Any substitutes for MSG?

[Ruhi_Rose]

   everyone


MSG was the essence of Chinese cuisine that brought about the typical chinese flavor.  But since it's now considered hazardous for health, what are the other spices & ingredients for chinese food?  Apart from soya sauce .. can anyone please list the spices. 

[Zainab_M]

  .. based on my research, there are no substitutes for MSG.  Soya sauce is not a substitute but in the absence of MSG, it is about the only ingredient used to bring the typical flavour of chinese food.  Apart from soya sauce, one can only use constarch and perhaps a few drops of vinegar, and of course salt.  Ingredients like honey, orange juice, cashews etc. can be used in addition only in those chinese dishes of a particular kind that ask for such variations.  However, I'm no expert on chinese cuisine    Perhaps u should ask others too.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Hmmm, ok.  i guess u r right.  i too discovered much the same.  other than soya sauce, there's hardly anything else than can be used as standard ingredients.

[Zainab_M]

Actually, i am sure you will find many ingredients for chinese cuisine at a chinese grocery store.  but first, it's hard to guess how many of such stuff at a chinese store would be Halal for us. 

Secondly, chinese cuisine is prepared in different parts of the world (or i should say, in different communities), to basically cater to their cultural taste buds.  the real chinese food prepared by the chinese people would be too distasteful for most of us.  e.g. we use our regular cooking oil like canola or corn oil as our cooking medium for preparing all foods, including chinese.  the chinese hardly use these as cooking mediums.  they use either fish oil or soya bean oil, which have a very strong and unappetizing smell.  and of course, it completely changes the flavour of the food.  Therefore, chinese food prepared by various non-chinese communities vary in taste becoz each community puts their own variations.  however, to bring that primary chinese flavour, MSG and soya sauce are the principal ingredients used by all.  But with MSG now tabooed, we're left with just soya sauce.  you will also find constarch in almost all chinese recipes of non-chinese communities.  but constarch does not bring any flavour, it's just for thickening the consistency in the absence of all those other condiments we use in non-chinese dishes. 

Thus, i never go to chinese grocery stores looking for chinese food ingredients.  it feels quite pointless being lost in a market where you hardly know what's what.  not to mention, most of the labels are only in chinese and we can't even read them      My advice would be to stick to just soya sauce, salt and contstarch as basic ingredients, and follow the variations from your favourite chinese recipes .. from non-chinese sources 

[Ruhi_Rose]

i agree.  chinese fruits and veggie store is ok, but i wud never go to a chinese grocery store.  many reasons for it.  first, it really stinks bad .. sorry!  the chinese clearly have a problem with hygiene.  even their veggie & fruits shops r far from clean.  some shops have rats running around.  with regard to foods, the chinese r said to have the highest quantum of non-Halal or haram foods.  and then, like u mentioned, most labels r in chinese or taiwanese and that puts one completely in the dark.   

thanks for the very useful information, sis