(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] We are Sorted.
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when it comes to all things food.
From cooking battles, to gadget reviews,
- Ben it's not worth it.
- [Narrator] and cookbook challenges,
to a mid-week meal packs app.
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- [Narrator] We uncover the tools
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Join our community
where everything we do starts with you.
(upbeat music)
- Happy New Year and welcome back to Sorted.
- Now to kickoff 2021, we're going to review
some more restaurant meal kits
to see whether they're worth making at home.
- Reviewing the kits today
will be Jamie, Mike and myself,
all relatively normal home cooks
or, as some of you guys have been pointing out,
amateur chefs.
- No.
- [Mike] Wrong.
- What?
- I'm taking it.
- No.
That's called an oxymoron.
- You're a moron.
(peppy music)
- Okay, Jay,
you're up first.
Lift the closh.
- Didn't get a bigger closh for Christmas then?
- Nope.
- No.
There was no budget for closh.
(all laughing)
(paper rustling)
- What have you seen?
Is that beef short rib?
- Now, Jamie.
(Jamie shushing)
- [Host] Okay.
- Two.
(all laughing)
- [Jamie] Beef short rib.
- [Mike] Well, J, what you have here is
the Flank London short rib shawarma kit.
The ultimate low-and-slow
beef short rib kit from Flank.
They're a nose-to-tail restaurant,
so they literally use all of the animal.
They source their animals really well
and the menu just looks incredible.
- That sounds like a treat.
- Okay Spaff,
where do we start?
- Step one is to cook my beef short ribs.
They're going into an oven for five hours
on a line baking tray with tinfoil over the top of them.
I'm gonna put that into an oven
120 degrees Celsius for five hours.
That's so low.
That's like someone blowing on it
just to heat it up.
(Mike laughing)
We'll see you in five hours.
(screen clicks)
(upbeat music)
- May I?
- [Jamie] Please.
(lid clangs)
- Whoa.
- Can you?
Amateur chef.
(lid clanks)
(upbeat music)
- Oh, don't really know what that is.
- Surely as an amateur chef, Barry,
you'll be able to.
- [Barry] All right, enough of this!
(plastic crinkling)
Okay, so this is from Rola Wala.
- [Mike] Yeah, this is from Rola Wala
and this, is their Meatball Rogan Josh Naan roll.
So the kit includes everything you need
for a four person Rola party,
in collaboration with Meatless Farms,
which means that meatball isn't really a meatball.
- Okay, so we're having a Rola party.
Let's get started.
Step one, everything needs to be prepped.
and put into ramekins.
So there's lemons, homemade raita,
julienne beetroot, coriander, pickled onion,
thin sev, which is like,
I know from the past in Bombay mix.
- Sev is a popular Indian snack,
made of chickpea flour.
- Then we have some extras as well
which we've added to it, mango, pomegranate
and some coconut.
Next step's really simple,
to roll out our meatballs.
- It's made up of pea, rice and soya protein.
Now they're rolled out, into a pan for 5 to 8 minutes
to crisp up on the outside and warm through the middle.
They're interesting me.
These are coming together really nicely.
They're cooking really evenly.
I'm enjoying this.
Whilst they're cooking, I'm going over
to the next step which is
reheating my Rogan Josh sauce
in a pan with a splash of water.
Balls are now out of the pan
onto some kitchen paper.
And then I've just got to bung the naans
into a searing hot oven.
Balls go into the sauce.
They're ready for service.
- It smells fantastic.
- Should I make you one?
(upbeat music)
I think I made the balls a little bit too big.
So let me cut them in half.
My bad.
(upbeat music)
- [Jamie] Oh yeah.
- [Barry] Let's get creative, the beetroot.
There's some pomegranate going in there.
(upbeat music)
Then some coconut raita,
(upbeat music)
and a bit of crunch on top.
This does look pretty damn epic.
Very nice.
(upbeat music)
How good does that look?
Let's have a Rola Wala party.
