M&S Marks and Spencers goose fat and duck fat

 

[Review] Sainsbury's Mussels

I was really impressed with Sainsburys mussels which were previously frozen according to the label.

Although they are small compare to regular mussels, the texture and taste was fresh.

The labelling suggests cooking with chopped tomatoes but it was really delicious simply with salt and vinegar just like the seaside stalls.

The mussels were grit free.

[Review] Light and free greek style strawberry yoghurt

Looking at the yoghurt sleeve and poster, the brand name and logo isn't that clear but it turns out that Light and free is the brand after googling it.

Interestingly it is a product from Danone.

As for the taste, it was quite impressive because it isn't as tart as Greek style yoghurt but it is nice and light.

Although it does not contain any sweeteners, I did not like the sweetness because it tastes of artificial sweeteners.

Saying, I was gutted that I didn't see the other flavours like Cherry bakewell and sticky toffee because they would definitely have been my first choice as a foodie.

Overall, apart from the weird sweet flavouring, I would give it 99/100 because it did taste good!

Plant pioneers no pork crispy belly review

So far the Plant Pioneers range has been quite basic with bacon, sausages and basically what other brands have.
What impressed me was the no pork belly bites which look the part and it is something different from the range and now it is commercially available.
Vegan pork belly has been served in restaurants but just not on the supermarket shelves until now.

Anyway first thoughts, it did look like realistic plant pork belly!
The skin part aroused my curiosity on what it could be, whether it was some sort of rice cracker but on closer inspection after I bought it, the skin turned out to be bread.

The amusing thing is that you cook it skin side up as if it were real pork belly.

It comes with a side of BBQ sauce which you apply on the skin crackling when it is almost done in the oven.

After glazing it, the vegan pork belly pieces look no different to your regular pork belly except the fat layer has changed colour from white to yellow.

As a food connoisseur, I always try things without sauces to see how it tastes and then with the sauce to see how it improves it overall.

I tried a piece without the glaze and you could really taste the five spice just like the spices you find in aromatic duck.

Eating each layer separately to see what they were, the bottom most layer (the meat) had some chewy mushroom stalks and it was overall starchy beans in texture which reminded me of eating Chinese taro puffs.

Moving to the second layer, it was something squidgy like fat and probably made of tapioca starch and possibly coconut milk according to vegan pork belly recipes.

The final top layer, the skin was the best because it was crispy yet airy bread which mimicked the crackling so well.

Overall, if you try a piece of pork belly without the glaze, it is like eating something starchy with a chew and crisp texture loaded with five spice.

This is where the sauce comes in because the sauce they concocted is rather meaty in taste which I think comes from mushrooms and it also has a lovely BBQ smokey aroma and taste which brings the pork belly together.

I definitely felt that a generous glaze does the trick and so far and this is my favourite item out of the Plant Pioneer series.

Just like roast pork belly, some pieces are better especially in the middle where you have uniform bread and it also roasts better than the edge bits which are likely going to get burnt.

The sleeve information indicates that this portion is enough to serve 10 which means you get a piece each so I think it serves 2 - 3 people more like!

Video Review:

https://youtu.be/CV2tifw3yBM

Update April 2021:

The no pork belly bites appear to have been quite successful that they now have Plant Pioneers no pork belly bao buns which is basically the same stuff paired with bao buns.

meat free roasting joint

no beef steaks

no chicken gyoza

chorizo shroomdogs

Update 2021: Other Plant Pioneers finds:

no salmon fillets

 

Festive sandwich and wraps at Morrisons

 

Yumsu instant noodles: Chicken curry, special chicken & Vegetable

Spotted these Yumsu instant noodles at the shops priced about £1 for a bag of six.

They were definitely not expensive but as an instant noodle reviewer I wasn't interested in quantity because that would mean five bags of the same flavour.

Finally, they were sold individually for 20p per packet which is definitely a bargain if you compare it to other brands so I got all three flavours: Special chicken, vegetable and chicken curry.

I tried Special chicken first and it was impressive, the quality and taste was just as good as Dolls and Nissin so I bet people buying Nissin and Dolls in the UK would be gutted if they knew how good these noodles were.

Strangely, the vegetable didn't taste much different to the chicken because the umami taste was strong.

It was definitely very different to the Sainsburys vegetable instant noodles because that one has more of a strong celery taste to it.

Last but not least, the chicken curry had a mild curry taste.