MSG Is The Not-So-Secret Ingredient To Upgrade Fried Chicken Batter
If you aim to upgrade your go-to fried chicken batter recipe, we have a secret ingredient to make your fried chicken taste even better. Actually, it's a not-so-secret ingredient — it's monosodium glutamate (MSG). MSG is an ingredient every household should have and stock up on. Why? Because a mere sprinkle goes a long way in elevating salinity, from broth to fried chicken batter. When added to fried chicken batter, MSG will help enhance the savory flavors of seasoning and elevate the natural flavors of chicken meat.
Ready to add MSG to your fried chicken batter? Simply mix about a teaspoon of MSG into your fried chicken's seasoning blend. Alternatively, you could incorporate MSG directly into the flour dredge. And of course, you can always do both. Or, you could add MSG to your chicken brine, mirroring the practices of KFC and Chick-fil-A, to further enhance the meat's natural flavors.
MSG enhances the umami of savory foods and can reduce your sodium intake
To dive further, let's take Tasting Table's recipe developer Taylor Murray's Spicy Buttermilk Fried Chicken recipe as an example. Adding MSG to this dish will amplify all the savory dimensions, making each bite of fried chicken an umami-packed delight. Murray's flour dredge already includes salt, celery seed, ground pepper, and cayenne. Adding MSG directly to this flour dredge would be perfect, deepening and enhancing all these flavors. Likewise, you can add MSG to Murray's buttermilk batter. Thanks to MSG, your fried chicken becomes even more palatable.
It's crucial to dispel the myths surrounding MSG once and for all. Far from being a harmful or "bad" ingredient, MSG can be a powerful secret ingredient and staple in your kitchen. By incorporating MSG into your savory recipes, you'll unlock a deeper, richer, and more satisfying umami experience that's hard to achieve with salt alone. And here's an added bonus: MSG can actually help you reduce your overall salt intake without sacrificing taste. So go ahead and experiment liberally with this not-so-secret ingredient, MSG, to upgrade your fried chicken batter and other dishes.