Trader Joe's Thai Style Red Curry Soup

Those of you who've been reading for a while know Sonia and I both love our Thai food. Trader Joe has had his hits and misses throughout the years, but in general, if it's Thai, we'll try it and usually like it. This product is no different.

We like it—but, unfortunately, we don't love it. What's working? The overall flavor profile is nice. The assortment of veggies is decent. The spice level is just about perfect. There's pumpkin, chicken, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and green beans in the mix. There's plenty of lemongrass and ginger flavor, too.

What's not working? The veggie pieces are quite small. Most aren't large enough to be considered "chunks." Oddly, there are a few relatively large sections of green beans, some of which are a tad stringy in texture.

The chicken is finely shredded, not very bulky, and the pieces are far and few between. I'd almost prefer a vegetarian curry with "meatier" veggies than the meager wisps of poultry in this product. I also think the curry itself is too thin. I feel like I've had Thai curry that's much richer and thicker, with a more indulgent coconut essence. I know red curry can be a bit more liquidy than, say, panang curry, but I still feel like coconut milk and red curry paste usually yield something a tad denser than what we have here.

The tub is $4.99 for 20 oz. It's considered two and a half servings. Kind of an odd size. You'll find it in the refrigerated section. It keeps more than two months if left unopened in the fridge.

We heated ours on the stovetop and ate it with naan bread. Adding rice, bread, and extra meat or veggies would help out the soup considerably. It's gluten-free as it stands. We'd probably not buy it again, but if someone served it to me as a guest, I'd happily eat it without complaint. Seven out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Thai Style Red Curry Soup. The beautiful wifey will go just a bit higher—seven and a half stars from her.

Bottom line: 7.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese Bites

If Trader Joe's Mac & Cheese Bites had an illegitimate lovechild with Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese, it would undoubtedly be called Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese Bites and it would look and taste a whole lot like this product. Four bucks. From frozen to ready in ten minutes in the air fryer at 400°F.

The outsides of the bites are nice and crispy, but their insides are warm, cheesy, and soft. There's a surprising amount of actual butternut squash in the product. It's accompanied by a subtle spice blend including onion, garlic, nutmeg, and sage. There's cheddar and gouda cheeses, and the whole effect is very creamy. Once they've cooled down, the little spheres are stable enough that you can eat them with your hands despite their supple, gooey centers.

Butternut squash isn't an intense flavor in and of itself. The overall effect is comforting but the flavor isn't particularly pungent. I'm still trying to figure out what that red dipping sauce is on the cover art for this package. At first, I thought it looked like chunky salsa. The wifey thinks it's tomato sauce. That probably makes more sense.

I did try the bites with some pasta sauce, and it worked quite well. I think they would have gone with tomato soup or tomato bisque even better. A little hot sauce like Tapatio or Texas Pete wouldn't hurt either. Sonia liked them on their own sans fixins.

Limited time fall product. We would both buy Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese Bites again next year. Nine out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey. I'll go with eight out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Italian-Style Wedding Soup

When I do reviews like these, I'm always torn over how to handle my prep for the post. On one hand, I can do a bunch of research and learn as much as possible about a particular offering, maybe read another review or two about the product at hand, particularly ones written by folks who are familiar with the dish, find out the history of the item and get a nice brief but broad education before I sample the food and share my thoughts.

On the other hand, I can just dive in with no expectations and no preconceived ideas about what something is or is not supposed to be. I think I sound a little smarter when I go the former route, but I might be a tad more honest if I go the latter route.

All that to say, I know nothing about Italian wedding soup and have never had it to the best of my knowledge, and I've decided to go the no-prep route on this fine occasion. The first thing that jumps out at me: this Italian wedding soup hails from Canada rather than Italy. That's fine. I'm sure there are plenty of Italian-Canadians that have carried on their proud soup tradition in the great white north just the same as grandma used to make in the old country.

The soup: it's a typical chicken broth with teeny tiny round pasta balls, carrot bits, beef meatballs, and little green flakey things I assume are parsley. The heartiest and most flavorsome of the elements are, of course, the meatballs. They're nice and soft, and their flavor is pleasant, but they're still not the most pungent meatballs I've ever had. They have egg whites, sheep's milk, and Romano cheese in them, but they don't taste quite as robust as their ingredients might make them sound.

