Where food safety is concerned, I don't think consumers are given options. As for unfrozen meat tasting better, the taste is acquired. The reason Chinese recipes direct the meat to be blanched is because the meat was not frozen after slaughtering, resulting in an off flavor as a result of decomposition. When cook frozen meat, I skip this step, but give it a rinse.
There was a period when my country banned the import of ham from China. Chinese ham does not use sodium nitrate, but instead requires refrigeration and climate control. Apparently, some get-rich-quick miscreants resorted to using toxic substances to preserve the meat.