The difference between chicken essence and MSG

Chicken essence and MSG are two different substances, and we should distinguish them from each other. Sometimes we try chicken essence in the cooking process because it is more nutritious and healthy and less irritating to our body. If you have to use MSG, you must use it correctly, because many diseases are caused by careless diet, which can lead to serious situations. So, what are the differences between chicken essence and MSG? What are the precautions?

1. Chicken essence contains 40% MSG

Although most chicken essence packages say "made from premium fat chicken" or "made from real premium chicken", it is not a natural seasoning made mainly from chicken, chicken bones or their concentrated extracts as we imagine. Its main ingredients are actually MSG (monosodium glutamate) and salt. Among them, MSG accounts for about 40% of the total ingredients, and it is also composed of sugar, chicken or chicken bone powder, spices, inosinic acid, guanylic acid, chicken flavor, starch and other substances.

The reason why chicken essence tastes so fresh is mainly due to the effect of MSG. In addition, inosinic acid and guanylic acid are both flavor enhancers and have seasoning effects. When combined with sodium glutamate, they can make the chicken essence softer, the taste rounder and fuller, and the aroma richer. As for the realistic chicken flavor in chicken essence, it mainly comes from chicken and chicken bone powder, which are extracted from fresh chicken and chicken bones. The use of chicken flavor can also make the "chicken flavor" of chicken essence stronger; the role of starch is to make the chicken essence granular or powdery.

2. Different nutritional content

Which one is more nutritious, chicken essence or MSG? In fact, MSG is mainly extracted from grains such as rice and corn or molasses using microbial fermentation. Its main component is sodium glutamate, which is a type of amino acid and the main component of protein. Since the ingredients of chicken essence are more complex than those of MSG, the nutrients it contains are more comprehensive. In addition to sodium glutamate, it also contains a variety of vitamins and minerals.

MSG can supplement the body's amino acids, which is beneficial to enhancing and maintaining brain function. Because it has a good taste, it can increase people's appetite. MSG helps improve the body's digestion of food. In addition, monosodium glutamate, the main ingredient in MSG, can also treat chronic hepatitis, hepatic coma, neurasthenia, epilepsy, gastric acid deficiency and other diseases.

Chicken essence is produced from a combination of chicken and eggs, which has both the umami flavor and fragrance of chicken; its chemical composition is a combination of nucleotides and monosodium glutamate, and it has excellent freshness, achieving the two-in-one effect of enhancing flavor and seasoning; its freshness is 1.5 to 2 times that of MSG, making it a healthier food with higher nutritional content. Chicken essence also has the advantages of being resistant to high temperatures, not having any odor, and not being dry after eating. These are unmatched by other condiments. However, no matter how nutritious chicken essence is, it is just a condiment and cannot be compared with chicken. The investigation found that the protein content of different brands of chicken essence on the market is different, which is mainly related to the content of their chicken powder or chicken bone powder.

3. The safety of chicken essence is about the same as that of MSG

Many people are afraid to eat MSG, mainly because they are worried that it will produce certain carcinogens. However, food additive experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization believe that under normal circumstances, MSG is completely safe and can be consumed with confidence. Just do not heat it above 120°C, otherwise the sodium glutamate in it will lose water and become pyroglutamate, producing carcinogens. Since chicken essence also contains a certain amount of monosodium glutamate, its safety is similar to that of MSG. Similarly, care should be taken not to heat it at high temperatures for a long time.

In addition, since chicken essence itself contains about 10% salt, the amount of salt must be reduced when using chicken essence when cooking or making soup. Chicken essence also contains nucleotides. The metabolic product of nucleotides is uric acid. Gout patients should eat less of it.

4. There is no clear regulation on the amount of chicken essence to be used. It is usually added according to one's own taste. Therefore, the amount of chicken essence used is different in most cases. MSG is relatively pure and the dosage is relatively stable.

5. MSG is very soluble in water, so generally speaking, it is best to add MSG before removing the pot from the heat during cooking, and the dishes will taste more delicious. This is because if MSG is heated for a long time in an aqueous solution, it will produce pyrosodium glutamate. Although pyrosodium glutamate is harmless, it also has no umami taste. There are not so many requirements for the usage of chicken essence. It will have good effect when added to dishes at any time.