Comfort Creek Foods: Dumplings & Chicken

While it satisfies one's hunger, the whole meal itself has room for improvement. Overall, the foodie may resort cooking their own recipe for authentic, homemade chicken and dumplings.

Always have been a fan of dumplings, namely pierogis and Chinese, and also can't resist the deliciousness of chicken—roasted, baked, fried, you name it. Combine them both for a broth in a can is very much Heaven at a price of pocket change. This is it, right? Let's talk about it:

As humble as this brand is, this can of food should be enough to pack your stomach for the next 4 to 6 hours (depending on your meal intakes). Although it's a product that doesn't inject feelings of regret for not purchasing it to the consumer, the taste triggered some mixed reactions. For a combination of two amazing treats that your stomach will love you for, the humble design didn't make up for what was solely expected.

For preparation, we heated up the contents on a stove top. Right away, the thick, starchy soup hitting the saucepan reminded us of the chunky, preservatives found in Campbell's soup cans and Hormel's chili—that thick substance that melts away after cooking it. I figured after cooking it, the soup will loosen up a bit, the dumplings will soften and the chicken will tenderize. After full heated, I served up the broth and was ready to chow down. I wanted to chug this down like a hungry football athlete, and so I did. Judging back from the looks of it after opening the can, all the way to the warmth and taste, I was underwhelmed. The broth delivered but lacked the depth and contrast that otherwise would kick up the dumplings and chicken. Having added [pink] salt and pepper, it made for a better taste but still wasn't as amazing as initially thought. While it's a treat that one can is enough to fill you up, the taste wasn't enough.

Okay, yes, everyone's taste buds are different, but perhaps because I, too, have slowly adapted to the bold flavors of homemade cooking, this product was too bland to even take in by itself. It would be like eating a burger with a patty and buns—no ketchup, no mustard, no cheese, no lettuce, no tomato, or any other complimentary product that you would pair up with the patty. Spices exist for a reason, and being that the popular ones have gone up in price, the role they bring nullifies the monotonous mastication which disrespects the savory and sweet buds our biological tongue confides with at consumption—to purposely excite the mouth during eating with regards to reducing the foods into smaller pieces for our body's natural system to absorb and to use its nutrients.

I sure would like Comfort Creek Foods to get back in the kitchens and give this another try. It does have some potential to become something that even Progresso can't even imitate, given the simple recipe this can has. Besides eliminating your hunger for the rest of your school/work day, you either want to create your own recipe of dumplings and chicken, or consider something else.

We wouldn't mind seeing an updated, more improved version of this. (Either we'll see an updated edition of this, or amateur/professional chefs will turn this dish into a gourmet, much like what's being done with instant ramen noodles.)

Kris Caballero

Founder and operator of KCU Network, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog created back in late 2005. Despite publishing articles and reviews from time to time for the network's website, Kris enjoys studying the sciences, namely Math, playing old video/DOS games, reading non-fiction books and listening to sports radio.

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