It's all about the Bacon by Five & Two Foods

I first got a whiff of this through The Star papers (sometime in the middle of the year) and, being the porkaholic that I am, I was consumed with bacon mania when I saw the article and their website photos.  And then I conveniently forgot about it until recently.

I could not hold out any longer, I have got to get myself a box of this good stuff....and that's what it said on the box itself!  Get ready for some.....Pop! Sizzle! Oink!

Opening the contents, with a smile on my face, this was what I got in my first box....Bacon Jam Original, Curried Pork and Candied Bacon Stix Original.

Let's start with Candied Bacon Stix that arrived in this neat foil package.  Tear open the packet and the bacon strips are wrapped in another piece of aluminium foil.

This is the Candied Bacon Stix (Original Flavour) @ RM23 (for 120g) which is the smallest pack (Small Bite). Of course, there are bigger packs, like the Big Bite (250g), Monster Bite (500g) and Colossal Bite (1kg) which also means you have to pay more (all the way to RM175)! O_o

I was expecting it to look like this (pic from their website)...dry and almost similar to bak kwa but it was not. It's slightly wet and sticky (from the marinade) and stuck together in its presentation.

That's because they take smoked streaky bacon and smother it in their signature sweet and spicy rub before grilling resulting in a sticky sweet glaze that's not too sweet with just a tinge of heat (and you can certainly taste the black pepper).  The bacon sticks (which looked as if they were cut in half, about 4 inches in length) were absolutely delicious as a snack.

Or eat this between two slices of toasted bread (with added omelette) like I did for breakfast....so good! These candied bacon sticks are going to leave you wanting more.

It has an average shelf life of two weeks but it's not going to last that long, I tell you! ;)  They ask that you refrigerate it right after you receive it but it probably won't even make it to the refrigerator.  It's so addictive I could finish it in one go if I really wanted to.  But I purposely kept some pieces just to see if they taste as good after refrigeration (this pic was taken after half of it was consumed already).

They recommend that you microwave the bacon sticks for 20 seconds for best flavour and texture.  To test their theory, I did just that...and, you know what, they still taste as good.  Or you could just eat it cold straight from the fridge.  So, you have no worries of storing lots of them in the fridge to eat over a two-week period.  But, by the following day, all the candied bacon sticks were gone! :(

The next item I ordered was the Curried Pork @ RM18 (for a 180g jar), their Best Seller from their Curried Meats Section (they also have Curried Chicken & Curried Lamb).

In it you'll find small pieces of pork meat cooked in a curry sauce that looks almost sambal-like.  You can taste the spices in the curry that reminds you of an Indian curry (with ingredients like garam masala, turmeric powder, dried red chillies, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds and peppercorns).

Don't expect the pieces of pork to be tender coz it's not.  It has a bit of a chew and a tad dry (which is to be expected as it had to be cooked until almost dry) but the spices were a bit much for my taste buds.  It also looked on the oily side (when I opened the jar) but give it a good stir and it should be better.  If you're a fan of Indian curries, then this jar is for you.

You can use it to perk up your otherwise plain nasi lemak....like I did.

Or as an additional topping on your crisp roti canai (and I'm sure it'll be good with some fried rice or even just plain rice).

The other jar that I got was the Bacon Jam Original @ RM22 made with pork bacon, onions, garlic, chilli flakes, brown sugar, maple syrup and white wine vinegar.

The bacon chips, cooked in their secret sauce, have the texture of minced meat but you can certainly smell and taste the bacon.  It's sweet (slightly), spicy (just a tiny bit) and savoury all in one with a bit of a tang at the end.  It was praise worthy.

I started spooning the contents into my mouth....I could probably finish the whole jar in minutes but, two teaspoonfuls later, I told myself to stop.  This jar costs me RM22, I've got to make it count, I've got to make it last...haha! :D

Since it's a jam after all, bacon jam that is, it should be spread on toast, don't you think?  Or, take it up a notch, and stir it into some baked beans...before topping it onto your toast....yummeh ^o^

I'm sure it'll taste delicious tossed in pastas....but who wants to cook pasta when we have something quicker...maggi mee ;P  After all, this is all about convenient snacking, isn't it?

It makes a great dip...for french fries ;)

Or if you have any crackers, chips, nachos or biscuits....it works wonderfully with them too...absolutely delish :)  Can you imagine munching on these snacks in front of the TV? :O

All their jams are sold in 180g jars with an average shelf life of 4 months.  As they do not use preservatives, flavouring or colouring in their products, they're recommended to be kept refrigerated.  For best taste, warm up in the microwave oven for a couple of seconds but, if you're too lazy, just spoon out the portion you want to eat and leave it out to come down to room temperature...and you're good to go.

They have at least 10 types of bacon jams on offer on any given day with 3 types of Asian bacon, 3 types of curried meats and 3 flavours of candied bacon stix...check them out on fivetwofoods (I think they have a 'hot' product on their hands)! ^_*

My Personal Opinion

Of the three, my favourite was the bacon jam.  I can definitely see myself ordering that and probably the candied bacon stix again...this time maybe the Brazilian Bahian Flavour (for the candied bacon stix) instead. But I think I'll stick to the Original Flavour (for the bacon jam) since the rest have some type of liquor, beer or wine in them.

At an average price of RM25 for a 180g jar of bacon jam or 120g pack of bacon stix (that won't go very far...*wink wink*), it's the one thing that's holding me back from ordering and eating it on a more regular basis....but as an occasional indulgence...YESSS, please!! 

Well, Christmas is just round the corner....you might want to get yourself some to perk up your dishes...or simply for your own indulgence! ^.^