Review: Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken
Cruising through the frozen food aisles I came across the meal-in-a-bag section, which has grown quite large over the last year and has a virtual United Nations of offerings. Since I felt like Chinese, so I grabbed a bag of Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken, a "complete meal for two" of chicken, vegetables and orange sauce over rice, ready in 14 minutes. A moderately healthy meal if I overlooked the sodium content, and quick. Perfect!
Alas, when I got home and opened the bag, I discovered this meal was way far south of perfect. There were 6 small pieces of batter coated chicken, about a cup of frozen broccoli, shredded carrots and baby corn, heavy on the carrots, a two cup bag of pasty looking white rice, and a bag of sauce that was indeed orange, in color. Excluding the rice, there was barely enough food to feed one person and this mess cost me $8.99. At that point I could only assume that Wanchai was Chinese for "rip off." I have been around long enough to not be so naïve as to expect the contents of a package to look exactly like the picture on the package, but this was outrageous.
Perhaps I have been spoiled by Trader Joes, where I can get a 22 oz bag of orange chicken with lovely sauce, a 16 oz bag of frozen broccoli and a 10 oz bag of microwave able brown rice, enough to feed four handsomely, for only $7.99.
So, grocery shopper, beware! Even if you're really tired, check the weight on the package. If I had been paying attention, I would have known from the weight of 1lb. 8oz, listed on my Wanchai chicken that it was probably mostly rice and sauce. A pouffy bag is also a dead give away. I'll bet if I had been cognizant enough to give it a shake, it would have rattled like a poorly filled piñata, indicating the old fill-the-bag-with-air trick was being employed.
I'm sure there are some perfectly good frozen dinners out there and I would love to hear about them, as well as which ones to avoid. Let me know what you think and I'll pass it on. Money is too tight these days to be squandered on rip offs.
Published by Dragon Lady
Born again pagan with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a wicked sence of humor. Loves good food, good wine and stimulating conversation. View profile
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I always make a bag of minute rice with chicken stock to go along with the rice in the microwave. We top our meal with hot sauce from the real take out place. Sometimes we each eat twice from this meal. We find Wanchai Ferry orange chicken to be delicious!
My brother and I buy this in a bag all the time. We always get ours from Walmart because they have the cheapest price for these Wanchai meals in a bag. They are usually less than 7 bucks.
I agree that there is not enough chicken in the bag for two people, and the meal is too expensive at places other than Walmart. The portions do tend to be on the small side.
The orange chicken is the only kind I will eat, so we do eat this whenever we want Chinese food. I make mine a little differently though.
I brown the chicken pieces first, then take them out of the oil and let them drain. Afterwards, I will stir fry the vegetables.
My brother hates broccoli, so I end up taking out the baby corn and carrots and rinsing them off, and getting rid of the broccoli since I am not keen on it either. I usually throw in some frozen steamable green beans to replace it.
The rice goes into the microwave for two minutes, but since the rice is a bit small on portions, I always make one bag of min
I KNOW! I totally agree, this was such a rip off. I was like 6 little nuggets of chicken....are you serious? For 2, are you kidding me? I ate the whole thing myself too. Try this guys: I bought the "Tai Pei Skillet Meals w/ Rice Orange Chicken" there were more than 6 little nuggests of chicken and it was much for tastier too. After steaming the rice in the microwave I made fried rice with an egg and onions and it came out SO good! Much more value for your money on the tai pei brand, go for that.
You should write them a letter. I used an online Chinese dictionary to help you: 鸡 更大 means "bigger chicken".
I just had the Sweet and Spicy Shrimp, and there were only ten shrimp. That's supposed to feed two people? I don't think so! I ate the whole thing by myself.
Try the Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken BOXED meal. It comes with seasoning for the chicken, uncooked rice, and orange sauce. YOU supply the chicken, which is good, because you can use as much or as little as you want. It calls for about 1 pound I think, which is enough to feed 2 or 3 people depending on how much you eat. I prepare this for myself and eat it 2 nights in a row. It's probably a bit more work than the frozen version, but I'd say it is certainly better.
Yikes that does sound stingy. Trader Joe's -- mmm. I should go there more often.
I completely agree with the stingy part. I actually weighed the chicken...4 ounces...to feed two people? The taste was good, but I prefer their much less espensive and more economical boxed meals. I have yet to find a frozen bagged dinner than lives up to the billing.
What did it taste like? Was it as bad tasting as it was stingy? I know what you're saying about the frozen section and a lot of those meals for 2 are really meals for 1...lol. The only ones I buy are the Create-A-Meals and then you have to buy your own meat.
What did it taste like? Was it as bad tasting as it was stingy? I know what you're saying about the frozen section and a lot of those meals for 2 are really meals for 1...lol. The only ones I buy are the Create-A-Meals and then you have to buy your own meat.