Last week at the market, I took a peek in the ‘Frozen Foods Chest’ (an open-top floor freezer of odds n’ ends) and saw a selection of “Gourmet Dining Meals”. Blecch! I normally hate skillet meals and avoid ‘em like the plague—they’re overpriced and gross.
But these got my interest as they were Asian Cuisine, 28 oz in size and only $3.99 each. Orange chicken? Shrimp fried rice? General Tso’s chicken? I’ve had a real hankering for some Chinese food lately, especially since quitting my job downtown where Chinese was almost a weekly lunch thing.
Still… not a fan of skillet meals. So I decided to wait until I got home and google some reviews. (There’s always some food shopper critic out there who’s ready to tell it like it is.) So imagine my surprise when I got home, searched the label, and aside from this page of their products (click here) I couldn’t find a single review. I WAS ON MY OWN.
So earlier today when I went food-shopping again, I shrugged my shoulders and threw a bag in the cart. I thought I’d do a running commentary as I cook it up!
My Review: Gourmet Dining Meals’ General Tso’s Chicken
Ingredients in bag:
Small package of white chicken bits (it’s pretty spare)
Larger package of rice & vegetables, frozen rock solid
Pack of frozen ‘Gourmet Chili Garlic Sauce’
1. Here’s the UNOPENED frozen sauce packet I immersed in a measuring cup of hot water to warm. The instructions warn not to microwave! Just drop it in that water and let it thaw.
2. The precooked chicken nibbles, added a tablespoon of oil to a large skillet and sauté for about 3-4 minutes.
3. Adding in the frozen rice & vegetables. This stuff was hard as a rock, I had to hammer on it a few times and STILL had a snowball-sized chunk in the pan. The instructions say to add a tablespoon of water, but I’m a rebel and used 2. COVER & let it cook on LOW heat for 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.
4. Here’s how it looks after 8-9 minutes. A nice surprise, the rice plumped up really nicely and the vegetables are tender but not mushy. It smells good enough to eat now!
5. Time to snip a corner off that warmed sauce packet, and drizzle it over things. I did it in a nice swirly pattern just for show. Stir it up a bit, COVER & let it heat thru for 1-2 minutes.
6. TA-DA!! It’s ready to eat. I must confess when I removed the lid & the aroma hit me, I ate a couple forkfuls right outta the pan. This may not be downtown Chinese, but it comes close. THIS IS GOOD STUFF.
A little more chicken would’ve been nice, but there’s so much food here, I didn’t miss it. The chicken, rice & vegetables are just right, and the sauce is excellent. Will I buy this again? You bet!
FYI—this isn’t an April Fools joke. My sister Shawn asked me if I planned to review toaster strudel next! I’m a single man who’s not exactly a great cook, so (for me, at least) this was a nice surprise. And you can’t beat that price, $3.99!
seems a tad odd to see your food with colours in it, Doug
ReplyDeleteHaha!! Andrew I know I eat a lot of red meat, I'm tryin' to mix it up a bit :)
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