MSG aka monosodium glutamate. Or as many Asians call it, Ajinomoto.
My bigotry has made me extremely unpopular among Asians. There is a backlash of brick-bats, curses, scorn and reverse racism. I take it all because I have no choice. I am seemingly one among millions.
Just like my illness, another three-lettered Pandora's box that has aroused similar doubts, scorn and general negative misgivings (wait, is there such a thing as positive misgivings?), my MSG intolerance has made my life a right misery.
I adore food but since my MSG nemesis reared her ugly head, I have had to miss out on almost all my favourite food. I can no longer dine out without being a pain to my fellow diners. I can no longer eat food not prepared by myself without feeling like character in a horror movie - you know, projectile hurling, pain spasms in stomach, chest and head, inability to face the light, strange whimperings emanating from lips curled in pain ...
The only other food allergy I can imagine being more or equally messed up in Asia is celiac. They have it bad too ... Asian food is loaded with gluten and MSG. It's a puzzle why MSG and celiac sufferers aren't more skinny.
I had not realise Asians' deep-abiding love for MSG or as they call it, Ajinomoto, till I developed MSG intolerance. They should have just nominated Ajinomoto as the Asian ambassador for all the love they garner.
I have been called a liar, a nutter and worse still, a non-Asian, for maligning their beloved Ajinomoto. Asians cannot conceive that MSG is not necessary nor beneficial to their general dietary well-being, Instead, they assign the slanders of its misdeeds as mostly Americanised bigotry. I kid you not.
Even when I clearly manifest symptoms of MSG intolerance (like strategically hurling on their shoes in defiance) they uncomfortably deduce that I either have some other form of food poisoning or that my non-Asian physical make-up is just not used to the harmless MSG.
I will let you in on some secrets. Come closer. No worries, I have not eaten anything with MSG today so barfing is in the KIV tray ... you're safe for now.
1. I am Asian. I grew up on Asian food laden with MSG. I did not have any problems with it. Until a few years ago when I kept having what I thought was food poisoning. Until I was diagnosed again with lupus and MSG intolerance. Because of the lack of conclusive studies and interest among the medical profession, it is unknown if my MSG intolerance resulted in lupus or vice versa. The only thing I know is that suddenly I could not eat anything with MSG without getting sick and the intolerance seems to be getting worse as the days wear on.
2. I did some work for Ajinomoto eons ago and had the privilege of reading some of their papers. Without breaking any NDA, I can will just say that I know my MSG intolerance is not just a figment of my diarrhea.
3. The Americans may have a habit of sensationalising stuff but it took the Japanese to fuck up my life.
Of course, you cannot blame the hapless Japanese for inventing a weapon of mass destruction, although the jury is still out on karaoke, as it took the willing consent and herd mentality of a continent to make MSG king in Asia.
And now I'll let you in on the 4th secret:
4. It is not only Asia which will boast a future of MSG-poisoned generations. The Japanese may not have won the world war but they have achieved world domination through MSG. You will find MSG in many of the canned, processed and commercial food in American and even, European supermarkets. It is widely used as an agent of preservation and flavouring, and you will find it in many of your common food items at home. Just take a look at your larder and you may find MSG in at least 5 items.
And so I have become one of those people I detested before. You know the ones. The uber fussy one in the restaurant, stridently haranguing the wait staff over the components of the food and making demands for special preparations. The anal retentive one in the supermarket aisle parked in the middle of the lane scrutinsing the back of the label like it's a winning lottery ticket.
I dislike what I have become but I am left with no choice if I do not want to starve to death. Luckily for me, I am a fairly good cook so at least I am not eating utter crap, which would just be kicking a hungry dog when it's down. Hail Downward Dog pissing in the general direction of MSG.
The lack of MSG awareness and sensitivity or humanity shown towards those intolerant of it has made my life a right pain. There might also be reactions to some other food (namely the nightshade family) which exacerbate my lupus so it has become necessary to keep a food diary to figure out what helps or worsens my condition.
Yes, this blog is going to be one of those painful, boring litany of ills of the sort your elderly maiden aunt used to terrorise you with. Bear with it. I do.
