“Rooted and Restless with Marianne Smith Edge” – Podcast Episode
Aired May 14, 2026 | Guest: Mary Lee Chin
Highlights:
- History of MSG’s discovery and introduction as an umami-enhancing ingredient
- Umami’s rich and savory flavor has become more popular in Western food culture over the past few decades, but has been part of different cultures for a long time
- Asian cuisine uses many glutamate-rich ingredients such as fermented sauces and MSG
- Despite past controversies, research has shown MSG to be safe, and many chefs have more recently championed its use as an ingredient
- MSG can help reduce sodium in cooking while maintaining depth of flavor
Episode Transcript
“If MSG causes headaches, why doesn’t everyone in China have one?”
Welcome back to Rooted & Restless. I’m your host, Marianne Smith Edge, and today we’re going to talk about ingredients.
Ingredients in food of course seem to be a hot topic, and sometimes the myths outweigh the facts. Such is the case of the ingredient we’re talking about today, a century-old ingredient known as monosodium glutamate, but more commonly known as MSG.
May is National Asian Heritage Month, and what better time to really talk about an ingredient such as MSG with an expert and friend who really can give us a lot of background.
My guest today is Mary Lee Chin, registered dietitian, speaker, an MSG expert, and a very good friend that can give us insight around the whole myths and facts around MSG.
So, Mary Lee, thank you for spending a little bit of time coming from Denver today to really talk about the ingredient. So, give us a little history on the whole aspect of MSG.
Mary Lee Chin: Well, I’m glad to be here, and I love how you introduced me as an MSG expert – from a personal basis, because I’ve eaten it my whole life, and my mom used it, but also professionally, in terms of working with the Ajinomoto Company and The Glutamate Association.
When we talk about history of MSG, it was discovered in 1908 by a Japanese professor, Dr. Ikeda. And as the story goes, he just loved his wife’s Japanese dashi, a broth made from seaweed. And so as a scientist, the curiosity got to him, and he asked the question: what gives dashi its deep, savory flavor? And he embarked on some research and discovered it was glutamic acid. And that added to the whole pantheon of flavors and tastes that we are used to. As you know, we have sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. And the glutamate that he discovered added umami, that rich, deep, savory flavor. And the company in Japan, Ajinomoto, developed the MSG as an ingredient to provide depth of flavor to foods. It was Dr. Ikeda who, when he discovered the glutamic acid, put it with a salt and stabilized it, so it’s called “monosodium glutamate,” or MSG for short.
MSE: Which is a great story, and you know, it’s interesting that that was discovered back in 1908, but this whole aspect of umami flavor really hasn’t been introduced all that many years coming in that whole palette of our flavors. You know, suddenly, with mushrooms and a lot of other things, we talk about umami, and it was like, “oh, yeah, it’s what we’ve known.” We just hadn’t identified it sometimes.
MLC: Well, I will say, that’s because we’re in the Western culture now, and so umami was not developed as a flavor until recently. It became very, very trendy about, I’d say two decades ago when a lot of chefs – particularly the celebrity chefs – jumped on the umami trend. As a matter of fact, there were hamburgers that were developed that were called the “umami bomb,” and chefs were known for putting out the umami bomb.
But when you go back to Asian cultures, and just about every single Asian culture – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysia, Vietnam, Southeast Asia – we all knew about that umami flavor. And we had a lot of foods that contain glutamate that developed that rich, savory taste that MSG or glutamate delivers.
MSE: Well, let’s talk about the foods, and as you said, you are an expert. You grew up with it. It is part of, as you mentioned, the Asian culture. How did that come into being so much a part of the Asian culture and what you’ve known as what your mother did, and probably your grandmother did in that regard in the foods?
MLC: A big part of the flavor profile developed in Asian foods is based on fermented foods, and in particular, fermented soybeans. Now, all foods contain protein, and all protein-containing foods contain some amount of glutamate, and some foods contain more than others. When you ferment foods, then it breaks down the protein, and you get glutamic acid, and that provides a savory flavor. And if you understand Asian cooking, there is a lot of fermented sauces and flavorings that are used in Asian foods. And it’s throughout all the cultures. Now, is this where you want me to show all the stuff I just pulled out of my refrigerator and pantry this morning?
MSE: I would love for you to talk about some of those when you talk about – sometimes we think MSG is just something we’re sprinkling in food or so to speak, but I think this is a good way to talk about how it’s really part of the culture of what you grew up with, and many of us have come to really enjoy.
So, I’ve been in your kitchen, but I haven’t gone through your cabinets. So please, give us some examples.
MLC: Well, Marianne, it would be hard to miss my bottle of soy sauce. I buy gallon containers of this.
MSE: [laughs] I have noticed…
MLC: We go through several of those a year. But just going through my pantry this morning, I came up, and I don’t know if you can see all of this – let me put it in front of my face, this whole pantheon of different soy sauces. Many of the sauces that are based on soybeans and fermented – and again, it’s that fermentation that breaks down the protein providing the glutamic acid and the flavor of umami.
This is a partial transcript of the episode. View the full podcast to see which other umami-rich staples are in Mary Lee Chin’s pantry and learn more about how MSG can be used to deepen savory flavor while reducing sodium in prepared foods. You can also listen to the full episode at The AgriNutrition Edge.
