Welcome to Straight Talk on Health, I’m your host Dr. Chet Zelasko. Straight Talk on Health. is a joint production with WGVU in Grand Rapids MI. I examine the practical application of health information. Nutrition. Exercise. Diet. Supplementation. I look at the science behind them, and let you know whether it’s something to consider or not. You can check out other things that I do on my website Drchet.com and sign up for my free emails.
Paula and I watch a lot of cooking shows. Probably too many if the truth be told. Most are competitions and the styles of cooking vary from diner food to baking to high end restaurants. The one thing that makes it interesting is that you see a lot of foods and cooking techniques from other continents and cultures. In this podcast, I’m going to challenge you to try different spices, different vegetables and fruits, and different cooking and baking techniques.
Before we get into the meat of things so to speak, while I want to challenge you to try new foods and food preps, make sure you taste everything and try every food spice and prep before you present it in a holiday meal. Why? People associate the holidays with specific foods that they only get that one time a year. It’s not as though you couldn’t eat sweet potatoes smothered in brown sugar and cinnamon with marshmallows any day of the year but that’s what many people expect. What might be fun is to make two dishes to give people a comparison: regular sweet orange potatoes and ube or Hawaiian purple potatoes. You can even prepare them the same way. Ube is the potato that is generally sourced from southeast Asia and is a staple in Blue Zones where many people live to 100.
Let’s begin with some things that I’ve tried at home and I’ll start with something that has gotten a bad rap, based on no real science, that can add that umami taste to foods, especially soups and sauces. That would be none other than monosodium glutamate or MSG for short. I know the initial reaction you may have because I had it too. Migraines or at least headaches. Destroys your brain. I’ve heard everything you’ve heard. And then, I checked out the research. The original “research” was from a physician who got symptoms such as a racing heart and weakness any time he ate at Chinese restaurants that served northern Chinese cuisine. He published his observations in a letter to the NEJM in 1968 and that was it. The race was on to find a reason to condemn MSG was on. Long story short: there is no science to prove that’s the case. Yes, it may not agree with some people but it isn’t the MSG; it’s likely an inability to process it. That can happen with any flavor enhancer.
I also mentioned the word umami. The definition of umami according to the Oxford dictionary is a category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), corresponding to the flavor of glutamates, especially monosodium glutamate. I checked out whether brining meat in salt solutions would interact with the meat to make MSG. It would not but meat naturally has glutamates anyway which contributes to the umami flavor.
One more thing: using MSG reduces the total sodium intake by anywhere from 40-60% depending on the amount used. Sodium is a problem related to HT so reducing sodium while enhancing flavors is a good thing. I use MSG in soups, sauces, and when braising meat. Why add salt when you don’t have to and it does release great flavor if you like umami flavor.
The latest spice blend that we’ve discovered is fish sauce. It seems like you would only use that in cooking seafood but it gives a great umami to every sauce including gravy, casserole, and soup. I even add it to marinara sauce believe it or not. The only caution would be that fish sauce is shrimp or other seafood marinated in salt for up to two years so if someone is allergic to seafood, do not use it. Also, try a little first because you can add more but you can’t take it out. I found out the hard way. A couple of splashes are usually all that’s needed.
The next spice blend I’m going to try is Five Spice. A long-time reader added it to the spice rub for ribs and loved the flavor. I don’t fix ribs that often but I’m definitely going to try that although there is an argument to be made for “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Let’s turn to vegetables, in this case, a starchy vegetable. That would be ube or purple yams. Remember, it’s one of the foods that is the staple of the Blue Zone areas in southeast Asia where people live longer with many centenarians amongst them. Ube and Hawaiian purple yams are easier to find than they used to be and you can use it like regular potatoes. We have an advantage in that we live about ½ mile from a great grocery store that is next to an Asian food market. There is really no spice or food we cannot get. But, due to the distance that fresh food has to travel, it may not have the same flavor as those found in the country of origin.
Another plant food is actually a fungi. Button mushrooms are great but next on my list is Maitake mushrooms. They are not inexpensive but it would be great to check out the flavor profile. After that, it’s Lion’s Mane mushroom which has gotten to be popular when added to coffee. I’m not going there as I don’t like any games with my coffee but to eat, I’m in. There are purported health benefits as well.
How about some new fruit? I still prefer the usual: apples—Empires if I can get them, blueberries, grapes, peaches, strawberries, oranges, and pears. But watching the way fruit is used in cooking, and with close access to exotic fruits, we chose to try a couple fruits. We started with prickly pear. I don’t have the patience to work for the actual flavor because it is full of seeds. On top of that, the flavor is subtle so while it’s full of nutrients, it doesn’t have intense flavor or texture. Again, that could be because of the distance traveled from the country of origin. We’ve also tried dragon fruit. It looks gorgeous but not as flavorful as I would like. There are dozens more to try and I’m looking forward to it.
One technique I learned is spatchcocking poultry. If that sounds a little funny, let me explain the reason first. When you cook a bird whole, you have the big cavity where not much happens other than to occupy space. I know some people like to fill it with stuffing but I never do that. I saw how to spatchcock a chicken in a show we watched and I had to try it.
Spatchcocking a chicken or turkey is also called butterflying the bird. The technique only requires a very sharp pair of food shears. The technique is just flipping the breast side down and cutting through the rib bones to remove the neck and back. You can also remove the wish bone if you choose but I just pressed the bird flat. If you press hard enough, it breaks the breast bone and the bird lies flat.
It’s easier to get seasoning on the bird meat under the skin. I’ve used a couple of rub such as fresh oregano in butter and basil pesto. Both were great. Spatchcocking also reduces the cooking time. A chicken can be done in 40 minutes instead of an hour. I never eat it but the skin will be crisp. I can tell you it will have the moistest breast meat you’ve ever eaten. Just be sure to check the temperature in the breast to make sure it reaches 160 and it should get to 165 or higher while it rests. Delicious. I’m looking forward to doing turkey that way this holiday season.
I couldn’t talk about poultry without mentioning brining the bird overnight. You can find every flavor profile you can imagine if you do a quick search online. The last one I did was apple cider and salt, mostly because that’s all I had. The sodium really helps break up the meat protein and it gets tender and doesn’t dry out. I recommend brining every bird if you have the time.
I felt like I was just getting started so I’ll do another look at food flexibility in the future. Unless imported vegetables and fruits get too high in price because of tariffs, incorporating new foods just may be the thing to spice up your holidays—while respecting tradition. That’s it for this episode. Until next time, this is Dr. Chet Zelasko saying health is a choice. Choose wisely today and every day.
