It's definitely been a year since I last tried a Trader Ming or any kind of Trader Joe's Asian food. To be fair, I think there is a time and a place for TJ's Asian food for a number of legitimately compelling reasons. And aside from a few notable exceptions, I haven't really loved much of what I've tried. Having been blessed to have authentic home-cooking and access to delicious restaurants (that Chinese people actually love) has calibrated my expectations of supermarket frozen Asian food. Here's a question - is America and Trader Joe's nation ready for authentic authentic Chinese food?
Or any ethnic cuisine for that matter? Is "authentic" necessarily better? Does authenticity matter? I've been thinking about food culture, ethnicity, and the American landscape. Thanks, Ugly Delicious. :P
Anyhoo, this pork shu mai was the second half of the "we-have-to-eat-something-other-than-salad" dinner. It's a classic dim sum dish, usually pork based. Note: this does come in a chicken variety but pork is the more traditional filling. Plus it carries more flavor. :P
When hanger (hunger + crankiness) takes over, ain't nobody got time to wait for water to boil. We nuked it according to package directions.
Note that the box only comes with 9 pieces. The ingredient list isn't too long, and they look legit.
Or any ethnic cuisine for that matter? Is "authentic" necessarily better? Does authenticity matter? I've been thinking about food culture, ethnicity, and the American landscape. Thanks, Ugly Delicious. :P
Anyhoo, this pork shu mai was the second half of the "we-have-to-eat-something-other-than-salad" dinner. It's a classic dim sum dish, usually pork based. Note: this does come in a chicken variety but pork is the more traditional filling. Plus it carries more flavor. :P
When hanger (hunger + crankiness) takes over, ain't nobody got time to wait for water to boil. We nuked it according to package directions.
Note that the box only comes with 9 pieces. The ingredient list isn't too long, and they look legit.
We lined the plate with a lettuce leaf to prevent sticking. They aren't the most delicate or beautiful shu mai I've ever seen, but the shape is correct. They resemble shu mai in a rudimentary sense. These pork ones were juicy and definitely seasoned well - savory and a bit fatty with a hint of ginger (though the hint of ginger here is not as subtle as what you would find in a dim sum restaurant shu mai). However, these were definitely a lot sweeter than what I'm used to. Sweet, kind of like char siu or Chinese BBQ pork. Not an unpleasant taste, just different and a little weird because typical shu mai is usually straight savory. But for a TJ's nation crazy about sweet tasting mandarin orange chicken (to which I shrug...the masses have spoken), I can see why this might be appealing to customers.
$2.99 for a box of 9. Not terrible. Not something I'd personally repurchase considering the availability of dim sum in my area but not a bad pick.
TL;DR: Trader Ming's Pork Shu Mai. Sweeeeeeet savory shu mai. 6 out of 10.
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