So, as many of you will know, back in July Mark and I attended the Allergy and Free From Show.
Click here for our Allergy Show Part One Review
Click here for our Allergy Show Part Two Review
Click here for our Allergy Show Part Three Review
It is one of my favourite things to attend all year as I love getting to meet so many of the brains behind some of my favourite small free from brands as well as tasting a mountain of mouth watering, delicious delights! 2014 was certainly no exception.
One of the brands that I continually sneaked back to for more free samples throughout the day was Ambu Tree.
Zingtilatingly Gluten Free and Dairy Free!
Ambu Tree is all about Marinades with mojo! These marinades not only have a hell of a lot of mojo, they are also gluten free, dairy free, veggie and vegan. Furthermore they are incredibly natural and healthy, filled with freshly roasted and ground spices.
Ambu Tree was the creation of Priya. Both her husband and daughter are intolerant to gluten and dairy, but she didn’t want this issue to prevent them from enjoying the amazing flavours that are part and parcel of Asian cuisine. Moreover Priya has come to recognise that many shop bought marinades not only contain gluten and dairy, but also are high in fat, sugar and sometimes even harmful additives. Just because we all have busy lives and need to be able to make meals quickly, doesn’t mean we can’t eat delicious, healthy, natural meals.
I was so pleased that Priya appreciated me mentioning Ambu Tree in my Allergy Show review that I literally jumped at the chance of being sent some sample marinades to try out at home with the family.
Currently there are three different marinades that Ambu Tree produces. The Tastebud Tickling Mild Tandoori, the Tongue Tingling Spicy Tandoori and the Zingtilating Chinese Five Spice Marinade.
Delicious and healthy!
The two Tandoori marinades are still happily sat in my fridge but the Zingtilating Chinese Five Spice was more than devoured last night.
All the marinades come in small pots, but don’t be deceived, one pot will easily marinade enough food for six people. The aromatic smells that are immediately released upon opening the pot excited me for what was to come when dinner was ready, and it will definitely do the same to you. We decided to buy a pack of six chicken breasts between three for dinner. After slicing the chicken breasts in half and placing them in an ovenproof dish I poured over the entire pot of marinade and commenced getting stuck in to massaging the chicken breasts. There is more than enough sauce for this and it looked and smelt very promising!
Thoroughly massaged chicken breasts.
One of the best things about these marinades is that the flavours are so strong and rich that you actually don’t need to allow the marinade to soak into whatever you are marinating for hours, it really is instant, trust me! Of course you don’t have to use chicken breasts, I think this would work great with chicken thighs or wings. It would work amazingly with pork, duck, fish, mushrooms or even tofu. Furthermore you don’t have to oven bake this like I chose to last night. If you prefer grilling your food that would work, panfrying would of course be perfect for this too as would cooking it on the BBQ. Ambu Trees are certainly very versatile.
As I mentioned, the marinating process is incredibly quick so this makes for a super easy and quick meal. Whilst the chicken was baking in the oven, I cooked a large dish of jasmine rice alongside some baby courgettes and carrots. It really was such a simple dinner.
When the chicken emerged from the oven it smelt amazing. It had crisped up nicely but still retained succulence and moisture upon every mouthful. The Chinese Five Spice flavour had the perfect level of strength and tasted very authentic. I was very pleasantly surprised at how much flavour a marinade can give off in such a short space of time.
The chicken was full of flavour and Chinese zing!
The chicken definitely went exceedingly well with rice and we all thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. We will definitely be trying the five spice marinade again, as well as the other flavours; I would love to cook this for friends when they come round for a meal. We had a few pieces of chicken left over which I placed in the fridge overnight and ate in a sandwich for my lunch today. I have to say marinated chicken cold the next day is even better! I highly, highly recommend using the Ambu Tree marinades with cold chicken. It would be great for sandwiches, wraps or just to be eaten one family lunchtime with some wedges.
You can buy Ambu Tree Marinades directly from the Ambu Tree website and I highly recommend you give them a try. The simple use of gluten free soy sauce and dairy free yoghurt in the various different marinades seems such a simple thing to do, but is so rarely accomplished in premade marinades. Zingtilatingly delicious and tasty yet so natural, simple and healthy, what could be better?
Ambu Tree you certainly are right when you say: ‘Boring Food has met its Match!’ I can’t wait to try the other flavours.
Thanks for reading,
Love Becky xxx