The carrots and acini di pepe are even less potent, but they do add a nice selection of textures to the overall mouthfeel. The parsley adds some additional visual appeal and does...you know, whatever parsley is supposed to do.

So, I mean, this isn't the greatest soup I've had from Trader Joe's, but it's not the worst, either. It's vaguely like many chicken noodle soups I've tried in terms of overall taste and comfort food value, but with small beef meatballs instead of chicken.

In the end, I would turn to an Italian and ask, "Did those Canucks do your soup justice?" Because I honestly don't know myself. It's decent soup, but I would not seek it out again.

$4.99 for the 22 oz glass jar. Refrigerate after opening. It has come to my attention that this soup is not necessarily served at actual Italian nuptials. Go figure. The "wedding" part has something to do with a marriage of flavors or something silly like that. 

Six and a half stars out of ten from me for Trader Joe's Italian-Style Wedding Soup. Sonia's had Italian wedding soup from Progresso at least once. She liked it a bit more than this selection, flavor-wise, but notes that it has significantly more sodium than this soup from TJ's. Sonia will go with seven out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 6.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Okonomiyaki

Sonia and I both love most Japanese food: sushi, tempura, yakitori, ramen, you name it... Trader Joe's Karaage wasn't what we were expecting or hoping for, but we're grateful to TJ's for introducing us to it, and we're eager to try other versions of it.

Okonomiyaki? Never heard of that one, either. But we'll gladly try it. It's a Japanese vegetable pancake. Apparently "okonomi" means "as you like it" or "your preference." I imagine there are a few Burger Kings in Japan and they have an ad campaign that goes something like "At K of the B, you can have it okonomi." Sorry, sorry. Bad joke. <ahem>

Anyway, this particular version of okonomiyaki contains cabbage, onion, wheat flour, and yam—and it comes with a sweet soy sauce and dried skipjack tuna flakes as toppings. Interesting. We'll air fry this product at 360°F for about five or six minutes on each side. Folks online said to add Kewpie brand mayo for an authentic Japanese experience. Fortunately, Sonia loves Kewpie mayo and has a bottle on hand for just such an occasion.

The verdict? We like the taste and texture a lot. It's savory and succulent. The texture reminded me of a crab cake in a way. Sonia likened the product to a latke but with cabbage and onion rather than potato.

They actually give you enough sauce and tuna flakes in the package. The Kewpie mayo wasn't a bad pairing, but Sonia and I both prefer the product without it. It's plenty wet with the okonomi sauce alone—plus the product itself is quite moist even after a good 10-12 minutes in the air fryer.

$4.99 for the 10 oz package, found in the frozen section. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Okonomiyaki Japanese Vegetable Pancake. Sonia will go with nine out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Crispy Jalapeño Pieces

Crispy jalapeños? Are they a topping? Or are they a snack? Trader Joe's is quick to let us know that they're whatever you want them to be. I mean, Sonia and I like spicy foods, but I don't think we or a whole lot of other people would be content simply noshing on these crispy critters straight from the bag.

Yeah, they're jalapeños, so they're hot. I mean, they're not Carolina Reaper hot, but that spice builds up on the tongue if you gobble down more than just a handful of these babies. You might be tempted to, however, because they're pretty tasty. They're lightly battered and slightly oily but there's plenty of jalapeño flavor. There's a nice crunch in each bite, too.

Certain pieces are much bigger than others. Some specimens look and feel like they might be a whole dehydrated jalapeño pepper and others seem to be little more than crumbs. They're quite versatile and add a bit of flavor and texture to everything from soup to sandwiches, salads to pizza.

Plus, they're imported from the land of jalapeños, Mexi...wait. What? Thailand? Who ever heard of a Thai jalapeño? Anyway, Sonia and I both agree Thai jalapeños aren't bad.

$2.99 for the resealable bag. Imported from Thailand. Would buy again. We'll go with eight out of ten stars for Trader Joe's Crispy Jalapeño Pieces.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Teriyaki Mushroom Mini Bao Buns

There are only two sets of heating instructions on this bag and one of them involves a steamer, which we don't have, so we opted for the microwave this time. Just plop three of the miniature bao buns on a plate lined with parchment paper—that's right, they want you to put parchment paper in the microwave—sprinkle with water and cover, heat on high for one to two minutes. Ours took about 1:50 to reach the perfect temperature and texture.

