Yellow Fried Chicken & A Product Review

Raise your hand if like fried chicken. Raise both of your hands if you like homemade fried chicken.

Over the past Christmas holidays I had the pleasure of meeting a friend and her family for the first time. In true foodie-style, the gathering took place amidst a feast - an Indonesian feast. Among the many things that my friend, Tuty prepared was Yellow Fried Chicken (ayam goreng kuning)... When the platter of chicken was unveiled I caught my breath. Never before had I seen such perfectly, delicately browned fried chicken. Click here to continue reading the column about this amazing dish that you are definitely going to try making. It is the technique of twice-cooking the chicken that makes it so special.

The recipe I used can be found at the bottom of the column so click here. However, there are some speciality items that are not available where I am so you can email Pepy or Tuty for theirs. And just in case you have not discovered Pepy's blog yet, what are you waiting for? Go visit now!

Now for the product review.

When I received an invitation from Matt at Daregal Gourmet to review their line of Fresh Frozen Herbs, and to give a frank review of their products, I willing accepted because as you know I am a huge fan of herbs. I liked the fact that there was no pressure to be biased.

I am blessed to live in one of the many parts of the world where the weather is never below 70 degrees and many ingredients can be bought fresh and grown all year round. Given that my only use of herbs has been in its fresh state, I was curious as to how Daregal’s Fresh Frozen Herbs would work. I was sent the entire line: basil, cilantro, dill, oregano, grilling blend, Italian blend and original blend. Here are my findings:

Packaging

• The herbs come in individual containers with flip-top shaker. The contents as well as the expiration date and directions are clearly labelled. The label even indicates cooking tips by suggesting particular ingredients that work well with the respective herbs. It also suggests dishes that the herbs can be used to flavour and prepare.
• Given that it’s a frozen product, the herbs arrive in a secure enclosed Styrofoam container.

Convenience

• Herbs come individually and as parts of selected blends
• Already chopped
• Lasts for a long time
• Conveniently available all year-round
• Cuts down on prepping time when having to cook with herbs

Uses

• I used the herbs in sautés, stir-fries, soups, stews, grind-up to make pastes for curry and to season and marinate fish, chicken and meats. I also used the Italian Blend to make some marinara sauce.

Observations

• I was pleasantly surprised at the fresh aroma of the herbs when I opened the containers to use. Some things tend to lose their aroma once frozen but not so with these herbs, I could smell the distinct aroma of each herb.
• Once added to the pot or pan, the herbs defrosted almost immediately and that’s because they are finely chopped.
• As soon as the herbs meet the heat, you smell the aroma of the flavour it imparts to the dish
• Grinding into a paste is fast and easy work and there is no need to add liquid for the pastes because the grinding releases moisture as the herbs defrost

Recommendations

• I would recommend this line of product to anyone wishing to use herbs in their everyday cooking
• It is ideal for the busy cook and for the novice cook. For the busy cook it will cut down on prep time and for the novice cook, it will inspire confidence to experiment cooking with herbs
• If you can’t get ready access to herbs in general, these frozen herbs will not disappoint
• Bottom line, it’s an excellent product. Try it, you would not be disappointed.

Note

• I would not recommend it for garnishing.