When it comes to Chicken burgers you can sometimes find they lack that X-Factor, that zing of flavour. As a result it's sometimes tempting to try similar things that have something extra in them and one of the products that has been popular in my household recently has been the Birds Eye Hot and Spicy Chicken. Although not a direct substitute for a goo old chicken burger they are similar and and mix fine chicken with brilliantly tasty spices to leave a fantastic overall taste.

Sold in packets of two pieces in most major British supermarkets they come in the typical Birds Eye orange packets. When taken out of the packet they resemble two chicken pieces covered in breadcrumbs with black dots in the coating, it's those little black dots which come into play when you're eating them. This is because the breadcrumbs contain both pepper and chilli, really giving it some ooomph when you bite into it. And best of all, with them being made by Birds Eye you know you are getting a decent (not great but decent) level of meat in the product as well.

The cooking instructions are simple you can either grill the product for 20 minutes on a medium setting flipping it occasionally or oven bake it for 25 minutes at around 180c (or 200F/Gas Mark 6). The great thing about the timing of the process is it almost identically matches complimenting products such as potato wedges which can often take 20-30 minutes to cook allowing you to do both products to form a quick and easy meal.

When they are ready to serve you can place them in a bun or even slice them into pieces to have in a wrap (my sister does this for some odd reason) or, like mentioned earlier, have them with some wedges (or chips). The product should be left in the oven until crispy and the breadcrumbs "should" go a nice bright golden brown (though mine often end up slightly soggy and more orange than gold). Unlike many similar product, it's actually incredibly difficult to split the breadcrumbs and the chicken apart (like you can do with say battered fish), so take this is as a warning. If you do not like your food to be hot, do not try them, as you can't pick the crumbs off. When you cut the product you will see that the chicken in the centre is very compacted and white, if you squeeze it you can see water being squeezed out, which is a slight downer. Though it's the taste that matters and when you bite into them you will quickly realise they are intensely hot and spicy, for once the packaging doesn't lie. The hot and spicy taste can really be the sort of thing to set your throat on fire, for some this will put them of the product but for those who like spicy foods this is perfect.

Overall the product is one of the few that actually "does what it says on the packet", if your an idiot and you're wanting something with a soft chicken-like taste you will be disappointed as it's the spices that dictate the taste here. The key flaw is that it's been heavily watered to help fill it out and can be quite off putting, as are problems with fat and salt content. If you want "Spicy" and "Hot" chicken this is perfect for you as they really are firey hot.

Some information about the product:
It contains Wheat and Celery
The Chicken is 100% (this means it contains no other meat, though the product isn't 100% Chicken as there is a coating for example)
The product is comprised of 53% Chicken

Nutritional Information (per piece of about 95g)
950 KJ Energy
230Kcal (12% the RDA)
14.0g Protein
16.0g Carbohydrates (of which 0.4g are Sugars)
12.0g Fat-17% the RDA (of which 1.9g are Saturates-10% the RDA)
1.0g Fibre
0.46g Sodium
1.2g equivalent as salt-20% of the RDA

This means the product is very high in salt and fat and this should be taken into consideration when eating the product.