Ponto Crepe de Herbe Italian Herbs Pancake

These Ponto Crepe de Herbe Italian Herbs Pancake have been in my freezer for a while. It's not that they're not good, it's just that they seemed an odd choice for dim sum. Would you put chili sauce or mushroom sauce on it, you know? I think we bought them at Kam Man, on our last trip close to a year ago, and haven't managed to work them in. The Italian Herbs part is a standard Italian blend, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano, basil. The herb flavor is noticeable but not overwhelming. The pancake itself is a pretty standard flaky and chewy pancake, but that's a good thing. We've been having them pan fried as a side with our last batch of split pea soup, and they work really well in that context so that's how I will likely use the rest of the package. A note on the pan frying, I did use just the smallest dash of oil, and the layers did puff up during cooking, which is always a good sign to me. Past Ponto pancakes had the same flaky quality, so I think I like the brand for their pancake offerings.

Score: 4.5/5 - While these Italian herb pancakes don't quite match up with dim sum, they are flaky and well flavored. Using them as a side worked out great.

An Update on Cooking Frozen Sweet Potato Pies

So, this isn't a full on re-review, but after some experimentation, I've decided that pan-frying is the way to go with these sweet potato-stuffed pancakes. (And truly, all frozen pancakes.) Fried with a little bit of peanut oil or whatever you have on hand, these end up fully cooked and crispy, but also still fork-edge-cuttable. So, add these to your frying medley.

Ponto Frozen Sweet Potato Pies

These frozen sweet potato pies are pretty good. I tend to bake them in the oven until crispy the flaky pastry crust gets a little brown. It's not super buttery, but it ends up crispy so I don't think I have to pan fry them or anything. I think I would like the crust a little softer and fluffier. The filling is definitely mashed sweet potato, and extends pretty far toward the edges, so all bites have that flavor. The filling is dry enough and spread thinly enough that it doesn't bleed out or make the layers separate, and I like that. It's pretty good plain, but also does well with sauces. Again, frozen from our local Kam Man.

Score: 4/5 - Good sweet potato flavor, pastry just OK. The crust sticks to the cooking surface no matter what and is messy to eat too.