We call it monosodium glutamate or just sodium glutamate. The Japanese invented (found it in nature actually) and call it umami, for “good flavor” or “good taste.”

Many people have problems with consuming monosodium glutamate, or MSG, in their foods. Chinese cuisine and many other restaurant foods are notorious for having lots of MSG in them. Restaurant pho is no different. In fact MSG use in many pho restaurants is so prominent and unmistakable that you can literally taste it instead of the flavorful pho broth that it should be. While MSG exists naturally around us and its use is considered “safe” by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA,) the benefits or ill effects that it brings to human diners (and pho zealots!) remain quite controversial. We each have our own judgement, tolerance, and reaction to MSG but to get a broader understanding of its impact on our culinary experience, I’ve asked a few culinary industry masters to share their views on MSG and how they feel it should be used in our daily lives.

Here are some views on monosodium glutamate from 7 food industry experts. Five of them have extensive culinary experience in Asian foods, the other 2  brings to the “table” (no pun intended) a clear Western viewpoints of MSG use. At least one is a food scientist, and many are respected authors, educators and publishers in their own right. I point this out because, in my opinion, the discussion on MSG cannot omit the differentiation between western and eastern cooking philosophies. In fact, such differences may just explain why MSG receives such notoriety sometimes.

In alphabetical order, they are:

• Donna Bauck, Associate Director of Retail for the University of Montana, Missoula
• Chef & culinary adventurer Robert Danhi, ChefDanhi.com.
• Author & Teacher Andrea Nguyen, VietWorldKitchen.com.
• Pho & coffee master Brian Nguyen, Quoc Viet Foods.
• Sinful recipes with Florentina, Peace, Love & Food! ciaoflorentina.com.
• Sushi, restaurant & marketing consultant Jay Terauchi of TheLASushiGuys.com.
• Author & Asian cuisine expert Corrine Trang, CorinneTrang.com.

I hope you will find their comments and viewpoints interesting and educational as I did. We are all humans and have our own biases and personal preferences, but insights from professionals in their own fields like these on a semi-controversial subject like MSG is a worthwhile read and definitely a learning experience. You will find both extreme and more moderate points of view on this thing we call MSG or umami. My own notes or clarification, if any, are added in brackets [...] to the end of the experts’ individual statements.

1. What are your views on MSG and its use in food preparation in general? Was its creation a blessing or curse to the culinary world?

Donna Bauck. Both a blessing AND a curse. As we all know many people are sensitive to it. In the “corporate” food world it is often banned. Corporations spend a great deal of time and money finding other ways to boost flavor, and I know some products are no longer used because they contain it. On the other hand, we all want to honor traditions AND cultures. In the case of  “America” we have often taken too many liberties in Americanizing foods. In the food industry, many of us realize we have lost the heart, soul, and flavor of many cultures’ foods by doing this. What is the answer? I don’t think anyone has come up with a good one. [I think Ms. Bauck's latter point is that, in americanizing ethnic foods, we make changes to them (including taking out MSG) to the detrimental effect of the foods' authenticity and taste, which I totally agree with.]

Robert Danhi. Chef Danhi wrote passionately and extensively about the subject of MSG in his book Southeast Asian Flavors. With his permission, I’m quoting relevant paragraphs here.

… For years I’ve had an internal battle over whether to use monosodium glutamate (MSG) in my cooking. The struggle began more than a decade ago when I really began to understand Southeast Asian food. I avoided using it, since as a classically trained Western chef, I was taught it was cheating and unnecessary to achieve really good food (actually true). But the challenge is that the food I’ve loved so much when I’ve traveled tasted so different from what I would make in my kitchen stateside. I realized there was no question that the prevalent use of MSG in restaurants and by street vendors of Southeast Asia was a significant factor affecting the flavor. I have ventured into hundreds of kitchens in Southeast Asia over the past twenty years. Most use MSG in one form or another. I have decided to address what most cookbook authors avoid—the topic of monosodium glutamate…

… I do not recommend nor disapprove of its use. The reality is that a majority of the kitchens in Southeast Asia use it. In the U.S.A. “No MSG added” is a common restaurant claim. But while the cooks may not have added MSG in its pure form, they probably still use sauces that have it added at the factory. Many cooks exclaim they do not use MSG, but frankly many do not even realize that they do…

… I believe much of the modern-day use of MSG in the foods around Southeast Asia is a cost-cutting measure… … That stated, MSG is a relative newcomer to Asian cookery, having been in use for just over one hundred years. Although I was not around two hundred years ago, I’m sure there were amazing, vibrant, flavorful foods long before MSG’s invention…

Andrea Nguyen. MSG is not a terrible thing but it’s [oftentimes] [overused] to make blah, poorly made food tasty. Umami is important in lots of Asian cooking but there are natural ways to achieve it. MSG is a chemical product. Who wants to add extra chemicals to their food? It’s not natural.

