Gluten Free Meal: Snapdragon Indonesian Peanut Rice Pasta Stir-Fry - Product Review #82

Snapdragon Indonesian Peanut Rice Pasta Stir-Fry

PRODUCT NAME:                     Indonesian Peanut Rice Pasta Stir-Fry

BRAND:                                    Snapdragon Pan-Asian Cusine

COST:                                      $6.78 (2-pack) $19.32 (6-pack)

SIZE:                                        6.7oz each box                 

COST PER OZ:                          $0.51/oz (2-pack) $0.48/oz (6-pack)  

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:        NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:         N/A

ORGANIC:                                 NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:         N/A

VEGAN:                                     OPTIONAL

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:           UNKNOWN

LOCATION OF FACILITY:           Thailand

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging.  We cannot verify the accuracy of this information.  For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.            

REVIEW:
We already know that Snapdragon Pan-Asian Cuisine makes great crackers, but did you know they make a line of Rice Pasta Stir-Fry kits, some of which are gluten free?  They have Pad Thai Ginger, Hunan Sweet and Sour and of course the Indonesian Peanut Rice Pasta Stir-Fry that we are reviewing today. 
Pop open the box and you will find dry rice noodles and a sauce packet containing all the flavoring you will need to cook up this meal.  This meal in a box is very convenient and can be prepared in about 15 minutes.  All you need to do is place the dry noodles in hot water for a few minutes, heat vegetables and, if you want, meat in a pan and stir fry everything up together for a complete meal in about 15 minutes.  I will admit that I did not cook this up myself, but I was watching the whole time and know that just about anyone can cook this up. 

For our tasting, 2 boxes of the meal in a box were stir fried up with chicken, snow peas and green onions.  The good thing about this product is that you have full control over what you want to add to it.  You can add just vegetables for a nice vegetarian dish or, for us carnivores, you can add meat.  It came out great and I was surprised to see how much we ended up with.  The rice noodles are thin and flat and had a sticky, but firm texture which is sometimes tricky to get with rice noodles because once they are overcooked, they tend to become mushy.  This is where letting them sit in hot water to cook came in to play.

The sauce for these noodles is the main character of the dish.  It is a slightly salty, slightly sweet and slightly spicy peanut sauce.  Snapdragon says that this Indonesian Peanut sauce represents the five classic flavors: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami which is Japanese for “savory taste.”  The sauce brings tons of flavor and texture to the dish because there are actually little pieces of ground up peanuts in the sauce.  Needless to say, if you are allergic to peanuts, this is not the dish for you. 

Nutrition Facts

With box meals like this one, you always have to be a little more careful with them and read the labels.  While they are relatively cheap, they are not always the best, nutrition-wise because they often contain a lot of sodium.  This one does contain 740 milligrams of sodium which is a little high.  What surprised me was that it contains 250 calories, 2 grams of fat and no cholesterol which is actually pretty good if you compare it with similar products.

Taste: This rice pasta stir-fry packs a ton of flavor.  The sweet by the salty and spicy come together for the perfect blend of flavors. 

Labeling:  Snapdragon has great labeling.  We especially liked their logos on the bottom right corner of the box that showed that it was gluten free, cooks in 15 minutes, is vegan and has mild spiciness. 

Packaging:  Paperboard box with individually packaged ingredients

Reader’s Reviews: Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:                 5             

Taste:                     5             

Value:                    3

OVERALL:              4.3

Reviewed 02/23/11 by Calvin C.