Today, I made egg, bacon, tomato and asparagus pies and ate two with a handful of mini honey tomatoes and strawberries. Dessert was a mini chocolate croissant from Giant. They were having a promotion of S$1.39 for a box. OK, that was an excuse. I just wanted some chocolate. All this was finished off with a giant mug of chamomile green tea.
It is almost impossible to cook without MSG unless I have a farm somewhere and can produce all my produce from scratch. Still, I minimise as much as I can, although today's meal had an element of uncertainty in the bacon. I am always a little unsure of bacon as I have bought some which were obviously marinated in MSG - a discovery made in the most unfortunate way.
Stephie's EBToAs Pie (I made 6)
12 quails egg
3 mini honey tomatoes, sliced in half
6 bacon rashers, cut into bite size (that's about 1 inch pieces)
2 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoon milk
4 stalks asparagus, cut into 1-cm length spears
Black pepper
1 package puff pastry (again, it's hard to be sure of the MSG safety of these but it is too tiring to make your own)
1. Preheat your oven to 220 deg C
2. Cook the bacon till browned and the fat mostly melted. I do not like it too crispy as I think it is unnecessary for this recipe. Try to cook the bacon without any added fat. You can do it in the microwave for a healthier, less messy and faster option. Leave the cooked bacon to cool.
2. Whisk the egg with the milk and parsley.
3. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Here's a tip on how to line a muffin pan with pastry. You turn the pan over and lay the pastry over the bottoms of the muffin pots, cut out the individual pieces for each pot, turn the pan over again and plop the cut out pieces in. Do not worry about the extra bits sticking out. You want extras and not inadequate coverage. Save enough pastry for lids.
4. Reserve half of the bacon pieces and line the pies with one half.
5. Place a tomato half, and asparagus in the pies.
6. Break 2 quails eggs in each pie. Poke each quails egg with a fork gently to allow for expansion during baking later.
7. Sprinkle some black pepper over and spoon the egg & parsley mixture over. Do not be greedy and leave a mite bit of space for the last layer of bacon.
8. Now's the time for the last layer of bacon.
9. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out lids for the pies. Cover the pies, trim and pinch the edges to seal.
10. Cut a hole in the centre of the pie to allow for venting. I use a pair of scissors to snip a hole. Brush the top of the pie with egg ... here's a tip, I usually use the leftover dregs of the egg & parsley mixture as the egg wash instead of wasting another egg and well ... because I am frugal like that.
11. Bake the pie in the middle rack for 10 mins, then lower the temperature to 180 deg C and bake for another 25-20 mins till nicely golden browned and uber puffy.
Here's the thing. I like silicon muffin cups because they make clean-up so easy but for pies, they are a right disaster. Use your tin pans please so you can get a nice, crusty pastry.
12. Leave the pies in the pan for 10-15 mins after removing them from the oven before carefully unmoulding them. I use a butter knife to run around the sides before jiggling and lifting the pies out
13. It's best eaten hot but you can also have it "cold", i.e. room temperature although it seems a bit of a waste of puff pastry. You can re-heat the pies from the fridge in a foil packet before uncovering for a last blast in the toaster or oven to revive the crunch in the crust. If served hot, it's really tasty with ketchup and a salad. Or in my case, tomatoes & strawberries.
Why the strawberries? Because my appetite's uncertain nowadays and I am prone to bouts of nausea so I need to "cleanse" my palate between courses. Strawberries are great palate cleansers but because they are in the nightshade family (as are the tomatoes), I am still eating them in moderation and monitoring my body's reaction to their intake.
So, I had two pies, 7 mini honey tomatoes & 3 strawberries for tea and a mini chocolate croissant for dessert. And loads of chamomile green tea.
Let's see if the body can hold that down.
Update: OK, make that 3 mini chocolate croissants. Had a bit of a hunger pang later in the night and wolfed down 2 more cheeky choccie cs and a cup of coffee. No, strangely enough, I am not kept awake by the coffee. In fact, it seems to make me sleepy while a cup of teh tarik will keep me awake for hours! Skin condition still OK at time of update, as with stomach and head and no nausea. Only the eyes seem to be a little irritated but it is negligible so all's good at mo!
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