Brian Nguyen. MSG is a flavor enhancer. Until today, FDA and most, if not all, health officials from other countries have not banned of using MSG in foods. The chemical components of MSG are Sodium and Glutamic Acid. Glutamic Acid is an Amino Acid. Our body requires Amino Acid. However, our body can produce it, luckily. Without it, our foods would be very bland.

Florentina. MSG is simply not good for you. It might have been a blessing for the culinary world, but definitely a curse for me and you, the consumer.

Jay Terauchi. I don’t use MSG in my cooking, unless it’s an Asian packaged or canned product. I understand having to use it in processed foods, but I won’t use it as a flavor enhancer.

Corinne Trang. In my Asian side of the family, we used it all the time. Some still do, but I don’t. It is unnecessary. Salt can open up your taste buds. Spices and herbs can enhance any foods, curing, heat cooking, etc… can do the same. There [are] so many ways to create beautiful flavors with fresh ingredients, why would anyone want to use MSG? It’s definitely a curse, and quite frankly it should be taken off the market.

2. How much, if any, do you use or recommend the use of MSG in any recipe?

Donna Bauck. I stay away from it as much as possible. There is no way of knowing if my customer base has sensitivity. Though I attempt to label any foods that I am aware of (just as you would for nuts,) I believe there is a growing population that does know if they are sensitive, [therefore] may steer away from foods labeled as such.

Robert Danhi. Don’t use in recipes.

Andrea Nguyen. I don’t suggest using MSG in any of my recipes. I’m more intrigued by what natural glutamates do in food, how they make food taste good.

Brian Nguyen. Most food products contain naturally occured Glutamic Acid. However, during the cooking process, most of Glutamic Acid is destroyed by heat from over cooking. The amount of putting the MSG back into food varies. However, it should be much less than 1% in finished products.

Florentina. I do not use MSG in my cooking and I would never recommend it in a recipe.

Jay Terauchi. None.

Corinne Trang. Zero.

3. Are there certain dishes that you feel will always need at least some MSG?

Donna Bauck. I do not believe I am in the position to answer this. I do not use it, though I am sure I have eaten it. I have never studied the effects of a recipe with or without MSG.

Robert Danhi. [No.]

Andrea Nguyen. Nope. Some Viet people say that pho is not pho without MSG but that’s just because there is rampant use of it in pho. They are used to the ‘sweet’ flavor that MSG lends. Using yellow rock sugar makes that happen in pho broth.

Brian Nguyen. As I mentioned above, MSG is a flavor enhancer not a flavor. Most cooked dishes require MSG since it has been destroy[ed] by heat.

Florentina. Absolutely not. With all the spices we have available to us today, there is no need for MSG at all.

Jay Terauchi. I don’t feel that but understand that most Asian dishes use it and that’s what people know it to taste like that.

Corinne Trang. No.

4. With respect to pho, is MSG (at any quantity) an important ingredient? What about any other broths/soup dishes?

Donna Bauck. Same answer as above. Additionally, though I have eaten pho, I could not answer from a cultural, or personal experience as to its importance.

Robert Danhi. Use lots of meat, enough fish sauce and long simmering to harness umami and no MSG is needed. [If you] can’t afford the meat and time, add some MSG and broth will taste better.

Andrea Nguyen. See response to #3 above.

Brian Nguyen. The most important ingredient in Pho or any dishes is not MSG. MSG is not a primary ingredient. It is a secondary ingredient. It is there to enhance not to act as a flavor.

Florentina. I don’t believe so. More people should try using sea salt and lots of aromatics to enhance the flavor of their meals.

Jay Terauchi. I think to give it the authentic flavor YES, otherwise I think it would lack the familiar flavor that people know.

Corinne Trang. MSG is not necessary in any food, including pho or other broths or soup dishes. Again my family has used [it] for sure, but I don’t see a good enough reason to add it to any of my meals.

5. The bottom line: would you enjoy a bowl of pho (homemade or restaurant) knowing that MSG was used?

Donna Bauck. Since I have eaten pho, in traditional settings I believe I can safely assume I have eaten it with MSG. Though, again, I believe the public needs additional education on MSG. It is one of those products that we hear (as example) may cause headaches if you are sensitive to it. No one I know wants to “risk” a headache… so though they may have eaten MSG prior, they may not know they have. Theoretically, I believe some people would shy away from a food product with this ingredient because of this.

