I fell in love with shiokara many years ago while stationed at Yokota AB on the outskirts of Tokyo. My Japanese wife of the last fifty years recently got me a container of this heavenly food while shopping at a Japanese Market in Nashville, Tennessee. It may not be as good as homemade but I find it to be very passable, especially when accompanied by an ice cold beer or two. I don't worry about any MSG it might contain. I remember seeing MSG on restaurant tables along with the salt, pepper, and shoyu back in the 1960s. It seemed to have done little damage to those who consumed it as they were among the longest lived people on earth even back then.