My steamy encounter (Tesco Steam Prawns Chilli and Coriander)

Member Name: kellylouj

Product:	Tesco Steam Prawns Chilli and Coriander
Date:	08/03/07 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick and easy to cook

Disadvantages: Rubbery taste, bland

As I work shifts I find it hard to find a good balance when it come to meal times, having my lunch at around 3pm is not ideal and having tea at 8.30pm is even worse so I decided to try and swop my meals and have my main meal in work and my lunch when I get home.

As I have been back on the Weight watchers diet I found myself wading through the recipe book and decided what would be filling and easy to reheat in work then set off to Tesco to stock up the cupboards.

As I was browsing the shelves waiting for my other half to join me from work I spotted something new and half price so it instantly caught my attention.
King prawns with Chilli and coriander, hmmm I thought to myself would these be any use to me, bearing in mind that they are steam prawns and you just pop the bag in the microwave and hey presto hot fresh tasting prawns so it says on the bag, I could have them with salad or a rice dish for work so into the trolley they went.

*~*Tesco Fresh Tasting...Steam prawns*~*

These are located in the freezers at the end of the aisle and are currently on offer at 99p instead of £1.99.
There are two flavours currently available however our store only had the one, Chilli and Coriander the other is Garlic and Herbs.
The bag black and the top with a bold white Tesco logo stating that they are new!
The bottom half of the bag shows the image of the cooked prawns coated in chilli and coriander and boasts as 6 minute steam time.

*~*Nutritional Information*~*

For some people this may be irrelevant information but when you are on a diet it is vital that you know the saturated fat content and also the kcal content for the pack.
The information is broken down on the front of the packet so you can easily see if this is something suitable for you stating that each pack contains 205 calories, 1.4g of suga and 5.8g saturated fat and 1.5g of salt.
More information is on the rear of the bag if you should need it.

*~*Storage Information*~*

Now here is the headache if, like me you wanted to use them in work. They have to be kept frozen. I knew that we had a freezer compartment in work so thought great, get into work and pop them in the freezer until I am ready to eat them... slight problem the freezer needed defrosting and I couldn't open the drawer. Luckily there was another freezer further down in the office so I managed to store them in there ready for lunch later on.

The prawns can be kept for up to 8 months in the correct food compartment area in the freezer or up to 3 days in the ice making area so it is important to ensure you have the item stored in the correct area to keep them at the optimum temperature.

*~*Cooking the prawns*~*

The instructions are brief and accurate on the packaging, you simply take the bag of prawns out of the freezer and pop them straight into the microwave with the front of the bag facing upwards.
Cook according to the power of your microwave, in my instance it was 3 minutes, then I had to remove the item, shake and let it stand for 1 minute before cooking for a further 1minute and 30 seconds.

Once the microwave pinged for the final time, I removed the bag from the microwave which was very hot and cut a hole along the top and poured the prawns onto a ready made risotto, a lot of liquid came out of the bag that I was not expecting. The prawns were pretty big but didn't look as great as the picture on the packet.

*~*Opinion on the finished product*~*

Inside the packet there must have been between 10-12 king prawns which is pretty good value at 99p however I don't know if I would buy this item again at the full price £1.99.
The prawns were pretty large and had expanded during cooking and had a somewhat rubbery appearance and when eating them they tasted rather bland and a little rubbery again.
Had I been eating the prawns on their own I think the taste would not have been enjoyable but as it was mixed in with a risotto it made them more bearable.
The sauce was pretty much tasteless and disappeared into the other ingredients.

I would say that this item is ideal if you are putting in a stir fry or rice dish but I am unsure as to whether they would need to be cooked for so long.

The item was piping hot when they were removed and seemed to have plenty of flavouring when in the bag, but after they had been steamed they were tasteless and chewy.

I would say to anybody try these out at the lower price and see what you think, but don't count on them being as great as fresh king prawns, if you want a good prawn then buy fresh as the frozen ones just sampled simply don't cut it.

*~*Further Information*~*

Product contains milk, shellfish.
Ingredients cannot guarantee nut free

The product may occasionally contains small fragments of shell.
The product contains raw prawns that will turn pink when cooked.

Summary: Great for an emergency meal, not ideal for dinner parties!