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The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

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Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#21

Post by ceejayoz »

selimthegrim wrote: post #16
happytoexplain wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible to simply disagree with somebody who has an opinion that something is racist without belittling them or lamenting that "everything has to be labeled racist".

You (GP) clearly didn't read the TAL interview linked where the guy who wrote the letter was actually Cantonese and very much not Howard Steel

The article asserts the racism extends far beyond just the original letter, though. Regardless of who authored it, half a century of "MSG bad, but only when in Chinese food; a nice big block of Parmigiano-Reggiano is fine" seems problematic.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#22

Post by radicalbyte »

This American Life did a great podcast on the origins of this myth; I strongly recommend listening to it.

Here's the transcript: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/668/transcript

TLDR: it started as a bet/prank and became an accepted truth thanks to racism and people being simple.

EDIT: this article is literally based on the podcast. Just listen go it, it's a good one :)

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#23

Post by bigbubba »

cube2222 wrote: post #2

This article is very long and having skimmed it I'm still not entirely sure: is monosodium glutamate unhealthy or not after all?

MSG is healthy because it causes no harm and makes food taste better. All else being equal, food tasting better will make you enjoy life more. Enjoying life is correlated with good health outcomes.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#24

Post by selimthegrim »

radicalbyte wrote: post #22

This American Life did a great podcast on the origins of this myth; I strongly recommend listening to it. Here's the transcript: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/668/transcript TLDR: it started as a bet/prank and became an accepted truth thanks to racism and people being simple. EDIT: this article is literally based on the podcast. Just listen go it, it's a good one :)

The TAL podcast makes it clear it didn't start that way

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#25

Post by rglover »

cube2222 wrote: post #2

This article is very long and having skimmed it I'm still not entirely sure: is monosodium glutamate unhealthy or not after all?

It's fine. I bought some from Amazon and put it on veggie bowls and mix it with other food to enhance flavor.

There's another store brand called "Accent" that's good, too.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#26

Post by yongjik »

louisvgchi wrote: post #10

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

I wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#27

Post by alliao »

the trick to MSG is to double what naturally occurring rate. Chicken that tastes like nothing can taste wonderful with a tinest dash and it'd taste like the best damn chicken. doesn't work well with food already full of umami like parmesan cheese.. and don't keep adding if you're already adding food additives like stock from a can/carton. Those are usually already heavily "fortified" with msg by itself.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#28

Post by runawaybottle »

yongjik wrote: post #26
louisvgchi wrote: post #10

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

I wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)

Bro, Asian on Asian racism is like way higher than western racism towards that region.

I’m almost positive Koreans think they are better than Chinese, and the Chinese think they are better than Koreans, and they both low key hate Japan’s uppityness (Of course the Japanese consider them ‘less than’, we can certainly throw in some historical advantage taking to add flame to this). This is like a age old tale in almost any region (think Pakistan/India/Bangladesh).

So ya, I can bet you there’s a level of passive aggressive racism to this day, like everywhere else on planet earth.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#29

Post by asphaltycode »

louisvgchi wrote: post #10

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

If the only food they know to contain MSG is Chinese food then it’s a stretch to call that racism.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#30

Post by bbrree66 »

louisvgchi wrote: post #10

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

What a stupid comment. Are you really saying the only possible reason is racism? When all you have is a hammer...
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