Monosodium Glutamate is the sodium salt of glutamic acid and is in widespread use throughout the food industry. This is because it boosts the savoury flavour profile known as umami, making foods take meatier and richer. As umami is the fifth flavour group alongside sweet, salt, sour and bitter, many chefs us MSG to create interesting new flavour combinations. You can use it in place salt to enhance flavours and reduce the sodium content of the food by up to 40%! If you’re struggling to replicate Asian takeaway foods at home, chances are a little MSG will be the ingredient you need.
MSG was discovered by Japanese biochemist Kikunae Ikeda while trying to identify the flavours in his wife’s soups. He eventually found that glutamate, an amino acid in the seaweed Kombu, was responsible for the flavours. Today, most MSG comes from the fermentation of corn, sugar beet or wheat.
Monosodium Glutamate works best with foods that already have some umami flavours, such as meat, poultry, fish and other seafood, eggs and mushrooms. Generally, half a teaspoon is enough to season a dish that will serve 6, but you will need to adjust to your personal taste. Using too much MSG will negatively affect the taste of a dish, making it taste bad. Of course, there is still some stigma that goes with MSG but we have been asked a few times now about supplying it by those that want to try new things in the kitchen. If you prefer to avoid, we also have Coarse Sea Salt, Pink Himalayan Salt as alternatives. Then there is Celery Salt, Garlic Salt and Onion Salt, if you want to pack more flavour in!
PLEASE NOTE – We would happily recommend every product on our website to improve flavours in dishes or to discover new blends you haven’t had before. With MSG, we highly recommend doing some research beforehand though, as it is a somewhat controversial ingredient. It is deemed safe to eat by food agencies across the world (it’s even found naturally in foods such as cheese and tomatoes), but there have been suggestions that consumption in high amounts can cause adverse effects. We always say to not add too much of an ingredient as you can always add more. This is especially true with MSG. A little goes a long way, so you’ll need to find the level you like. We have used it ourselves and find that it does indeed add a great umami flavour to foods!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
While every effort is made to keep all products in isolation from everything else, we cannot guarantee products are totally free of traces of the following allergens.
- Cereals containing gluten
- Peanuts
- Soybeans
- Nuts
- Celery
- Mustard
- Milk and Dairy products
- Sesame Seeds
- Products containing sulphur dioxide at concentrations more than 10mg/kg or 10mg/litre.
Always be sure to read the labels before consumption. Suitable for vegetarian, vegan and kosher recipes. Contains Wheat.
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