- Cheers.
(foil paper rustling)
- That is fantastic.
- [Jamie] That's got every texture
under the sun in that.
- Those sauces are very special.
- The meat substitute, those meatballs,
have the texture of meat, and the texture,
with all the additional flavours
that are going on, you wouldn't be able to tell,
that that's not meat.
- We're all having a lovely time.
How much do you think it costs
to have this lovely time?
- I'm gonna say for the four wraps,
I'm gonna go ahead and say 32 pounds.
- It's 24 pound 95.
- For me, six pounds per portion
for a home cooked meal,
brought to you by restaurant,
feels like a really good price point.
(upbeat music)
- [Barry] Lift the closh.
Right, you're about to make something delicious.
But I'm gonna warn you,
it's gonna take a while.
(paper rustles)
- Okay.
- [Barry] You have the ultimate
Hoppers Bundle DIY Kit containing a collection
of their favourite dishes.
It's the go-to box,
if you're not sure what to order,
bringing all the flavours to you in one go.
- [Jamie] And when they say all the flavours.
(laughs)
- This is like Mary Poppins' hand bag.
(all laughing)
- Sri Lankan, right?
- [Barry] Yeah.
- Cool.
This is awesome.
I haven't eaten anything like this before,
so I'm excited.
- Where are you gonna start?
- So we're gonna start off with our mutton rolls.
They're going into a deep fryer.
180 degrees C for about three to four minutes
until they're golden brown.
If you don't have a deep fat fryer,
you can also do them in a pot of oil in a pan.
And then served immediately
with the SL Sri Lankan hot sauce.
I'll eat mine in a bit but I'm going to crack on
because there's so much to do.
- It's like a cross between a lamb samosa and a croquette.
- Yes.
- Is it delicious?
- It's absolutely delicious.
It's got a real kick of cardamom.
- Ooh, oh I love cardamom.
- [Jamie] Ooh.
- [Barry] Good look at you.
- Look at me.
- Dish number two, bone marrow varuval.
I'm heating the rassa in a large pan over medium heat
adding a bit of water just to thin it.
Bring up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
In the meantime, I have a baking tray
lined with tinfoil and I'm placing my bone marrow
marrow side up.
And I'm now just sprinkling a pinch of kalupol salt
over each bone.
Now these go into an oven, 200,
for four minutes in the top shelf.
(rack clanks)
So while the other stuff is cooking,
I've got roti in a pan, sprinkled it with water,
30 seconds on one side, flip it,
30 seconds on the other side
and then keep flipping it for about two minutes
until they're nice and golden brown.
Oh, boys, I'm gonna have to de-cardigan.
- Woo.
- Whoa. Hey.
- Steaming up in here. Woof.
Bone marrow time.
Oh yes.
Wow.
(metal clanking)
(bones sizzling)
- [Jamie] Oh.
- So now, bone marrow goes in to the rassa,
and some of that delicious sauce
is spooned over the top.
And I cook that out for another six to eight minutes.
(upbeat music)
Everything's cooked, so the bone marrow
and all the sauce goes into bowls.
I'm going to crush some of the roti
to release some of the fibers,
it says in the instructions.
Topped with some fried drumstick leaves
for garnish.
Let's eat it.
Bone marrow, varuval, varuval, varuval.
Cheers.
- [Jaime And Barry] Cheers.
- Oh my god. Whoa.
That bone marrow has the texture of my dreams.
- Oh. I'll be honest,
I know that that doesn't look appetizing
but that tastes insane.
- And then dipping the roti into it,
which is flaky.
It's like the texture of croissant.
- But flat and crispy and a little charred,
as well, on the other side.
- Next, Kalu Pol chicken.
So I've got a tray with some water
going into the oven and that's gonna heat up
and steam the chicken as well as roasting it.
Then the chicken goes onto a lined baking tray,
skin side up.
I've used the bone marrow tin foil
so as not to waste it.
