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Beef
Box of frozen Korean Style Bibimbap Beef from Costco
Inside box of frozen Korean Style Bibimbap Beef from Costco
Frozen Korean Style Bibimbap Beef from Costco (before heating)
Heated Korean Style Bibimbap Beef from Costco

When I saw this package of Korean (Style) Bibimbap Beef bowls at Costco, of course, I just had to try it. The box comes with four bowls and packets of Gochujang sauce (a spicy and sometimes sweet chili paste sauce). I tried a bowl just following the microwave instructions on the back of the box: peel back a corner and microwave for 3 minutes! Thaw the Gochujang sauce under warm water, add the sauce to the bowl to taste (after the microwaving), and mix. Super easy!

I used a little more than half the Gochujang sauce when I mixed it into the bowl. The sauce had an overall good spiciness to it, and I initially thought it was too tangy for my liking, but it actually tasted fine after that. It did have the savory sweet Korean BBQ flavors, and the beef was good - just wish there had been more (a common theme with frozen food). A couple of the beef pieces were also slightly chewy, but they were still good. The vegetables went well with the beef, but the majority of the bowl did seem to be the rice. I suppose that at least made it more filling. Also, one of my favorite parts of bibimbap is the addition of egg, which this, unfortunately, did not have. However, I really liked the overall taste and would still get it again.

I enjoyed this bibimbap bowl over the one from Trader Joe's as I preferred this bowl's Gochujang sauce taste, it had larger pieces of beef, and I liked the texture of the beef better. I did like that the one from Trader Joe's had some bits of egg, though. However, eating the Trader Joe's Bibimbap Bowl also resulted in an upset stomach, and this one, thankfully, did not have that effect.

Overall Rating:
Good
Food: Frozen Bibigo Korean Style Bibimbap Beef
Source: Costco, Scottsdale, AZ
Rating: Good

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Box of Trader Joe's Bibimbap Bowl
Korean Bibimbap Bowl from Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's has had this frozen bibimbap bowl for a while, but I haven't tried it until now.

I've usually had bibimbap only at Korean restaurants, which comes in a warm bowl of rice with BBQ beef, fried egg, and vegetables with some red Gochujang sauce. My mom is Korean so I've also had different variations of leftover Korean food with rice mixed together.

The Trader Joe's bibimbap comes frozen with everything in it, and the frozen rice has a "styrofoam" look to it. The instructions were very easy -- just peel back the cover 1/2 an inch and microwave it for three minutes. The sauce is just thawed out under warm water.

I only added about half the sauce packet after the bowl was microwaved because I didn't want it to be too sweet. The red sauce had a sweet and spicy chili taste, and the beef had a sweet, Korean BBQ flavor. Combined, it did have an overall Korean bibimbap taste and feel. The beef was somewhat minimal - I counted about 8 small pieces of beef, maybe 10, if you include the broken bits. The bibimbap could have actually used some more of everything: more beef, spinach, carrots, egg and bean sprouts. But it was tasty, especially if you want a quick bibimbap and don't want to drive out to a Korean restaurant.

Unfortunately, my stomach was also hurting after eating this. Not sure if it was the sauce or something that came frozen in the bowl... it tasted fine, but I wasn't feeling so good afterward.

Overall Rating:
OK
Food: Trader Joe's Bibimbap Bowl (Frozen)
Source: Trader Joe's, Tucson, AZ
Rating: OK
from Trader Joes

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Bag of Trader Ming's Szechuan Style Spicy Beef & Broccoli from Trader Joe's
Trader Ming's / Trader Joe's Spicy Broccoli Beef packets
Trader Ming's / Trader Joe's Spicy Broccoli Beef packets
Trader Ming's / Trader Joe's Spicy Broccoli Beef

Since Trader Joe's Kung Pao Chicken was better than a lot of other frozen Kung Pao chickens I've had, my boyfriend and I decided to try some of Trader Joe's Szechuan Style Spicy Beef & Broccoli. Unfortunately, we didn't read the instructions fully before buying it and assumed it was microwavable, like their Kung Pao chicken. However, the beef & broccoli ended up being mostly cooked on the stovetop. The only part that was microwavable was the bag of broccoli.

The spicy beef & broccoli came in three separate packets: beef, broccoli, and sauce. The bag of broccoli also came stuck to the outer bag.

Trader Ming's / Trader Joe's Spicy Beef & Broccoli, Broccoli stuck to outer packaging
Bag of frozen broccoli stuck to outer packaging

We cooked it all following the instructions on the back of the bag, except we only used half of the sauce. It took us a total of about 15-20 minutes to make.

The beef wasn't great. A few of the beef bits were grisly, and beef wasn't very crispy because of the sauce. Although the beef bits had a slightly crispy exterior, the inside of the beef was very mushy, which I didn't like at all. The sauce was sweet and a little tangy, but I didn't care for it. I'm glad we only used half the sauce or it would have been too sweet. The only part I did like about the beef was its spiciness. The broccoli was also OK, but it didn't really add anything to the beef.

Refrigerating the beef didn't do the beef any favors, either. We had it as leftovers the next day; it tasted worse. The beef was even mushier, and I couldn't eat the three pieces I put on my plate.

Overall Rating:
Blegh
Food: Trader Ming's: Frozen Szechuan Style Spicy Beef & Broccoli
Source: Trader Joe's, Tucson, AZ
Rating: Blegh
Rating (as leftovers): Disgusting
from Trader Joes

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