Today, I was in Carrefour shopping for ingredients when my spider sense tingled. There was a promoter selling nuggets, and as we all know chicken nuggets have been on the scene for years, offering their suspect blend of reconstituted chicken meat (perhaps a few grades above that in chicken feather sausages) and palm oil. Yet, there was something about these nuggets so I moved in for a closer look.

Lo and behold, there was a big sign saying "Non-halal". Could it be? I looked at the packets and they said "pork nuggets". The meat of the gods had finally been made into nugget form.



I was excited enough, but the nuggets were on offer - 2 packets for $5.80, so I promptly took 2. A short while ago I prepared some and was so enthused that I typed up this blog post instead of saving it for another day/merging it with another.



These pork nuggets are really good stuff. The top ingredient is pork fiber, which is why they're so firm inside. Even better, there is NO PALM OIL in them - instead of this wretched artery clogging substance, they use the healthful and flavorful sesame oil. One might also note that there is less sesame oil than pork fiber, soy protein, flour and sugar. The cherry on the cake is that it is made in Singapore. I feel patriotic.



If I had one word to describe the nuggets, it would be - wah. Usually, when you toast chicken nuggets the oil oozes out readily, yet these pork nuggets released no visible oil onto the foil-covered surface of the snack toaster tray. The meat is also very good quality - even if it's not real meat, it's darn close to the real thing.



The only disadvantages are that there was a touch too much pepper for my taste, and that in 8 nuggets, I found a small piece of tendon in one (but then, that's the price of using real meat). Also, preparation is slightly protracted - even after microwaving the nuggets for a minute on high heat, they needed 3-4 5 minute cycles in the snack toaster to be done (though this might have something to do with the lousy appliance, which automatically turns off for periods sometimes).

Those used to chicken nuggets might be disconcerted by this product since it is firmer and less oily. Yet, I believe that this is a mark of culinary distinction in contradistinction to run-of-the-mill chicken nuggets.

I heartily recommend this product, which can be found (at least) at Carrefour Plaza Singapura. While you're there you can also enjoy REAL bacon in the Carl's Jr outlet there (it has the most ang mohs of any fast food chain I've seen in Singapore).