The buns came out soft, supple, and slightly moist. The "meat" of this dish features oyster, king oyster, and shiitake mushrooms. Sonia is a fan, while I...um, I just don't really like mushrooms. The filling has carrots and onions and a tasty spice blend that includes garlic, ginger, and soy sauce among many other ingredients.

Honestly, I think I really would have loved this product if it contained anything other than mushrooms. I did taste it though, and all the elements are high quality and most folks would probably enjoy it. One drawback: it doesn't come with a dipping sauce. We experimented with a couple different condiments in the video below including soy sauce and yangnyeom sauce.

$4.79 for nine bao buns. Vegan. Product of Vietnam. Sonia would buy again. She'll give Trader Joe's Teriyaki Mushroom Mini Bao Buns nine out of ten stars and I'll sit this one out, score-wise, due to my bias against mushrooms.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Avocado Mash

My first instinct was like, "Why would anyone ever need mashed avocados unless they're making guacamole?" But then Sonia was quick to point out that you don't put guac on avocado toast. Point taken, wifey. Guess I'm just more into guacamole than I am into avocado toast.

Still, with some sourdough as a base and Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning on top, avocado toast is tastier than I ever thought it would be before I tried it. I mean, this isn't the very first time I've had it, but all the other times either someone else made it or Sonia had to mash or spread the avocados herself.

Trader Joe's Avocado Mash will run you $3.49 for the 8 oz tub. I've heard of Hass avocados but I couldn't tell you much about them. What I can tell you is that the quality of the mash is top notch, tastes great, and is super smooth. It's not stringy at all or slimy or brown at the time of unsealing. As a matter of fact, the package has been unsealed for a couple days now and it still isn't brown. The lemon juice and salt probably helps preserve it as well as adding a bit of extra flavor.

We also used the mash on some soft tacos, and it worked well that way, too. You could always turn it into proper guacamole by throwing in your own onions, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, and jalapeño. What else can you do with it? I'm not exactly a culinary wizard, so let us know if you've got any great ideas or recipes up your sleeve.

Avocados are never cheap, so the value is pretty decent at three and a half bucks. Found in the refrigerated section. Kosher. Yet another product of Mexico. Would buy again. Sonia and I will throw out eight out of ten stars a piece for Trader Joe's Avocado Mash.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Shrimp Noodle Rolls

Alrighty then. That's another unscripted video review down at the bottom of this post, so I'm just throwing out some bullet points about the product for you folks that enjoy my demented written ramblings or don't do YouTube for whatever reason...

The noodle rolls were very delicate by my estimation. They really wanted to stick to my pan and the shrimp even fell out of the rolls in a couple instances. There were plenty of shrimp and veggies, but there wasn't enough flavor. The bag even says to serve them with soy sauce or dipping sauce (not included). It was Trader Joe San Soyaki to the rescue. They were quite bland on their own.

$3.99 in the frozen section. Product of Vietnam. Listed as "Limited Time" on traderjoes.com. This item isn't awful, but we would not buy it again. Six and a half stars from me. Five and a half stars from Sonia for Trader Joe's Shrimp Noodle Rolls.

Bottom line: 6 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Shishito Crisps

Okay, this calls for an historical Trader Joe's dried, crispy, snackified veggies recap. The first ones I ever recall seeing were Trader Joe's Contemplates Inner Peas. I liked those pretty well. Sonia and I both enjoyed Trader Joe's Kale Chips. We thought the Broccoli Florets were okay. And I was a fan of the Crispy Crunchy Okra while Sonia was not. Most recently, we looked at the Oven Dried Bell Peppers. Bell peppers are among our favorite veggies in existence but strangely, we were not enamored with the dry version very much.

Enter: Trader Joe's Shishito Crisps. Once again, the ingredients are simple: just the titular veggies, rice bran oil, and salt. While I've heard of shishito peppers, I don't believe I've ever had them, and I'm not familiar with their flavor at all. Hey, there's a first time for everything.

