Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Review #3: Frozen Chicken (in its many forms)



Like getting close to a live chicken, Trader Joe's frozen chicken products should be approached with caution. The Asian stir-fry chicken meals - the kind that come in the large foil bags and are often of the Orange or Teriyaki variety - are consistantly bad. While the sauce is "accurate-tasting," no matter how long you cook it for, the texture is strange, and it's stringy at all the worst times. I usually end up throwing out half the cooked pieces. The bags usually just run under five dollars; I feel like it's worth it to go to your local Panda Express or what have you and get the real thing. However, their frozen chicken breasts are utilitarian and fine; easy to defrost or microwave, and able to cook into whatever you want. And, as a component of other frozen dishes (chicken tamales, for example, or chicken dumplings), TJ's has yet to mess up.

1 comment:

  1. I just got very sick from slightly uncooked trader joes frozen chicken breasts. I became violently ill and am still recovering. I've never been sick like this except for eating a 6 month old frozen corn dog. Note of caution, they are very thick and the portions dry out when trying to cook the center. I don't like dry tough chicken so I've been pushing the envelope for moist chicken.

    ReplyDelete