Every once in a while, Aldi rolls out an array of Asian-inspired foods and cookware as limited-edition specials. Lately, I’ve seen ceramic ramen noodle bowls, rice cookers, bamboo grills, crab rangoon, crunchy rice rolls, mini wontons, shrimp spring rolls, and more.
One of the products that caught my eye during the most recent Asian-themed week at Aldi was a sampler box of Asian-inspired appetizers. It contains a mix of vegetable mini spring rolls, vegetable potstickers, and breaded chicken bites.
I’m not sure why something like chicken nuggets would be included in an Asian-inspired box other than to serve as inexpensive filler, but I decided to pick up the box anyway. I figured my kids could eat the chicken bites like chicken nuggets, or we could dip them in something like sweet and sour sauce (sold separately). My family is always up for takeout-style food.
The Fusia Asian Inspirations Asian Inspired Appetizer Sampler cost $10.49 for an 18.6-ounce package at the time of publication. The box contains about eight veggie mini spring rolls, about 8 veggie potstickers, and about 14 breaded chicken bites, with about 30 pieces total. This is a product of Canada.
This is an Aldi Find, so it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store receives one shipment, and once that sells out, this is gone unless Aldi decides to bring it back at some later point. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products that are not in stock at your local store.
If you’re looking out for allergens, these contain egg, wheat, and sesame.
A four-piece serving of the vegetable mini spring rolls has 190 calories. As for the potstickers and chicken bites, the nutrition information listed is for the entire package and not for individual servings, which is a little odd. The entire package of potstickers (about eight pieces) has 330 calories, while the entire package of chicken bites (about 14 pieces) has 290 calories.
Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
The box has directions for heating everything in a conventional oven or in an air fryer. There are also directions for heating the mini spring rolls in a toaster oven. Everything cooks at different times and sometimes at different temperatures, making it a bit of a challenge. These are not recommended for microwave heating.
For the chicken bites, you can bake them in a conventional oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes in a single layer on a baking tray. Alternatively, you can air fry them at 375 degrees for 4 minutes, shaking after 2 minutes.
For the spring rolls, you can bake them in a conventional oven at 375 degrees in a single layer on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. Then turn them and bake an additional 8-10 minutes. Or, you can air fry them in a single layer in the air fryer basket at 375 degrees for 8-9 minutes. Another option is to bake these in a single layer on a tray in a toaster oven at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes, turning halfway through.
For the potstickers, bake them in a conventional oven at 375 degrees in a single layer on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. Then turn over and bake another 8-10 minutes. Or, air fry them in a single layer at 375 degrees for 8-9 minutes.
The entire box after baking/air frying.
I chose to bake the chicken bites in my conventional oven, which I also used to bake some mandarin orange chicken from Aldi. I cooked the spring rolls and potstickers in my 6-quart air fryer from Aldi, and those two foods all just fit in a single layer in the fryer basket.
Cross sections, clockwise from top left: spring roll, potsticker, chicken bite.
This is a decent sampler box. The spring rolls were crispy and savory with just a hint of sweetness, and they were good on their own or dipped in soy sauce or sweet and sour sauce. The spring rolls were probably my favorite item in the whole box.
The potstickers could have maybe used a little more filling; they were fairly bready/doughy, but they were crisp on the outside and overall not bad. Potstickers usually have a doughy exterior that gets lightly crisp and brown when pan fried. I’ve never had potstickers that had a bready fried exterior, so that was different.
The chicken bites were not very flavorful on their own, but that was easily remedied by dipping them in sweet and sour sauce, or some of us dipped them in the leftover sauce that remained in the pan after we ate all the mandarin orange chicken (purchased separately) that I cooked to make this a full meal.
I prefer traditional potstickers that don’t have a “deep fried” breaded type of appearance, and the chicken bites definitely were the weakest item in the box. This box is probably a one-and-done for my family, but it was fun to sample, especially when served alongside some other takeout-style foods. I could also see this being a good box to serve for a party or football game.
The Verdict:
The Fusia Asian Inspirations Asian Inspired Appetizer Sampler features mini vegetable spring rolls, potstickers, and breaded chicken bites. We like the spring rolls best, followed by the potstickers. Be aware that the potstickers are not like regular potstickers because they have more of a fried-style breading on the outside. The chicken bites don’t have much flavor and are really only good if you have some sauce to dip them in such as sweet and sour. (The box doesn’t come with any dipping sauces.)
Also, everything in this box has separate cooking directions, and some things cook at different temperatures and times, so it took a little juggling between our air fryer and our conventional oven to get everything cooked.
Other than the underwhelming chicken and the nontraditional potstickers, this isn’t a bad sampler box. Serve it as a snack or as appetizers, or prepare it with some other foods such as mandarin orange chicken, lo mein, fried rice, or other takeout-style foods for a complete meal.