First thoughts? They remind me of zombie fingers. They're brittle, crunchy, salty, and lightly oily. There seem to be three different colors in the bag: green, brown, and yellowish—with the green color being by far the most common. The taste? Maybe somewhere in between a bell pepper and a poblano pepper. I'd say the spice level is in between a bell and poblano as well—that is to say: not very spicy but not completely devoid of spice. After eating a few, there's an interesting residual warmth that's very pleasant.

They're not as flavorful as I was hoping they'd be, but the faint peppery taste combined with the rice bran oil produces enough sapidity to keep me interested. They'd go great with soup. Or a salad. Or soup and salad. I'd say these rank just above the aforementioned dried bell peppers and just below the crunchy okra in the annals of Trader Joe's crispy veggies.

So let's say I give these seven out of ten stars. Sonia is on board for the same. That's a "not bad" score for Trader Joe's Shishito Crisps from both the beautiful wifey and me. Product of Thailand. I think we paid about three bucks for the bag. Wait. Two hundred calories for the whole thing? Shoot. If I could learn to cultivate an eight out of ten star appreciation for this product, I'd drop the pounds like nobody's business.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Mini Mushroom Tartelettes

If you've been around for a while, you'll know I not only have a slight food sensitivity to mushrooms, but I really don't like their taste or texture either. And if you've been reading for a very long while, you'll remember Sonia had a very similar allergy in years past but she's mostly outgrown it. She's much more eager to take a shot at shrooms and feast on fungi these days, so she picked up this appetizer at Trader Joe's a couple months ago—which we recently rediscovered at the back of our freezer.

Considering I just straight up don't like mushrooms, I gotta say: this appetizer is oddly good. I mean, this product is case in point for why I try things that I "know" I don't like. The cheese, the buttery crust, the spice blend all help, but even the mushrooms taste nice here. There's a savory meatiness to them that I really enjoyed. Also, surprisingly, they're not very oily. Buttery? Perhaps. But not greasy or oily.

Sonia raved about this product. She inhaled 9 out of the 12 pieces in a single sitting—something quite uncharacteristic for her. It took a good half hour of her saying "Try them! You have to try them!" before I even took a single bite. She particularly enjoyed the flakiness of the breading, the creamy cheese blend, and the onion and garlic flavors underneath the mushrooms. She baked our batch in the oven, but I'm sure the air fryer would have done just as well.

$5.49 for 12 mini tarts. Sonia would buy them again in a heartbeat and I would attempt to overcome my disdain for mushrooms and eat half the package next time. Sonia gives Trader Joe's Mushroom Tartelettes nine out of ten stars. I'm still shocked at how much I liked them, so I won't contradict her on this one.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chao Tôm

If you've been reading this blog for any significant amount of time, you'll know I'm a sucker for appetizers and a lover of seafood. Appetizers made with seafood? It's a done deal. You know we're gonna try them and there's a good chance we'll enjoy them.

That's exactly what happened with this product. Scrump-dilly. After 10 minutes in the air fryer, the skewers came out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The bulk of the skewer is shrimp meat, water chestnut, spring onion, green beans, and lemongrass. It's a delightfully savory combo, full of flavor and noshable textures.

Drawbacks? There are a few, unfortunately. The product doesn't come with its own dipping sauce. The pic on the box is merely a "serving suggestion." Boo. Fortunately, we had our own sweet Thai chili sauce to use. The chao tom is good on its own, but it's great when served with sweet Thai chili sauce, Trader Joe's brand or otherwise.

The shrimp and veggies want to slide off the skewer pretty easily. I found myself holding the little shrimp patty in place with one finger so I could pull a bite-sized chunk off the end with my teeth. Otherwise, the whole thing wanted to slide off. Certain specimens were small enough to be eaten in a single large bite, but others were easily three or four bites.

Also, I wasn't a huge fan of the sugar cane skewers. They were much fatter than typical wooden skewers and they didn't really add a ton in the flavor department. I guess it's cool that you can chew on them after you've eaten the appetizer and get that sweet sugar cane taste, but they're a tad mushy after being dipped in sauce and gnawed on numerous times.

