[Food] Contessa Orange Chicken
Jan. 17th, 2007 11:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windandwaterContessa Orange Chicken: This delectable dish is an Asian delight. Lightly breaded chicken and steaming with white rice. An exotic blend of crisp vegetables. And an elegant orange sauce. It's authentic Chinese. On your plate in minutes.
Once again, another grocery store freezer section find bought on a whim. ^^ I was searching the freezer section for the Bertolli packages and what different varieties they had when I saw the Contessa brand. Since they offered Asian foods in the same way Bertolli does Italian, and I saw a big honking ORANGE CHICKEN across the front of the package, I just had to try it. The mighty call of orange chicken at my fingertips without having to drive to Panda Express was too much for me to resist.
Preparation for the orange chicken couldn't be easier, and the directions said everything would be ready in 15 minutes, and that's pretty spot on. Inside the bag was the loose vegetables -- a nice mix of carrots, brocolli (staples of stir fry), then a pleasant surprise of red peppers, baby corn and water chestnuts. A definite plus for the corn and water chestnuts! That isn't even in the orange chicken at Panda. The chicken was in a separate bag inside -- breaded chicken chunks, nicely sized for chopsticks, though I still think it looks like chicken tenders -- alond with a bag of the orange sauce and a bag of rice. Nice and neat and you can't confuse anything.
There's pretty much a 5 minute cook time for all of the major parts (and running the sauce packet under warm water to thaw it). You put the rice (already cooked!) into a small pot with a little water and cook for 5 minutes with the lid on. You put the chicken in a skillet with a little oil for 5 minutes, then add the veggies for another 5 minutes, then put the sauce on top for 30 seconds and stir everything up so the food is coated in the sauce and cooked all the way through. Then you spoon the orange chicken and veggies onto the rice and eat. Easy as frozen pie!
Now, I have to admit that the rice surprised me, being all cooked and all. I was expecting it to be dry rice that you put in the pot with X cups of water, then let cook for 20 minutes, you know, LIKE REAL RICE. But this rice was already cooked (just frozen) and all the water it needed was 2 tablespoons. It was also fluffy white rice, and I was expecting more of a jasmine or sticky rice (like what comes out of my rice maker). I guess this kind of rice is easier to keep the quality of when frozen, and to cook quickly. The rice tasted very good anyway (it tasted... like white rice XD), so I suppose that's not too big of a concern. As for the orange chicken and veggies themselves, I loved them! The sauce was the right mix of sweet but with a bit of a kick. Sometimes the orange chicken at Panda is a tad too spicy for me, but there was no problem with this stuff. The vegetables all cooked properly and were crisp and tasted fresh, and the added water chestnuts and baby corns was, as I said before, a pleasant surprise. The chicken tasted good with everything too, though I still complain about it being like chicken tenders (or popcorn chicken).
Well, besides the problem I have with the frozen chicken parts of meals, I think the label of the package lied. It says that the package had three servings (which I always think means it can feed three people), and that was a total lie. I ate about half of everything, and later I felt like I could've eaten it all (saved the other half for dad since he's been whining about me not cooking lately). Also, totally not enough rice! Well, maybe it's because I'm Filipino and I'm biased, but I wanted more rice! I know the package is selling the orange chicken (plenty of that), but I really like rice. I couldn't do a day after nuke test on it because, well, me and dad ate it all. XD! This is very much a one meal food.
All in all, I very much approve of this product, reccommend it, and will certainly buy it again. I also want to try Contessa's Cashew Chicken (omg!) and their other varities. Contessa seems to really pride themselves on their quality and that they have "fine foods" and this certainly fit the bill.
Once again, another grocery store freezer section find bought on a whim. ^^ I was searching the freezer section for the Bertolli packages and what different varieties they had when I saw the Contessa brand. Since they offered Asian foods in the same way Bertolli does Italian, and I saw a big honking ORANGE CHICKEN across the front of the package, I just had to try it. The mighty call of orange chicken at my fingertips without having to drive to Panda Express was too much for me to resist.
Preparation for the orange chicken couldn't be easier, and the directions said everything would be ready in 15 minutes, and that's pretty spot on. Inside the bag was the loose vegetables -- a nice mix of carrots, brocolli (staples of stir fry), then a pleasant surprise of red peppers, baby corn and water chestnuts. A definite plus for the corn and water chestnuts! That isn't even in the orange chicken at Panda. The chicken was in a separate bag inside -- breaded chicken chunks, nicely sized for chopsticks, though I still think it looks like chicken tenders -- alond with a bag of the orange sauce and a bag of rice. Nice and neat and you can't confuse anything.
There's pretty much a 5 minute cook time for all of the major parts (and running the sauce packet under warm water to thaw it). You put the rice (already cooked!) into a small pot with a little water and cook for 5 minutes with the lid on. You put the chicken in a skillet with a little oil for 5 minutes, then add the veggies for another 5 minutes, then put the sauce on top for 30 seconds and stir everything up so the food is coated in the sauce and cooked all the way through. Then you spoon the orange chicken and veggies onto the rice and eat. Easy as frozen pie!
Now, I have to admit that the rice surprised me, being all cooked and all. I was expecting it to be dry rice that you put in the pot with X cups of water, then let cook for 20 minutes, you know, LIKE REAL RICE. But this rice was already cooked (just frozen) and all the water it needed was 2 tablespoons. It was also fluffy white rice, and I was expecting more of a jasmine or sticky rice (like what comes out of my rice maker). I guess this kind of rice is easier to keep the quality of when frozen, and to cook quickly. The rice tasted very good anyway (it tasted... like white rice XD), so I suppose that's not too big of a concern. As for the orange chicken and veggies themselves, I loved them! The sauce was the right mix of sweet but with a bit of a kick. Sometimes the orange chicken at Panda is a tad too spicy for me, but there was no problem with this stuff. The vegetables all cooked properly and were crisp and tasted fresh, and the added water chestnuts and baby corns was, as I said before, a pleasant surprise. The chicken tasted good with everything too, though I still complain about it being like chicken tenders (or popcorn chicken).
Well, besides the problem I have with the frozen chicken parts of meals, I think the label of the package lied. It says that the package had three servings (which I always think means it can feed three people), and that was a total lie. I ate about half of everything, and later I felt like I could've eaten it all (saved the other half for dad since he's been whining about me not cooking lately). Also, totally not enough rice! Well, maybe it's because I'm Filipino and I'm biased, but I wanted more rice! I know the package is selling the orange chicken (plenty of that), but I really like rice. I couldn't do a day after nuke test on it because, well, me and dad ate it all. XD! This is very much a one meal food.
All in all, I very much approve of this product, reccommend it, and will certainly buy it again. I also want to try Contessa's Cashew Chicken (omg!) and their other varities. Contessa seems to really pride themselves on their quality and that they have "fine foods" and this certainly fit the bill.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-18 08:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-18 08:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-18 08:55 am (UTC)...thank you, however, for reminding me of the yakitori which I'd bought and then left forgotten in the entryway. O_O it's cold now, tho. ;;
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-18 09:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-18 10:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-18 08:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-18 08:30 pm (UTC)I have a review of some Three Cheese Alfredo coming up maybe today, too. :P
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-18 08:31 pm (UTC)You can probably find a good recipe online. I like going to the Food Network website. ^^