Eating Japan - Frozen food series 1

Every time I go grocery shopping, I would notice all the attractive frozen food items in the freezers and I realised that many housewives actually buys them.

So one day out of curiosity, I bought my first pack of Prawn gratin as below and I was convinced that it was one of the best inventions ever!

1. Meiji Ebi Gratin

This comes in a pack of 3 individual servings. Take one out and heat it up in the microwave and you get something as below~ The sauce was extremely thick and creamy. There's actually a lot of sauce, so you can probably add some steamed vegetables to it and make it a proper meal. That's what I did and the sauce went really well with the vegetables.

Needless to say, this was extremely delicious because this was what gave me confidence to try other frozen items.

2. Nissei Ebi Shumai

This come is 4 trays of 3 shumai each. Take one tray out, wrap it in cling wrap and microwave it. While it is very convenient, as this was made with minced prawn meat, I didn't really enjoy the texture of it. I prefer shumai with whole prawns in them.

3. TableMark Pumpkin Croquette

Each croquette comes in its own individual tray. You microwave it without any cling wrap. This goes extremely well with rice. I like this in my bento box. The centre pumpkin part was flavourful and the outer portion was very fragrant too due to the sesame seeds. This was so good, I actually bought a second pack!

4. Maruha Nichiro Ebi Tartar Sauce

Another prawn item, but I actually like this better than the shumai. The tartar sauce was delicious and again, very good with rice. Another item that I like having in my bento.

5. Akebono Chicken cutlets with spinach and 4 different types of cheese

I really like all these fried stuff with sauce in them because they keep the meat moist and they go really well with rice. I guess this is not for everyone because the smell of the cheese is pretty strong. If you don't like cheese, you might not enjoy this.

6. Ks meatballs

This comes with 4 individual packets with 3 meatballs and sauce each. This is really convenient as you can microwave the entire pack and then pour it over your rice in the bento or in a separate little container. I like the sauce on my rice because it adds flavour to it.

While these are extremely convenient, I try not to have them too often. I only use them on busy days when I have no time to cook. But I do feel that these are really smart inventions and great for busy working mothers who have to prepare bentos for their husbands and children.

With that said, I am interested to try other frozen items~ :)