Still, this is a unique and tasty product imported all the way from Vietnam. I can't vouch for its authenticity, but Sonia and I will both tell you that it's quite yummy and worth a purchase if you're looking for some Southeast Asian flavors that won't break the bank. 

$5.49 for 8 shrimp skewers. Would buy again. Nine out of ten stars from Sonia and eight out of ten from me for Trader Joe's Chao Tôm.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Kimbap

Good morning, folks! It's time to look at Trader Joe's Kimbap. Neither Sonia nor I had ever tried this dish before, but we both like sushi so we decided to give it a whirl. This one's primarily a video review in stunning 4K resolution but for those of you who just want to relax and read, here's a few paragraphs on our findings...

This Asian dish comes frozen and it thaws in 2-3 minutes in the microwave. The packaging recommends serving it hot or cold while Koreans who know the dish say it should be served at room temperature. I found hot or room temperature worked great while chilling the kimbap in the fridge made the mouthfeel a little funky.

Still, the taste and texture are remarkable considering it comes frozen solid. There's an unexpected sweetness to the dish—akin to sesame sauce—plus all the rich veggie flavors you get from tofu, burdock root, carrot, radish, spinach, and seaweed. It's filling, satisfying, convenient, and reasonably priced at $3.99 for nine big sushi roll discs.

Product of Korea. The packaging and traderjoes.com only specify that it's vegetarian, but there's nothing in the ingredients that wouldn't be vegan, and other actual vegans out in cyberspace have declared that it is, in fact, vegan. I give Trader Joe's Kimbap eight out of ten stars while the beautiful wifey will go with nine out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organics Arugula

Just a quickie today. Arugula. It's currently my favorite vegetable. Or, as Steve Martin put it in My Blue Heaven—it's a ve-ge-ta-ble. Like Vinnie Antonelli, Sonia and I find ourselves living in a town that doesn't sell arugula anywhere, so we have to drive to the big city to get any and it feels like a luxury every time we procure a bag.

I find arugula to be almost like a cross between spinach and romaine lettuce, but nuttier than either of those. It's faintly bitter but it's also a little peppery in a weird way. I like baby arugula too, which is a bit more mild than the normal kind.

This Trader Joe's offering is organic, which is good I guess. It started getting goofy just a couple days after we bought it. That's a common complaint about Trader Joe's produce in particular—it goes bad quickly. I don't know if that's a testament to the fact that it really is organic or whether it's not stored at the proper temperature in the store or what.

But anyway, this stuff was great while it lasted. We made salad after salad and piled it on each sandwich we had. We even threw it on our pizza slices to help balance out the carbs and grease.

$2.49 for the 7 oz bag, which is an excellent price for this amount of organic arugula. We'd both buy it again, but we wish it lasted just as long as the arugula we get from Hy-Vee or Walmart. Eight out of ten stars from Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Organic Arugula.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chiles Rellenos con Queso

It's been quite a while since I've had any chile relleno, but the biggest problem I've had with it in the past is sub-par chiles used for the base. I've had ones that contained odd, tough regions that were very hard to chew. This product did not suffer from that malady at all. My poblano pepper was pristine, flavorful, and uniformly soft all throughout.

The other problem I've had with chile relleno, in general, is that the fluffy breading is somewhat crispy to start, but then it quickly gets soggified by the melted cheese and sauce surrounding it. This product did have a bit of that going on, which resulted in another very tasty but overall mushy dish.

The spice level was great. The mild to moderate amount of heat came from the poblano pepper as well as the tomato-based sauce. The asadero cheese, though nearly liquid and difficult to wrangle with a fork, was absolutely scrumptious and complemented the batter, pepper, and sauce elements nicely.

Supposedly, chile relleno used to be one of my mother-in-law's specialty dishes, but alas, I have not been able to try it yet <hint, hint, suegra.> As it stands, I think this is among the best specimens of the entree that I've ever had. 

Eight out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Chiles Rellenos con Queso.

Sonia's entire family, in fact, either makes some form of chile relleno themselves or is a chile relleno connoisseur. 

