Is Pho high in msg and sodium? I used to eat it a lot, the noodle soup stuff with meatballs in it, the?!
Answers: Vietnamese Pho, but I realized that I would always feel bloated after, and it must be from all the sodium, right? I still get it, but only like once a month now. I used to be addicted, maybe 3-4 times a week.
The soup may not be high in msg, but the meat balls and the hoisin sauce may be.
Pho is very addicting. I've found one place where the broth is so good that I don't even use any hoisin sauce or hot sauce.
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/nutrition/...
Yes and no. The beef balls (or fishballs, shrimpballs, etc.), bought from packages, do contain MSG. ALL Vietnamese restaurants, including Pho restaurants, put MSG in their soup base. The only significant difference with Pho restaurants is that they ONLY put in MSG in their soup for the first couple of hours when they first open in the morning, because it takes at least 4 hours of simmering for the soup to taste sweet. They do start cooking their broth 2 hours before opening, but that's still not enough time. After the initial 4 hours after opening their doors, they stop putting MSG in for the rest of the day. So, if you do go out to eat Pho, then go in toward the end of the day, about 2 hours before closing time. That's when the soup tastes the sweetest.
I, for one, don't go out to eat very much, as I prefer to cook at home. For Pho, I just dunk in all the beef and let it simmer for 6 hours before eating. That way, the soup is naturally sweet without needing much salt, and no need for MSG or any other garnish whatsoever (I'm allergic to MSG, triggers migraines and migraine-related seizures). So, check ALL packages (frozen meats) and bottles (any kind of sauce) for the ingredient list when I grocery shop, as even American products, such as Progresso and Campbell canned soups, now contain MSG, as well as restaurants, such as Pizza Hut and KFC. I know this because I am down with either a migraine or seizure within 45 minutes of MSG consumption. So we need to be careful about food consumption nowadays.
Just ask them if theres any msg in the food they cook..
I live in Australia.. When i eat pho i tell them not to put msg in it, and they dont.. Do they give you free tea? If they do, drink some of that while you're eating.. It should help out with being bloated