March 20, 2006

Boca Original Chik'n Nuggets

I myself am a fan of no chicken nugget. Since I saw "Supersize Me" and was given the visual gift of where the original Chicken McNugget comes from, I decided that it wasn't worth the effort -- much like my feelings towards hot dogs. You could say that my imagination has gotten the best of my eating experiences.

As a general rule, in households with children, chicken nuggets tend to be a life staple, much like air, water or apple juice. They are easy to prepare and children love to eat them with their favorite side dish, ketchup. Having just such a household, I was in pursuit of a decent vegetarian option and something I could quickly prepare during a screaming meltdown, I found the Boca Original Chik'n Nuggets.

Remarkably, these little nibbles are quite tasty. Best prepared baked in the oven, they have a breaded coating that crisps up nicely and the soy "chicken" part definitely tastes like chicken. Clearly it doesn't have the texture of real chicken meat, but then that might freak out the vegetarians. And in a pinch you can even cook them in the microwave, but if you don't want rubber pucks this takes a bit of practice.

As stated, I'm not the biggest fan of any nugget, but these work. But if it is any testament to their tastiness (if not completely chicken like), my kid won't let her father touch any of her Boca Chik'n Nuggets, but he always gets to eat most of her Chicken McNuggets.

Boca Original Chik'n Nuggets are made with soy and wheat proteins and have no artificial flavors or preservatives. While there are a couple of Boca products made with organic soy, these aren't one of them.

About the Boca Foods Company:

The Boca Foods Company was started in 1993 by a a Ft. Lauderdale restaurateur who wanted to make a better veggie burger. Aside from a timeline of product generation, this is the only information on the company found on the website.

Ingredients: Nugget: water, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, textured wheat protein [wheat gluten, wheat flour], yeast extract, contains less than 2% of egg whites, wheat gluten, salt, spice (contains black pepper), natural flavor (non-meat), onion powder, succinic acid. Batter: water, wheat flour, yellow corn flour, salt. Breading: wheat flour, washed raw sugar, salt, dried yeast, caramel color, natural flavor (non-meat), browned in expeller pressed oleic safflower oil.