Stay In with New Simmering Samurai options

I was provided samples in order to create my review. All opinions and experiences are my own. 

Though I love knowing how to cook food from scratch and adore learning about new flavors and techniques, sometimes I want someone else to cook for me for a change.

But, as life goes, sometimes eating out just isn't in the cards. ...and the kitchen is not where my husband chooses to spend his time.

So I think all Moms keep a little stash in the freezer. You might have pizza or frozen lasagna in yours, but I tend to have things like chicken fried rice, pot stickers or something from the new Simmering Samurai line of frozen Asian American cuisine.

Simmering Samura comes from Ajinomoto USA - a Japanese food company I am very familiar with. Believe me, I can sing a fair number of their jingles in Japanese after living there for 4 years. Good times.

But, I also know, they know food. So I was thrilled to see what kind of frozen offerings they had for me to fill up on for lunch.

Currently there are 5 different flavors to choose from:

• Broccoli Beef &; Fried Rice
• Chicken Fried Rice
• Vegetable Chow Mein
• Orange Chicken Fried Rice
• General Tsao's Fried Rice

Straight from the freezer to the microwave, each dish comes with instructions and are ready to eat in 7 minutes. Yes, even I can wait 7 minutes. Easy!

Most of the dishes required poking a fork hole in the plastic, microwave-safe bag and then heating in the microwave. The beef and broccoli also came with a sauce packet that I thawed in a bowl of water.

Afterwards I had this...

I loved the large spears of broccoli, the fluffy rice and bits of tender beef. It was very flavorful.

I also had the Vegetable Chow Mein which was packed with crisp-tender veggies,

And I enjoyed the Chicken Fried Rice with big, tender peices of chicken, rice, egg and veggies.

I picked up my Simmering Samurai at my local Walmart, but you can also use the store locator on the Ajinomoto site to find the closest location near you. Looks like there are stores up and down the West Coast so far.

My favorite dish out of line is the Vegetable Chow Mein. I am a sucker for pan fried noodles and don't get the chance to enjoy them very often in the US. I was impressed with the portion sizes of these frozen items. It would be more than enough for me to eat alone, and still an ample enough to make a few and share with multiple guests. These would be perfect for "family style" meals at home.

Overall I was impressed with both ease of preparation and flavor. It was a great way to give myself a "night off" from cooking and still have a dinner the whole family could enjoy.

Which of the 5 Simmering Samurai dishes would you try first?