Lean Cuisine Hunan Stir Fry with Beef

March 27, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

SRP: $3.19
Serving: 1 meal, 8.5 oz.
Calories: 270
Fat: 11%, 7g
Cholesterol: 7%, 20mg
Sodium: 25%, 610mg
Protein: 15g
Carbohydrates: 12%, 37g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Points

Lean Cuisine says: Broccoli, red peppers & edamame with beef steak & whole grain rice in an asian-style sauce.

Abi says: There are approximately eight edamame in this dish. This number is not enough that I would consider them a notable part of the dish, but enough to say that they’re meeting the edamame quota. The red pepper quota was in no way met. If Lean Cuisine just said ‘garnished’ with red peppers, then the near lack of Capsicum annuum would be acceptable.

Vegetable politics aside, I have to admit that this meal isn’t the nightmare I expected. I’ll admit that I was caught up in the memory of the dreaded Hunan Beef with Broccoli. Meals like that don’t leave you for a long time.

Lean Cuisine’s Spa version of the Hunan stir fry is an admirable attempt at lunch, notwithstanding the meat. The chunks of beef looked a little sketchy, so I avoided them, diving right into the rice and vegetables. The rice in this dish is amazing, with each pearly grain somehow bringing together the perfect rice nature of softness and tooth. Hello Lean Cuisine, welcome to the world of whole-grain rice, isn’t it a lovely place? The accompanying broccoli was abundant, though more yellow than I’ve ever seen in a microwaved meal. Usually, the broccoli survives microwaving and along the way is imparted with an impossibly bright hue. These florets were pallid and lifeless, turning to mush in the microwave.

After making my way through the blanched brown rice and sub-par broccoli, I started feeling pretty healthy in a self-satisifed ‘I am being so good and eating all of my vegetables’ sort of way.

And then there was the beef. Lean Cuisine’s offering consists of a few lumps of chewy meat that resemble and taste more like pot roast than anything that comes out of a Chinese restaurant. My palate was more confused than horrified as I gnawed on the beef cubes. “Just eat this or you will be hungry in an hour.” I repeated to myself during each chew. And then I was hungry a couple of hours later. I don’t think that I have a particularly marvelous metabolism, but my body is somehow able to sense that I’ve consumed Lean Cuisine and requires additional sustenance a short while later.

You may have noticed my complete lack of attention to the sauce, which Lean Cuisine describes as ‘Asian-style’. I understand that when a person or company adds -style to the end of a description, they are merely alluding to the possible heritage of or inspiration for an item. I am sick and tired of this. I don’t want {insert ethnic group here}-style things unless they actually are made in the style of that culture or contain ingredients that would be used in the dish, especially if you tack on an appellation refering to a specific region.

Hunan cuisine should be hot and spicy, aromatic, and deeply colored. While the asian-style sauce is deeply colored, it is neither aromatic nor spicy. Hunan is one of the eight great traditions of Chinese cuisine, so if a meal were to use the word ‘Hunan’ in its label, you’d think they could at least use something more interesting than brown sugar, soy sauce, and apple cider vinegar as the base for the sauce.

When we start misapplying terms like ‘Hunan’ (the sauce is actually closer to Cantonese cooking, but is a poor imitation of that), we’re setting ourselves on a path of changing names and history to suit marketing rather than reality. The next thing you know, we’ll be eating Tex-Mex Clam Chowder.

The folks at Lean Cuisine sent us this meal for free, but HeatEatReview.com is not receiving any paid compensation for this review. We’ll always disclose the source of our contributed meals and note the price that we would have paid for the items.

comments

10 Responses to “Lean Cuisine Hunan Stir Fry with Beef”

Tara on March 27th, 2007

That looks horrible. I commend you for getting thru it. My body also does that no matter which Lean Cuisine I eat, an hour or two later I feel like Iâ€™m starving and that I didn’t eat the thing in the first place.
Mattie on March 27th, 2007

Way too much broccoli for me!
Abi Jones on March 27th, 2007

Tara - My regular reviewers get first dibs on the meals that come into the office, except for a not-yet-reviewed pizza that I claimed early on. There were early claims on the ginger and sesame chicken dishes, but nobody was interested in the Hunan Beef.

Mattie - Well, it does have twice the vegetables of regular Lean Cuisine.
MaryAnne on March 27th, 2007

Thanks for trying these first. When I first heard about the new Lean Cuisine Spa line I was excited. They were actually going to serve brown rice and double the veggies which would comply better with their brand name than their usual crappy pasta or rice combos. Anyhow, you saved me money. Lots of money… But what about the butternut squash??
Abi Jones on March 27th, 2007

You’ll have to stick around until Friday to get our take on the Butternut Squash.
MC on March 27th, 2007

When I first read the title of this post, I thought it said Lean Cuisine “Human” Stir Fry with Beef. It’s like “Not only have they added more vegetables, but they are also interested in making cannibalism mainstream!!”
Angie on March 27th, 2007

Yeah, that’s just WAY too much broccoli to appeal to people who…well…don’t like broccoli.
Amy on March 28th, 2007

But, but… I like broccoli. Beef? not so much.
Tanya on April 23rd, 2007

I always put mine in the oven and they are much better than in the microwave and I love broccoli!!
Amanda H on May 1st, 2008

I actually LOVED this one! I dont mind the edamame missing as I keep a package of it in my refrigerator (i added a nice 1/4th cup amount to it) but i love the way the sauce taste and how the meat is very lean and ive never had any fat stuck to it, very delicious!

I also dont mind there being a lot of broccolis (which there is) because I love it as well.

Overall I gave it a 8/10