Robert Danhi. Yes, I do here in USA and in Vietnam where most cooks use it… Sad, but they [can't] afford the pure meat/bone broth.

Andrea Nguyen. When I have pho in a restaurant, most likely there’s MSG in the broth. That’s fine and expected. What’s not fine is when there’s a ton of MSG in the broth. That’s just bad cooking.

Brian Nguyen. Whether homemade or restaurant made, MSG should be used sparingly.

Florentina. Yes I would, occasionally, but if I were given the choice between a bowl of pho made with MSG and one made without the use of MSG I would pick the latter.

Jay Terauchi. I understand that it’s traditional and enjoy the flavor from the stock of bones, etc.  If the broth only had flavor from seasonings such as MSG, then No. It’s a big selling point to Americans if you don’t use MSG.

Corinne Trang. I would. I did when I was in Vietnam. I have when enjoying pho in a NY City’s Chinatown, because when in the company of friends, you talk about other things besides MSG! At home when I make pho, or any Asian soups, I never use it.

My take on MSG.

So there you have it. Certainly learned a lot myself. My own personal view on MSG is more moderate than many people’s, and certainly more moderate than some of our culinary masters here. I myself do not get adverse effects after consuming moderate amounts of MSG, except for the normal thirstiness which comes with any sodium consumption anyway. I do agree that many food vendors overuse MSG and my level of enjoyment would drop like a brick; I don’t like salt water and it’s just a waste of my money actually. In any case I think the MSG controversy will continue on. What’s the bottom line? I think it is this:

• MSG is not banned simply because it is not necessarily bad for many of us, but we do have our own choice of what we consider a quality and healthy diet. Education and understanding are key.

I want to send many warm thanks to Donna Bauck, Robert Danhi, Andrea Nguyen, Brian Nguyen, Florentina, Jay Terauchi and Corrine Trang for participating in this roundtable discussion on MSG. You gave us valuable insights into this tough culinary subject.

Now let’s go eat some pho.

Oh and please take the MSG survey below.

Vietnamese Pho With No Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)? Sure You Want It That Way? is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Looking for pho at a Fall Festival this year? You might find just that with current popularity of pho. In fact I found some great pho at the St. Barbara Parish Fall Festival in Santa Ana this past Saturday Sept. 26, 2009. There were carnival rides and games, international foods, and live entertainment, plus a raffle grand prize of $10,000. The festival ground was crowded with the young and old of various ethnicities. Not surprisingly, this is the heart of Little Saigon in Orange County CA, so the festival goers were predominantly Viet.

The festival itself actually spanned from Friday Sept 25 to Sunday evening of Sept. 27. Vendors volunteered their time, products and services as charity to the church, so it’s all for a good cause. The Quoc Viet Foods® folks also set up shop inside the main tent, serving three kinds of noodles (pho bo, pho ga and bun bo Hue,) together with their branded coffee Cafvina.

Behind the serving counters, they had 6 large 40-gallon vats brewing pho and bun bo Hue broths all day. To one side is a separate, smaller pot of boiling water for blanching pho noodle (banh pho.) Both the operation and the service were efficient, as Quoc Viet Foods® has been participating at events like this for many years.

So Vietnamese pho at a Fall Festival? Depending on what festival you go to, you can find both the traditional and unconventional kinds of food nowadays. It may be unheard of a few years back, but with the popularity of pho raging in many places in North America, pho just may become the next big festival food. It’s even cooler when you have all proceeds going to support a local church.

Here’s a short video showing pho action at the St. Barbara Parish Fall Festival. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYquwQJfLNo

Pho, Charity and Fall Festival – A Match Made in Heaven is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

I had the privilege to meet and chat with Brian Nguyen, the founder of Quoc Viet Foods^® Incorporation in Westminster, California, the maker of Vietnamese pho and other soup bases. I find Brian’s story about how he started Quoc Viet pho soup base and where he wants to take his company quite fascinating. Here’s a recount of our encounter.

First a little bit about the company. Quoc Viet Foods^® specializes in manufacturing and distributing Vietnamese pho soup bases and other seasonings. The company is the first to use modern technologies to convert the traditional Vietnamese dishes into the convenient soup base form. Quoc Viet’s soup bases and seasonings are processed from natural ingredients and do not contain any preservatives. For those who think soup bases are cheap, MSG-laden imitation of the real thing, they haven’t try these products. In fact Quoc Viet’s pho and other products are so good you’ll get restaurant taste and quality at home. By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I did not receive any compensation for writing this article.