Into the oven with the tray of water.
(metal clanking)
After 40 minutes, I'm gonna increase the temperature
to 200 and cook for another 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, I have the curry sauce
heating up in a pan.
Chicken time, so.
I then took it out and covered it in this amazing
Kalu Pol butter, and it's gone back in
for another five minutes.
And now it should be ready to take out
and leave rest before we eat it.
Ready boys?
Oh, look at that, everyone.
- [Jamie] Whoa.
- That is a chicken.
It smells incredible.
And while it's resting, I'm going to move
on to the lamb kotu dish, or kothu,
again, sorry, comment below. (laughing)
So I have heated up some oil.
I've scrambled some eggs
and I put those on a separate plate
because I'm going to add them back
into the dish at the end.
So first thing I'm going to do
is fry off my sliced onions.
(food sizzling)
I'm gonna have to do this and read at the same time.
- [Jamie] I have to say mate, a bit like the other two
that we've reviewed today as well.
There's a lot of packaging going on, isn't there?
- I don't think we can shirk around the issue
that there's a lot of plastic packaging.
Restaurants are still trying to remain profitable
and open, you know.
Plastic is another conversation
but it is an important conversation.
And honestly, the only thing that we can do
is keep this and reuse it.
- Yeah.
(upbeat music)
- Onions are translucent.
So then in with shredded carrot and cabbage.
So they've had a minute and now in with chopped roti.
- [Jamie] What?
- [Mike] I know. Cool, right?
(food sizzling)
Going to season this to taste with salt and pepper
and then adding the lamb curry with a splash of water,
heat goes up to high.
That smells extreme, extremely nice,
but it smells extreme.
Scrambled eggs go back in and then cook it out
for a further three to four minutes.
(food sizzling)
We can garnish it and we can eat it.
- [Jamie] I get really excited by this kind of food.
- Me too.
Top with chopped coriander and the spring onions provided
and look at that.
That, boys, is our Lamb Kothu.
- Cheers.
- Wow. Oh.
It's really spiced.
And it feels like it's gonna get spicy
and it sort of rises up
and then just stops just at a pleasant point.
It's absolutely stunning.
- Really nice chew from the roti as well, isn't there?
- Yeah.
I'll come back to this because, we'll move on. (laughing)
- There's more.
- How many more are we gonna make?
- [Mike] We got the Kalu Pol chicken,
sauce goes over the chicken.
- [Jamie] Ah, filth.
- Garnish with some Kalupol garnish,
and that there, is Kalupol chicken.
It smells, it looks,
and I think it's gonna taste incredible.
- Cheers.
- [Jaime] Looks, looks juicy.
- Oh, that tastes incredible,
and that's a really rich tomatoey sauce.
- [Mike] Really good.
And do you know what?
Part of me would expect that to taste quite similar
to some of the other things that we tasted
but it tastes completely different.
And therefore, as a package, you get so much variety
in all the different dishes
but it's all just absolutely stunning.
Nearly there.
String Hoppers.
These get steamed on a plate,
covered with bowl in a microwave for 90 seconds.
And I'm serving it with Carrot and Coriander Sambol
which has been tossed in a fish dressing,
and a side of Pol Sambol.
(upbeat music)
Whew.
I'm not even gonna serve this one up now
I'm just gonna eat it myself.
(Barry and Jaime laughing)
This is fantastic because it is lighter.
It's a completely different flavour profile
because of the fermented fishiness.
Nice and light and just quite well needed
off the back of so many meaty, oily dishes.
While I eat this, dish number nine,
this is Choco-coco Biskut Pudding.
I'm not even gonna decant it for you.
Silky smooth layers of coconut, chocolate,
layered with soaked marie biscuits
and topped with salted cashews.
- Cheers.
- You want all?
- You go for it.
I'm so full.
There is so much food.
(Jaime chuckling)
- What a way to end a spectacular meal.
- [Barry] Mike, well done.
- Thanks.
