Yumami teriyaki chicken bowl
Posted: April 26, 2022 Updated: August 30, 2023
A recent addition to the food to go range at Coles, Yumami teriyaki chicken bowl. It’s a bowl of rice noodles, topped with salad vegetables and marinated chicken. It comes with a sachet of dressing too and it’s completely gluten free.
To be honest I’m not sure where this brand has popped up from. In the supermarket they are offering not only bowl meals such as a poke but also various sushi. I can’t find them anywhere online. At first I thought it was a rebrand of Coeliac Australia endorsed Big Crunch. However I’ve seen them side by side on the shelves. A bit odd but hey, it’s another brand that’s gluten free! Update: not long after writing this I found out it is a rebrand of Big Crunch sushi. So they good thing is, it’s definitely coeliac-safe.
Despite it being in the food to go section it doesn’t come with cutlery. I guess that’s good if you’re taking it back home or to the office. Do most supermarkets have a disposable spoon to purchase? I can’t recall but I know it was common practice in the UK.
The taste
There’s a good amount of teriyaki chicken in the Yumami bowl, more than what you’d get in two sushi rolls. The noodles are cooked really well, not sticky or claggy, they all separate nicely which I imagine is a challenge. I will say though, there is a bit of a vinegar taste on the noodles. Looking at the ingredients I think it’s the rice wine vinegar.
In terms of salad, besides the shredded lettuce and julienne carrots, hidden underneath are pieces of red cabbage, zucchini, celery and my enemy onion. If you’re like me and not an onion fan don’t worry, there aren’t too many pieces. While the red onion used blended perfectly with the red cabbage I was able to pick them out easily and there was no oniony taste left behind.
The teriyaki dressing was tasty, initially I put on just half and later added more. However, towards the end the dressing plus vinegar on the noodles becomes a bit overwhelming. I ended up draining the dressing off half way, as it was getting a bit salty as well.
The upgrade
I upgraded my teriyaki bowl with some chopped peanuts for extra crunch. As it’s a complete meal it doesn’t need much of an upgrade, the amount of protein was decent too.
THE VERDICT
Overall it’s a nice product. It’s good to know I can get something quickly while also getting a meal with a lot of vegetables. I think if I bought it again I would drain off the initial liquid (a bit of rice vinegar on the noodles) and use less of the teriyaki dressing.
PRODUCT DETAILS
Gluten free: Legit, no gluten detected.
Vegetarian / vegan: Nope, chicken.
Allergens: contains soy and sesame. May contain, chicken bones, egg, crustacean, fish, molluscs
Serving size: one.