Jimmy Dean "fatty" clone recipes

[squeezy]

I have heard that the Chinese use a lot of things they call food that I wouldn't eat!

Never had jerky made from ground meat ... can't see why I would.
MSG is mainly a salt ... so, I'd substitute kosher for it and you'd likely not taste the difference!
.... and, yes, I was sparring with you too ....

 

[herr tulpe]

Interesting point about the being hungry again 2 hours after eating a chinese meal!! I wonder if it is due to MSG..

I had always figured it was due to the fact that in Chinese food they tend to use a lot of vegetables, and cut food down to smaller sizes and as a result it is easier to digest, so it just goes down quicker! Also because you eat with chopsticks you tend to eat slower, which is also easier on you stomach than shoveling it in with a spoon.

If I think of traditional western food there are a lot of BIG pieces of meat and potatoes, and these contain a lot of starch that keep you feeling full for longer, because your stomach needs longer to process them..

But then again I am no biologist or a chemist..

tulpe

 

[squeezy]

I've understood the reason they eat smaller portions of meat is similar to Mexico and other 3rd world economies... a lot of poor people s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the meat to feed the whole family. We are definitely spoiled here in the west ....

 

[deejaydebi]

I was just going to say I have a shaker of Accent in my cabinet from a recipe I had tried and it is apparently MSG also.

 

[herr tulpe]

You're right, they have small pieces of meat to make it stretch, but historically there are also two other reasons, 1. it uses less fuel to cook small pieces, and 2. you only need one big knife in the kitchen to cut the meat, as opposed to 5 or 10 knifes on the table. So all of it comes down to economy!

The Chinese coast is taking off in a big way, can't consider it to be 3rd world anymore. There are more people here driving BMW 7 series than there probably are in the US and Europe combined! There now are three tiers of restaurants, kerbside and street food at the bottom, ariconditioned inside restaurants, and then these huge ornately decorated palaces with private rooms and aquariums to choose your dinner from! These palaces are expensive!! I will take some photos next time I take a visitor there.

 

[az_redneck]

It's my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, that the Chinese people do not eat big pieces of meat like we would eat a steak or a big pork chop. Like you said, mostly veggies and they use meat to "flavor" the dish as opposed to having it as a main course. It's also said that the Chinese people think westerners stink because they eat a lot of meat and it comes out in their sweat glands... Is there any truth to this?

 

[herr tulpe]

Your right about using meat to flavour food!! Sometimes when we have visitors who vegetarians it is almost impossible to order foord for them!! Especially if they have a religious views about eatingmeat like Pork and shellfish. Pork being THE most common meat in China!!

As far as westerners smelling bad being caused by meat, thats interesting, my wife (who is chinese) hasn't heard that one before, I will ask some colleagues at work tomorrow. Most foreigners are generally bigger than chinese people, and maybe the excess fat we all carry round with us generates more sweat hence smell.. Could be due to too much meat..

Sounds a bit like a myth though.. Might be a good topic for "the Mythbusters".

 

[droopydrawers]

MSG is Mono Sodium Glutamate. Its a salt, like mono sodium chloride or table salt. It has gotten a bad name becuz some people are allergic but more so becuz of the too high levels of sodium in our diets, from all sources. It tends to be used at higher concentrations than regular salt. However, glutatmate salts are the type found in our bodies naturally, not the chloride type. It is the glutamate that enhances food flavor and glutamate is not harmful even at very high levels (unless your allergic). But too much sodium is too much sodium.