Those who have been looking for quick pho recipes probably saw my post about Quoc Viet Foods’s pho soup base. In it I described how to make a batch of 20 plus bowls of pho in less than 3 hours. I took my time for that post, but my subsequent performance has improved to less than one hour. So you can say I’m a fan, and Quoc Viet Foods’ products should definitely be on your try list if you don’t want to deal with bones, oxtails, and 3-6 hours in the kitchen.

Quoc Viet Foods’ Formative Years

The company name is Quốc Việt Foods^® Incorporation. In Vietnamese, the word “quốc” means nation, state or country, and of course Việt is the majority ethnic group of people living in Vietnam. So Quốc Việt Foods^® is all about the traditional flavors and taste of Viet foods of the motherland. By training, Brian Nguyen earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Food Sciences. He’s worked for major food companies so he had all the right knowledge, from food product development to testing, from production to packaging, and distribution. Only problem was, he had no product to call his own.

On many trips to the local supermarkets, Brian told me he often looked that Viet foods on the shelves that are made in Thailand and elsewhere, with questionable quality and authenticity. One can almost see the entrepreneurial mind at work, and like many entrepreneurs, Brian had this energy that was just waiting to explode into a great product for a waiting market.

It finally dawned on Brian Nguyen that pho is what he wanted to do. Already in existence were mediocre products at best, and Brian definitely had some ideas. Now I’ve written before that Vietnamese cuisine is not something easily duplicable into mass produced quantities. And when it comes to pho, the variation is something that is expected. It’s one reason why I’ve not been impressed with pho franchises. But I digress.

Back to Brian and his pho. His garage became his R&D and product development laboratory – think Steve Jobs, Apple computers, and garage. Local supermarket meat departments were his beef bone and oxtail suppliers. It came to a point that butchers knew his face, what and how much he wanted as soon as he approached them in their shops. And his neighbors started wondering about this family next door that cooked pho everyday, all day long. Brian’s family is Northern Vietnamese so it’s no surprise, but the real kicker was when he told me neither he nor his family liked pho!

It wasn’t until the business actually opened that the butchers and neighbors understood what he was up to.

Growth and Market Expansion

Quoc Viet Foods^® then began a journey of growth from a humble 900 square foot location in 2002, expanding progressively to larger facilities every few years, to the current 12,000 sq ft space.

With an excellent product line, an expanding pho market that continue to gain visibility and popularity, new products coming down the pipeline, Quoc Viet is poised for more growth in the coming years. You can now buy Quoc Viet’s products from many Asian supermarkets. For those who cannot find a local retailer, the company will make an effort to ship products directly as well, though it’s an exception rather the rule.

In addition to supplying to the supermarkets, Quoc Viet Foods^® also ships products to restaurants, hospitals, schools, and casinos. Recently the company also became an approved vendor to SYSCO, the ubiquitous distributor of food and related products and services to restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, hotels, motels, schools, colleges, cruise ships, sports parks and summer camps – wherever a meal is prepared away from home. This is serious pho distribution channel.

New Products – Vietnamese Coffee and Tea

Vietnamese milk coffee Cà phê sữa (either đá or nóng – iced or hot) is great by itself or it can go well with or after a bowl of pho. Brian Nguyen informed me that Quoc Viet Foods^® is also bringing to market its own new products of coffee and tea. Branded Cafvina, the coffee that I tried rivaled many coffees you may find in retail shops, and can give Lee’s Sandwiches’ iced coffee some serious challenge. Cafvina brand coffee comes in whole bean, ground, concentrated or ready-to-drink varieties. Look out for them.

Visit QuocViet.com.

Quoc Viet Foods® Steadily Growing and Bringing Vietnamese Pho to the Masses is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Updated 01-16-12. There’s nothing like enjoying a bowl of pho at your favorite pho shop with your pho companions. But there are times, for various reasons, you’d like to make pho yourself at home. Most authentic pho recipes like Andrea Nguyen‘s or Didier Corlou‘s call for cooking the bone and meat in broth for up to 2.5 to 3 hours. Adding other preparation time, including the time to bring water to boil, and you’re looking at maybe 4-5 hours total cook time. So for those who want to take a shortcut and shave off a few hours, try the Quoc Viet Foods Beef Flavored “Pho” Soup Base option.

Quoc Viet Foods makes shelf storable soup bases, seasonings, coffee and tea. When it comes to authenticity, it’s always a challenge to find ready-made food products, including Vietnamese pho. Yet Quoc Viet seems to achieve the impossible for pho, that is to “convert the traditional Vietnamese products into a convenient form” while maintaining the flavor expected of such product. This means for those who never made pho or tasted pho, they can now get very close to the real thing, easily.

