Things to look out for in Lidl and Aldi

[RubyToogood]

Just had a rare trip to Aldi (none very near me, sadly). Was one of their small stores (which I didn't realise they had) with only self-service tills and not stocking bulky products (which was a pity as my main reason for doing the trip was to get one of their giant packs of loo roll - 24 rolls for £6.99!), but bought some other inexpensive bits and bobs. Looking forward to the frozen cherries to have with my morning porridge. Am gonna trial their extremely cheap laundry detergent. And am currently enjoying one of their mini bottles of Rioja.

This reminds me to mention that I'm big into Lidl frozen sour cherries atm. Good underlayer for porridge etc.

 

[zora]

Very much looking forward to trying Boudicca's gyoza recommendation!

Other things I am excited about trying, after reading a long thread on Aldi and Lidl faves on another forum, because that is the thrilling life I do lead, include:

Gin (seems like there are Hendricks, Sipsmith and Opihr knock-offs, as well as Fever Tree mixers)
Pies
Salmon Wellington
Custard tear-and-share brioche loaf (share it with my tummy!)

and in the non-food category
The Bathroom cleaner
and the
Platinum washing-up liquid (been a firm believer all my life that washing up liquid is one of those products where only the original Fairy will do and everything else doesn't work and is therefore a false economy, but apparently this is as good, or better!)

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

Couldn't find the gyozas in my local Aldi in South London, alas, but did find these soy, garlic and chilli Calamari bites which were spot on for £2.50. 10 mins in air fryer, great snack.

 

[Elpenor]

Must look for the gyozas next time round, they might be a bit exotic for these parts

 

[Epona]

I managed to stock up on retsina from the 2nd Lidl I visited today. Also got a jar of stuffed peppers that OH likes. Greek week came through for me
Neither of them had the induction hob that I was hoping to buy though

 

[moonsi til]

From Aldi , not tried yet. Got it all crossed for them to be delicious.

 

[Epona]

From Aldi , not tried yet. Got it all crossed for them to be delicious.

I'd be a bit concerned that the "serving suggestion" on the box appears to include a very large portion of English mustard - that might be to cover up the taste

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

Must look for the gyozas next time round, they might be a bit exotic for these parts

I found them in the end, but wasnt overly impressed. Maybe i didnt steam them enough.

 

[Kevbad the Bad]

I found them in the end, but wasnt overly impressed. Maybe i didnt steam them enough.

Or pronounce them correctly, maybe.

 

[zora]

From Aldi , not tried yet. Got it all crossed for them to be delicious.

Please do report back!

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

Or pronounce them correctly, maybe.

Do elaborate.

 

[Elpenor]

I found them in the end, but wasnt overly impressed. Maybe i didnt steam them enough.

I found them but decided not to buy as the cooking methods were too much hassle - I’ll be honest I was hoping I could get away with microwaving them. If I’m eating gyoza it’s because I CBA to cook!

 

[Boudicca]

I decided to boil them for a couple of minutes and then fry them.

The instructions seemed to suggest you could just fry them. I was a bit sceptical, but as mine turned out a bit soggy I might try this next time.

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

I put them into an air fryer that also has a steam function, for about 15 minutes. They came out way too flaccid.

 

[Chz]

I don't know what Aldi says to do with them, but I generally fry in a pan until the bottoms are crispy and then throw in some boiling water and put a lid on to steam them for about 3 minutes.

 

[Elpenor]

Yeah they’re called pot stickers for a reason aren’t they

 

[cesare]

They cook in the same amount of time as it takes to cook a quick packet laksa, we added them to the laksa as it was cooking. Highly recommend.

 

[The39thStep]

Got one of those fly catching plants in an Aldi Saturday .

 

[maomao]

Yeah they’re called pot stickers for a reason aren’t they

Pot sticker is from the Chinese for fried dumplings when the Chinese almost always serve theirs unfried. The word gyoza just means dumpling. I don't know how the Japanese ones came to be known as pot stickers in this country.

 

[Boudicca]

I decided to boil them for a couple of minutes and then fry them.

The instructions seemed to suggest you could just fry them. I was a bit sceptical, but as mine turned out a bit soggy I might try this next time.

Just shallow fried as instructed, definitely better, but the chicken ones are not as tasty as the duck ones.

 

[Elpenor]

Pot sticker is from the Chinese for fried dumplings when the Chinese almost always serve theirs unfried. The word gyoza just means dumpling. I don't know how the Japanese ones came to be known as pot stickers in this country.

I only know them I think as that as my mates (Chinese New Zealander) wife who used to do cooking stuff on YouTube called them that.

 

[RubyToogood]

I've only bothered with frying them once. I usually either just lob them into soup for a few minutes or steam them. Steaming is superior really but the soup method is super quick and less washing up.

 

[Epona]

I got an induction hob in Lidl today.
Single hob, £29.99
As 2 of the hobs on my cooker are broken this should come in handy, been after one for a while. This one has good reviews, seems to come up as a recommended one on caravanning sites a lot

 

[RubyToogood]

I'm quite liking the Vemondo tofu from Lidl. It's the firm, bouncy kind. (As with all tofu the key is to make it taste of something else.)

 

[Stig]

I'm quite liking the Vemondo tofu from Lidl. It's the firm, bouncy kind. (As with all tofu the key is to make it taste of something else.)

I was looking out for that, but they didn't seem to have it in ours.
Lidl french week was very disappointing.i think they may not have fully stocked yet. And they've run out of Alps week bake at home pretzels. I'll go back in a day or two.

 

[RubyToogood]

I'm also going to pop back and see if there's any of the bechamel in cartons leftover from Italian week. I tried it in a lasagne and it's great, bit of a gamechanger.

 

[Dogsauce]

I’m getting really pissed off with Aldi having products on sale for like one or two weeks only, especially some of the plant-based stuff. You buy something and it’s nice and then they never have it in stock ever again. Just means you spend time looking for something else which is probably the point. I’m not talking about the aisle of shite in the middle, just regular fridge and freezer stuff mostly. And they‘ve not had peppermint tea for about six weeks.

 

[Stig]

I'm also going to pop back and see if there's any of the bechamel in cartons leftover from Italian week. I tried it in a lasagne and it's great, bit of a gamechanger.

I was staring at that wondering if it was any good. There is still loads left in ours. Maybe I'll get one for a tester.

 

[existentialist]

L

I was staring at that wondering if it was any good. There is still loads left in ours. Maybe I'll get one for a tester.

I immediately had a mental image of you painting a swatch of it on the wall and standing back to critically examine it.

 

[editor]

Their Victorian Pickle is really rather nice.