Because it's a dish that's relatively easy to mess up, the convenience factor, and reasonable price ($5.99 for two) Sonia gives this product of Mexico 9 out of 10 stars.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Oven Dried Red & Yellow Bell Pepper Crisps

In the tradition of other crispy, crunchy veggie snacks that Trader Joe's has offered throughout the years, bell peppers are getting their day in the sun...er, their day in the oven, as it were. If you don't know what I'm talking about, see:

Trader Joe's Contemplates Inner Peas

Trader Joe's Kale Chips

Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Broccoli Florets

Trader Joe's Beet Chips

Trader Joe's Parsnip Chips

Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Okra

Your guess is as good as mine as to whether any of those snacktastic veggies are still available at TJ's or not...

As a standalone snack, these oven dried dealies are definitely not my favorite, despite a general fondness for bell peppers of all colors. They're oddly bitter, crusty, and papery.

Crumbled on top of stuff, however, they're pretty neat. $1.99 for the resealable bag. Product of Turkey. Sonia and I will go with six out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 6 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Carrot Turmeric Juice Blend

If it's not apparent by now, Sonia and I don't shop at Trader Joe's to "be healthy," generally. We shop there because we find unique and interesting stuff from around the world at reasonable prices. Every once in a while, however, we try something that is obviously optimized for healthiness rather than taste just out of curiosity, and carrot juice products generally fall in that category.

It's been a good long while, but we've tried the Omega Orange Carrot Juice, the Tropical Carrot Juice Blend, and Organic Purple Carrot Juice throughout the years. Personally, carrot juice is not something I drink for pleasure, but this one sounded fascinating with both black pepper and chili pepper in the ingredients. What's life without a little adventure and a little variety?

Sonia's take on the matter? "I used to love carrot juice. I would get a big serving from Jamba Juice almost every day back in my twenties," she reported. "But then my skin turned orange."

Hahaha. Okay, love.

The color of this beverage is striking. It's not unlike Trader Joe's Dynamo from many years ago. It's a deep, opaque shade of orange. The lemon and pepper flavors hit your palate just as hard if not harder than the carrot essence. Sonia insists it tastes like tomato juice. I think it's just the two types of pepper and turmeric balancing out the natural sweetness of the carrots. It's very similar to a Bloody Mary, but with carrot instead of tomato. No wonder traderjoes.com says it mixes well with vodka.

In the end, the beverage tasted a little better than I thought it would, while Sonia liked it a lot less than she thought she would. Neither of us would ever reach for this after doing yard work over a nice tall glass of lemonade, but we'll probably have a shot or two in the morning each day for the health benefits and the invigorating rush of the pepper.

$4.79 for 32 fluid ounces, found with the shelf-stable beverages. Probably wouldn't buy again. Health nuts, have at it. Six out of ten stars from Sonia for Trader Joe's Organic Carrot Turmeric Juice Blend. Seven out of ten stars from me.

Bottom line: 6.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Japchae Stir Fry

Sweet potato noodles sounded tasty, so I decided to check these out. They're sweet potato glass noodles, in fact. I'm assuming the name came from the appearance since they're translucent and do indeed look like thin shards of orange-tinted glass.

Never had japchae before. Apparently, it's a Korean dish, and it's actually pronounced like "chap-chay." It's often served with meat, which I could have added, but in the end I decided to just stick with the included veggies: spinach, onions, carrots, and red and green bell peppers.

It took 10 minutes on the stove top with medium-high heat instead of the prescribed three. Surprise, surprise. The dish is perfectly edible all by itself but I did have most of my portion with a bit of soy sauce. The sodium content is already significant...so I probably should have just gone without.

The noodles were soft, stretchy, and chewy, yet somewhat delicate, too. They were quite thin and very easy to eat with chopsticks. The veggies were all crisp and felt fairly fresh despite having been recently frozen. The only exception might have been a leaf or two of spinach that had extremely tough stems, which I simply removed.

$3.49 for the 2 serving package. Sonia and I both liked the taste and texture of the noodles quite a bit, though they're not particularly filling. Some folks who know the dish claim it's kinda sorta authentic, others say not so much. Sonia would definitely buy this item again. I think I might, too. Four stars from the beautiful wifey, three and a half from me for Trader Joe's Japchae Korean Sweet Potato Glass Noodles & Vegetable Stir Fry.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.