(Jaime and Barry clapping)
It was, it was genuinely genuinely
an enjoyable experience.
I had a lot of fun
and I've eaten things that I've never had before.
- How much do you think you'd spend
on this recipe kit?
- I wouldn't be surprised if, total,
this wasn't a 100 pounds plus.
- 75 pounds.
- That is exceptional.
If you're gonna do it as a one-off
and you're gonna get three other people involved
and you're all gonna cook it together,
what a great way to spend an evening.
- They also do other kits
at different price ranges with fewer dishes.
So you can pick and choose what you'd like
to spend and what dishes you'd like to have.
- Thank you, because that
- [Barry] No, thank you.
- was genuinely a lot of fun.
- Well, I hope you still got room for shawarma.
- Always got room.
- What are you doing?
- Just checking my belt.
I'm ready.
(Jaime and Barry laughing)
(upbeat music)
- Spaff, how are you feeling?
- Oh, amazing, and I can't wait to dig into it.
Next up, the dough has finished resting
for its 30 minutes.
Now to cut it into four portions.
Take each portion and get 85 gram balls
out of that portion.
Then let those rest for 10 minutes
before rolling into a flat bread
and cooking in our frying pan
for two to three minutes on each side.
(upbeat music)
(food sizzling)
You know what we can do?
- [Mike] What?
- We can chop some short rib.
- Yes.
- [Jamie] Nice, nice, nice.
- He doesn't need this knife.
This knife is overkill.
- [Mike] That looks amazing.
(grunting)
- I wasn't hungry, but now it's dinner.
I need it. (laughing)
- [Jamie] Now it's time to construct.
Flat breads, lettuce, beef in the middle,
garlic mayonnaise, pickled onions,
crispy onions, coriander,
little lashing of chili on top.
And that is the Flank Beef Short Rib Shawarma.
- [Mike] Superb work.
Cheers.
(Jaime murmuring)
(upbeat music)
- Oh, it's gonna be good year people.
- That takes me to a good place.
That is so tender.
And that glaze, has a really lovely
sweet spiciness to it.
- [Mike] Well, it's delicious.
It completely delivers on that.
How do you rate the kit?
- Everything was really easy to do.
The only thing this really needed was the time
for the beef to cook.
- What I love about this one, in particular,
and my one, were that you get
a huge sense of achievement
when you bring everything to the table.
It's so impressive and you think,
wow, I made that, but, you're within
that wonderful tight security of the kit
and all the prep itself
so that you can't really go wrong.
- I made that, but I didn't have that much room
to screw it up.
- Yeah.
That's exactly what I look for in the kits as well.
Brilliant.
Well would you like to guess how much it was?
- I reckon you pay 10 pounds each,
in the restaurant for the shawarma,
so, 40 pounds.
(register clicking)
- [Mike] 39 pounds.
- Really?
- Yeah.
So you're happy with that?
- Yeah. I am happy with that.
If you get in the mindset of, I'm going out for dinner,
or I'm putting on an event for friends and family,
you can justify that price.
- It's a special occasion, isn't it?
- Exactly.
And so, 39 quid for that experience,
for that quality of beef, I'm happy with that.
- So over to you guys,
which were your favorite meal kits
and why?
- You can see how much we enjoyed exploring
and tasting new flavours and new kits.
Why don't you have a look for some
in your local area?
Get hold of them, support some local restaurants
and send us photos so that we can see what you've made.
(screen beeps)
- Mike, how many raitas have you eaten your a time?
- [Mike] Quite a few.
- Hm.
How many have had triangles of cucumber in them?
- None. (laughing)
- It's going in a wrap that you're not gonna see,
isn't it? Doesn't matter.
(knife chopping)
- Look what you're doing to me.
- You're doing this to yourself.
- No. I started off with confidence
and having you in the sidelines,
makes me doubt myself.
(laughing)
(chopping)
If it wasn't for you, I'd be a pro chef by now. (laughing)