You can read more about my other post on Quoc Viet Foods. But enough about the company. Let’s get to the goodness of their Beef Flavored “Pho” Soup Base.

The package comes in a compact round plastic container. The wraparound label clearly describes the content and includes an ingredient list, nutrition information and cooking directions in English, Viet and Chinese. While the nutrition info states that there are 32 servings per container, the cooking directions indicate it makes 20 bowls. Confusing, but still very nice! At a price of US$ 6.99 per container, I’m paying US$ 0.35 for the broth in each of my pho bowls, excluding a few other ingredients of course.

Inside the container are the powdered soup base with marrow, and 2 bags of spices. The soup base is the key part of the pho broth and is essentially your “instant” bone/bone marrow solution that you didn’t have to cook for 2-3 hours. It also packs plenty of beef fats which you can skim off at serving time if you wish. The spice bags are your normal star anise, cinnamon, and various other spices. What’s awesome about the soup base/spice bag combination is they give you all you need for the broth, including all seasonings that you need-I added some fish sauce but it’s really not required. The only other 2 things you’ll need are the ginger and onion which should be charred or grilled before use in the broth.

Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base	Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base Nutrition Facts
Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base Cooking Directions	Quoc Viet Foods Beef Soup Base Package Content

The direction is very easy to follow. You’ll have to buy your preferred meat to cook, but this whole process entirely does away with having to buy the bone/oxtail and cooking them to get to the marrow, and to purchase the spices separately. For my broth I bought 2.8 pounds of beef flank, a piece of ginger and a medium size onion. The required ingredients list and cooking directions can be viewed from the photos below, but here’s a recap:

REQUIRED INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 lbs, beef flank or brisket,
• 1 lb, beef tendon*,
• 1 bulb, onion,
• 2 pieces, ginger.

DIRECTIONS:

• Blanch meats for 15 minutes. Discard solution and rinse meats.
• (Step not in package direction): Char or grill the onion and ginger pieces. I cut my onion in half, but it’s your choice to do so or not.
• Put meats, onion, ginger, in a large pot and add enough water to cover meats. Boil at medium flame for 1 hour.
• After 1 hours, add spice bags and content of soup base. Do not tear spice filter bags.
• After 15 minutes, remover filter bags. Boil at medium flame until meats are softened.
• Remove meats, onion and ginger pieces.
• Adjust water to 2 gallons or to taste.
• Bring to boil and serve.

* The meats and tendon are optional, or you can also substitute/add tripe, meatballs, etc. depending on your preference, just as you would order in a restaurant. See my “Tips on Ordering Pho Your Way.”

For me I ended up with so much broth that I had to divide into 3 smaller containers, put 2 in the freezer and enjoy the third portion over a few days. Again the key was the soup base which is all inclusive. There are no seasonings required as the soup base is super concentrated, and you can add water to adjust to taste. My total cooking time was about 3 hours, but that’s just me because making and eating pho is a religion for me so I took my time. For others who just want to get quickly to a nice steaming bowl of pho with chopsticks and spoon in hands, you can probably do it in 1.5 hours or less. An alternative is to use a smaller portion of beef (hence cutting down cooking time further) and/or use pre-cooked meatballs instead. By the way, for those unfamiliar with meatballs, you don’t cook them in the broth for the whole duration. Just heat them in the broth just before serving.

Finally I rate my pho broth creation using Quoc Viet  Foods’ Beef Flavored Pho Soup Base as follows:

• Quality and taste: 8/10.
• Convenience: 10/10.
• Affordability: 10/10.
• Total value (quality & affordability): 9/10.

You can find this and other Quoc Viet products in many Viet and Chinese food markets in the 50 U.S. states, Denmark, Canada and Japan. Quoc Viet’s website indicates their products include

1. Chicken Flavored “Pho” Soup Base
2. Beef Flavored “Pho” Soup Base
3. Beef Stew Seasoning
4. “Hue” Style Beef Flavored Soup Base
5. Chicken Flavored Soup Base
6. Pork Flavored “Hu Tieu” Soup Base
7. Pork Flavored Soup Base
8. Tamarind Soup Base
9. Vegetarian Soup Base
10. Crab Flavored Soup Base
11. Thai Tom Yum Soup Base

Unfortunately Quoc Viet is a wholesaler and does not sell directly to consumers over the Internet. The company is also very active at local demos, festivals, and charity fund drives, so if you’re lucky you can catch them in action serving pho to hungry pho fans at these events.

Quick Beef Pho Recipe with Quoc Viet Foods’ Pho Soup Base is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles