If we were to go out for sushi, you would probably see me with one roll of Spicy Salmon in front of me. There are certain cuisines that you just order again and again. I took a sushi making class. The most important lesson I learned was that I wasn't going to be making sushi at home. But I now know I can get a good bit of the flavors in Trader Joe's Spicy Salmon Gyoza.
Taste and taste
I have made the mistake of buying sushi at Trader Joe's. More than once. Each time I wallowed in disappointment. Sorry, I was hungry when I made those decisions.
Instead of reaching for a disappointing roll, I think if you are looking for that familiar filling and don't mind sacrificing the rice, then this might be a good new option. As an added bonus, the filling is already cooked, so no warnings about food poisoning are necessary.
Trader Joe's Spicy Salmon Gyoza is new gyoza that adds to quite a long list of gyoza options. Yes, you have the more traditional pork gyoza, chicken gyoza, and the Thai shrimp gyoza.
But this stands out from the other gyoza options. For better or worse, this tastes like it has the cooked filling of a spicy salmon roll (minus the rice).
The salmon is chopped very finely and is farmed salmon. Yes, look at the ingredient list and you'll see the words, "color added" next to the salmon. If you have an aversion to added coloring, then you'll want to skip this. Farmed salmon usually has color added and Trader Joe's Fresh Atlantic Salmon in the refrigerated section is no different. If you want to avoid food coloring, you'll have to reach for wild salmon instead.
Aside from the filling being finely chopped, a good amount of edamame, cabbage, green onion, and carrots came through in texture and flavor.
As did the spice. These are medium in heat. The heat on these slowed me down and lingered a bit. But it didn't render them inedible, just something to be mindful of if you are sensitive.
But, once I read the description, it had me looking back at an older review. It wasn't too long ago that Trader Joe's offered a Seafood Sriracha Potsticker option. While the seafood included here is different, it seemed to be more of a nod to that older option that has disappeared off of shelves.
Perhaps two shrimp dumpling options were just too much for consumers, especially when both are spicy. By having salmon, this stands out more, plus the packaging is more consistent with the rest of the line of gyoza.
Now, as a point of reference, I'll always steer you away from making these in the microwave. These little noodles just don't deal with it very well. These do best in a soup, steamed, or my go-to is pan-frying them.
Overall
For $4.99 these are a good option if you are willing to embrace the fact that they are more of a hybrid of gyoza and the cooked filling of what tastes like a spicy salmon sushi roll. But don't count on this being 5 servings. I had this bag as 2 meals.
And yes, soy sauce or Trader Joe's Gyoza Dipping Sauce would make a great pairing for this too,
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
Product photos
The bag of Trader Joe's Spicy Salmon Gyoza:
The nutritional information and the ingredients:
About this product and how to prepare:
After being cooked you get:
A close up look at the filling:
Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.
Trader Joe's Spicy Salmon Gyoza
Product Name: Trader Joe's Spicy Salmon Gyoza
Product Description: Trader Joe's Spicy Salmon Gyoza is a sriracha flavored gyoza with veggies
Price: $4.99
Summary
Trader Joe's Spicy Salmon Gyoza is the newest addition to the freezer aisle and adds to a long list of dumpling options.
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Taste
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Value
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Worthy of Repurchasing
Pros
- Another very different flavored option of gyoza in the frozen section
- This is medium heat
- Stands out
Cons
- I have no idea why the serving size is so small. This was realistically 2 servings.
Love sushi; love spicy salmon sushi, but farmed or Atlantic salmon? Yikes! No way! (I’ve only noticed one style of shrimp gyoza, and it isn’t spicy. Delicious with peanut sauce.)
Fair enough! I figured I had to mention that detail about this not being wild salmon. Thanks for the tip on the peanut sauce and for sharing your thoughts on this!
I'm a sucker for any kind of dumpling and I agree pan-fried is the way to go. Just a little clarification for your readers on color added to farmed salmon. Most farmed salmon are fed a diet that has anthaxanthin or other carotines added to it. These compounds are in a wild salmon's natural diet of krill, shrimp etc.. Farmed salmon is not technically dyed, fish farms just add these colorings to the feed. It is an FDA rule that when salmon feed contains anthaxanthin, solely for the purpose of color, it must be labelled "color added." If the salmon are fed a diet that naturally contains these pigments, they do not need the label.
Thank you for sharing your expertise in this area and for sharing this with me and the readers here! I really appreciate it!