In Mercadona They know that many of their fixed products are one of the great attractions for loyal and occasional customers, but for a long time they have made novelties an art of marketing. On one of our last visits, the famous poster in the frozen section caught our attention, highlighting some new chicken gyozasunder its own white brand Hacendado.
Curiosity and a certain obsession to taste all the gyozas that are put before us can overcome us, already assuming that having become fashionable in Spain implies that the quality level is usually quite low. It all started with cheap sushi from mediocre restaurants and supermarket trays, and the phenomenon has spread to other Asian dishes, such as the case at hand.
The Valencian company itself joined the phenomenon of Asian cuisine low cost with its own sushi corner in 2017, a small space that is already more than normalized in its renovated stores and that coexists with what is now its spearhead, the ‘Ready to Eat’.
Despite the fact that the large chains are betting on offering dishes prepared on the day to be eaten on the premises or to take away and consume directly, the pre-cooked and semi-prepared are still a success of sales for the convenience they offer millions of people when it comes to preparing quick meals at home.
the world of frozen It offers many advantages to save time in the kitchen, but it also saves a multitude of unhealthy processed foods. To stand out from the typical San Jacobo, the nuggets, the battered hake delicacies or the cannelloni that you just have to heat in the microwave, more exotic dishes like these gyozas seem like a best alternativealthough they are still recommended for occasional consumption.
What is it like and what is in the package?
Presented in deep-frozen malleable plastic bags, the product is named “chicken/frango gyozas”, with the usual term in Portuguese next to the Spanish. In the back and in the online store it is specified more calling them “chicken and vegetable gyozas”.
Each package contains ten units, with a total net weight of 230g, which leaves us with 23g per frozen gyoza. When opening the wrapper, we extract the empanadillas in question perfectly aligned in a firmer plastic blister, each one in its hole, with a textured base of semicircles that we suppose help the product not to stick, but leaves its mark on some of them . Details.
In depth: manufacturer, origin, ingredients and nutritional composition
We turn the package upside down to look at the really important information: the labeling and the fine print. These gyozas, marketed under the Hacendado brand, are a product of Mercadona import made by Chia Tai Food Enterprise (Qingdao)from Jimo City, Qindao, in China. Therefore, they are not really Japanese gyozas, although we did not expect it either.
In the list of ingredients we read:
Wheat flour, chicken (18.6%), cabbage, (14.0%), corn (11.0%), water, carrot (4.8%), onion (4.3%), soy protein textured, thickener E1412, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (soy, water), soybean oil, tapioca starch, ginger, peanut oil, yeast extract, sugar, sesame oil, palm oil, soy sauce (water, soy, wheat, salt), salt, mirin (rice, malted rice, maltose, water), white pepper.
It is appreciated that the first and main ingredients are the ones we would use at homethe flour of the dough and the chicken and vegetable filling, although it strikes us that soy protein is used to fatten up the protein content of the filling a little, thus forming a homogeneous dough with the chicken.
As for flavorings and others, it is also a point in favor that there are no added aromas, using condiments such as ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil (very aromatic), mirin or pepper. We have plenty of palm oil (we do not know the origin) and sugar, but it is common in these products to make them tastier, and the amount is not excessive. We didn’t expect to find extra virgin olive oil either, obviously.
It is not a very caloric food, unless many units are eaten at once:
AVERAGE VALUES | PER 100g |
---|---|
Energetic value | 165 calories |
protein | 5.7g |
fats | 5.6g |
of which saturates | 1.5g |
carbohydrates | 23g |
of which sugars | 2.6g |
Dietary fiber | 2.4g |
Salt | 0.9g |
How do you make it
Actually these gyozas they are not a precookedbecause the dough and the filling are raw, they are only formed and ready to prepare directly, from the freezer to the method we choose.
Japanese gyozas are usually made by combining iron and steam, leaving the base nicely browned and crispy, with the rest of the dumpling juicy and tender. There are variants, also in other Asian countries, that are only steamed, and some dumplings are completely fried.
In this case, the brand offers us four cooking methods, including the always easy and fast microwave, which seems to us the least recommended but which is usually the one that most interests those who are looking for something quick and easy. All techniques require less than ten minutes:
Pan. You have to heat a tablespoon of oil, brown the dumplings for two minutes (we leave them a little longer), add a small scoop of water and cover it to generate steam, cooking them for two more minutes. Finish cooking by uncovering the pan until the liquid evaporates and they finish browning to taste.
fryer. You just have to fry them in abundant oil for 3 minutes, at 170-180ºC.
steamer. In an Asian bamboo steamer or ordinary kitchen battery, they are cooked at 100ºC for 9 minutes. It is the method that takes the longest, but you do not have to touch them in the process.
Microwave. Just use a container that can be covered; it is recommended to spray them with water to make them juicier. You have to cook them at maximum power for about three minutes.
Vancasso Haruka Series Sushi Set 6 Pieces, 2 Sushi Plates, 2 Small Sauce Plates, 2 Pairs of Wooden Chopsticks, Japanese Style Hand Painted Dinnerware
They are good?
Having previous experience with gyozas, we cooked them trying to leave the base well browned and crispy, trying to keep the rest of the surface juicy. A first dry stick tasting confirmed what we suspected: they comply but they don’t kill. They are good for what they are, if you like this type of Asian snacks.
the dough is well done and it shows that it comes from a specialized Asian company, with the right texture and easy to bite, although it shows that it is a frozen product and not 100% fresh, prepared at the moment. The filling covers the interior of the empanadilla well without exaggeration, and the small pieces of vegetables more whole – like corn kernels – although the chicken mixture is less appreciative.
The supposed chicken flavor is the most disappointing, but they are good
The chicken flavor is very subtle and a look inside reveals a soft mass of indeterminate meat in which we assume is mixed with vegetable proteins and other listed ingredients. They are not particularly tasty in that sense and we almost would have preferred an exclusively vegetable filling, with a better texture.
For the price they have, €2.50 per package (€10.87 per kgk) and how quick and easy they are to prepare, we may repeat the purchase as an express resource to have in the freezer, since there is not always time to make homemade gyozas. Of course, we recommend the preparation grilled and serve with some sauce for dipping or with toppings, such as soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, or green onions.
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