ocean water. So

[09:32] if you imagine that, that's kind of what

[09:34] I'm tasting here. Um, again, not like

[09:37] gross compared to the bitterness of

[09:39] caffeine, but it's very salty. Um, let's

[09:42] go to the citric acid, I believe.

[09:48] Ooh, the immediate pucker.

[09:53] But satisfying because like your mouth

[09:55] salivates and actually a nice one to

[09:58] 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.