Kahiki Naturals General Tso’s Chicken

December 27, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

Kahiki Naturals General Tso’s Chicken SRP: $3.99
Serving: 1 tray, 9.5oz.
Calories: 360
Fat: 8%, 5g
Cholesterol: 10%, 30mg
Sodium: 37%, 890mg
Protein: 16g
Carbs: 15%, 46g
Fiber: 12%, 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Points

Kahiki says: Grilled white-meat chicken with no added antibiotics. Served with vegetables and brown rice in our signature zesty sauce.

Abi says: I was torn when Tim Tsao, the VP of Sales and Marketing (and son of the company founder) at Kahiki contacted me after reading Jess’s review of Kahiki Sweet and Sour Chicken and offered to send a case of their reformulated entrees. Being a person intrigued with reformulated recipes and nearly incapable of declining free frozen meals, I accepted the offer. I’d just read about their makeover in an issue of Refrigerated and Frozen Foods Magazine (yes, I subscribe) and I was curious about the new Naturals line.

“But,” I told myself when the package arrived at my office (a.k.a. home) “You are going to be strict about these meals. You are not going to let their freeness affect what you say in your review. You will be firm.” Yeah, I gave myself a talking-to. And then the meals sat in my freezer for a month. What if I didn’t like them? What if I broke Tim’s heart?

Finally, I decided to start with the General Tso’s Chicken. Never a fan of the chicken in my youth due to its unidentifiable pieces of fried dark meat (hey, I couldn’t tell what was in there), I looked forward to trying a healthy non-fried version.

Can I just say ‘Wow’. Wow. Not a Carolyn Hax ‘Wow’ of disbelief about what your mother-in-law just said about your grandma’s apple pie recipe. No, this is a wow of yum. The General Tso’s sauce is spicy, wonderfully spicy. It has enough tingle to almost make your nose run with the spice, but not enough heat to make you get up and get a glass of water right at that moment. The chunks of chicken breast are moist, lean, and feature weird grill marks that look really fake but I forgive them that because they are delightfully smoky. Sure, that grilled flavor comes from vegetable oil, but by the time I learned that I’d already consumed the entire meal and used my finger to lick the remaining sauce out of its section of the tray.

Under the chicken you see in the photo is a little village of broccoli, drenched in that fantastic sauce. There were also two insignificant carrots. And maybe a water chestnut. I’m not sure what it was, but I ate it because it was in the zesty sauce. Mmmm, sauce.

The rice is brown rice. It is boring. There is an amount appropriate to the other items in the tray. It is actually very pale and non-nutty for brown rice. It seems more like white rice. Or maybe beige rice. Perhaps it is a new strain of non-healthy-seeming brown rice. I do not know because I am not a rice scientist. Lacking a rice-science background, I’m going to assume that the rice was ultra-nutritious.

This meal is not your typical restaurant Genera Tso’s. It is a healthier adaptation that features a cringe-free ingredients list (how often does that happen?) and no mystery breading. Thinking about other General Tsos’ meals I’ve tried for HeatEatReview.com (Healthy Choice General Tso’s Chicken and Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers General Tso’s Chicken) I have to say that Kahiki’s variety leaves them in the dust. Sure, it lacks that deep fried hallmark coating of restaurant General Tso’s, but when I caught myself eyeing another box of it at Whole Foods, I knew that I’d found a gem.

comments

4 Responses to “Kahiki Naturals General Tso’s Chicken”

tanya on December 27th, 2007

Great review - I’ve been meaning to try these meals for ages and just haven’t gotten around to it yet, but now I will have to! On another note, you’ve just said the exact reason why I am no longer accepting foods to review - I just can’t bear it when I don’t like something, but I still have to write about it :0(
MaryAnne on December 27th, 2007

That looks like something I’d buy at a restaurant. I had Kahiki before the reformulation and didn’t like it at all… I was eyeing these at the grocery store though b/c I am easily sucked into organic and “natural” marketing ploys. The only thing that would hold me back is the $3.99 price tag especially when the lunch special up the street includes a soda, wontons, and crab ragoon for $4.15.
Crow on December 27th, 2007

“This meal is not your typical restaurant Genera Tso’s. It is a healthier adaptation that features a cringe-free ingredients list (how often does that happen?) and no mystery breading.”

So it’s bad then, right?
Marianna on March 13th, 2008

I recently tried these and really liked them. I can’t seem to find them in my community (Boise) anymore though and I was very disappointed.