Nailing the flavors and seasoning of take-out style Oriental food at home is not an easy task. It is mostly a hit and trial method, where failed attempts are an everyday story. Masterchow by Wok Me has introduced a range of cooking sauces that promise to bring delicious and consistent Oriental flavors each time you use them. So far they are only delivering their products in Delhi NCR, but their small range of noodles and stir fry sauces will soon be available pan India. We got our hands on two stir fry sauces by Masterchow – Kinky Korean and Delhi Belly. We used them over a period of 2 days in our test kitchen and here is our #FirstImpression.
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What You Need To Know About The Masterchow Stir Fry Sauces
*As per information on the pack and product website
- Keep them refrigerated.
- Shake well before use.
- No artificial colours or flavours.
- It is a 100% vegetarian product.
- Best before 30 days from date of manufacture.
#FirstImpression Of Masterchow Stir Fry Sauce – Delhi Belly
Price and packaging – The Delhi Belly Stir Fry Sauce comes in a glass bottle packaging with a red label. A 200-gram stir fry sauce bottle is priced at Rs 240/-.
Ingredients – The list of ingredients mentions garlic, red chili, vegetable oil, soya sauce, sugar, celery, sesame oil, iodized salt, and broth. The type of vegetable oil used is not mentioned. There is no nutrition label on the product.
Dry inspection – As soon as we opened the bottle there was a strong red chilli whiff. The aroma of the Delhi Belly sauce will instantly transport you to an Indo-Chinese restaurant. This is a sweet and spicy sauce and we could see bits of red chillies and lots of vegetable oil.
How we used it – We tried the sauce using two popular bases – Noodles and rice. As this is an all-inclusive sauce, we did not add anything extra.
For the noodles, we added oil (soybean) and a mix of vegetables like carrots, zucchini. mushrooms and broccoli in a hot wok. We then added the boiled Hakka noodles and tossed it. Now we added 5 tablespoons of the Delhi Belly Stir Fry Sauce and mixed it well. This was topped with chopped spring onion greens, fried garlic, fried onions, and crushed peanuts. For the rice, we followed the same process but the garnishing was omitted.
The final outcome – These bowls were a feast for the sore eyes. Our test kitchen was filled with the fragrance of chilli and garlic. The sauce mixed beautifully well with noodles and rice. The rice and noodles had taken a reddish tinge, which was expected out of a chilli sauce. The heat coming from the chilli and the umami flavor often found in Asian broths is spot on. You will not need any additional garlic, salt or spices to flavor this. The sweetness is mild and does not overpower the dish at all.
This is a brilliant stir-fry sauce if you love your food on the spicier side. Needless to say, it is not recommended for kids as the chilli kick can be a bit too much for them.
#FirstImpression Of Masterchow Stir Fry Sauce – Kinky Korean
Price and packaging – The Kinky Korean Stir Fry Sauce comes in a glass bottle packaging with a blue label. A 200 gram stir fry sauce bottle is priced at Rs 240/-.
Ingredients – The list of ingredients mentions nothing. It only says ‘secret for now’. There is no nutrition chart either. This is definately a major drawback.
Dry inspection – Upon opening the bottle we could smell the basil which was very pleasing. We could not see any oil floating as we did in the Delhi Belly Sauce. There were a lot of green bits of holy basil. This was definitely low on oil content visually, and the holy basil aroma in the dry inspection really shined through.
How we used it – As mentioned above, we used this sauce to create two popular everyday dishes – fried rice and stir-fried noodles. The vegetables, method of cooking, and garnishing were exactly the same.
The final outcome – The fragrance and taste of holy basil are undeniable. The rice and noodles had taken a brownish tinge and we could see specs of holy basil throughout our dishes. The sauce mixes well and coated the noodles and rice beautifully. Dishes made using this sauce were not at all spicy and can be put under the child-friendly category or for people with a low chili tolerance. Just like the Delhi Belly Sauce, you would not need any additional seasoning to spruce up the dishes.
Could we pick one as a favorite? Well, no. There is no comparison between the two sauces at all. People with different palettes would prefer different sauces. Both the stir fry sauces are equally good and deliver the same taste we expect out of a quality Chinese take-out. If you love Oriental food and like whipping up some at home occasionally, do try these sauces by Masterchow. These sauces have a low shelf life (30 days), which is why we do not recommend ordering them in bulk.
When we cook Oriental food, we need a good soy sauce, a chili sauce, vinegar, and more. This not only gets heavy on the pocket but can create a lot of clutter in the pantry as well. At the price of 240/- for a 200-gram bottle, some might feel this is a little steep, but for those who regularly make Chinese stir-frys at home, the sauces provide good value for money. Just this one sauce and your home cooking skills are amplified tenfold.
At Mishry, we always appreciate a nice, detailed food label, and so for us, a big downside is the absence of a nutrition label and the fact that one of the sauces does not mention the ingredients all together. Customers deserve to know what all goes into the making of their favorite food products, and the clear listing of these details goes a long way in creating trust for the brands that offer quality products. We hope the makers take this feedback and come back with a more informative ingredients list and nutrition label soon.
Masterchow Stir Fry Sauces
A big thumbs to these all-inclusive stir fry sauces by Masterchow.
MRP – Rs 240/-* each
Net weight – 200 grams
*Price at the time of review
* If you do agree with our review, please give it a thumbs up! And, tell us which one is your favorite from this list. If you don’t, please tell us why!
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* No part of this review is sponsored by any brand. All expenses were borne by us.