Sainsbury's Coloured Dim Sum with Ginger Soy Sauce

This was a really cool and eye catching product I found in Sainsbury's recently. Dim sum is a big trend on the dining out and restaurant scene but this is the first foray into it from a supermarket I've seen. Packaging and product wise, I thought it was visually stunning and it really did leap off the shelf. The dim sum are brightly coloured and so ornate and the box is very sleek and modern too.

With prawn beetroot shumai (the flower shaped dim sum), the prawn turmeric huaco (the yellow shell) and the oriential vegetable chive gyoza (the long green piece), it's a really interesting mix. It certainly looks impressive, almost like a beautiful box of treasure. All the pieces were really delicate, exquisitely shaped and so elegant.

These only needed a couple of minutes in the microwave and, actually considering they were cooked in this manner, came out really well. The pieces were warm and inviting and smelt so aromatic and tempting. As dim sum, they're supposed to have a steamed texture rather than crispy and this met that criteria very well. Very soft, plump and bursting with filling yet they hold their shape and don't fall apart when you pick them up or even when bitten in half. Often party food or small pieces like this can make a mess but these stay perfectly intact.

I absolutely loved each of the three varities. The shumai was slightly sweet and tasted very fresh and the gyoza felt very meaty and substantial for a vegetable dim sum and had a great mix of textures and tastes with a deliciously savoury flavour. The star of the show for me was the prawn turmeric huaco. With a slight sweet and hot edge, it really sets off every taste bud and gets you take to notice.

The ginger soy dip complemented all of the pieces beautifully and, again, added to the visually impressive look of the product. It wasn't overly salty but had real depth of flavour that balanced with the dim sum.

These could probably be used for starters, sharing or snacking but I actually ate the entire tray on my own for a lunch. At around 30 calories a piece, the whole packet was only about 300 calories so certainly not too calorific. And yet I felt satisfied due to the complex taste and the fact I feel I had quite a bit to choose from.

I was very impressed by this selection. It's light and delicious and very different to a lot of other ready meal type offerings.

Price: £3
Available: Sainsburys

Pros: Light, flavoursome, interesting, visually impressive, well balanced and a good mix
Cons: Probably not very economical for feeding lots of people

Score: 8.5/10