Tips and Tricks

This page is dedicated to little hints to help you make some of the recipes featured in this blog!  You can look through by the date and title of the entry.

Dumpling Press for Homemade Pot Stickers  (8/27/13)

Here’s a link to buy a dumpling press (or what I lovingly call the dumpling “shmusher” but maybe that’s obviously not the technical term).  I promise this will make your life so much easier, and they’re relatively inexpensive!  True, you could just use your fingers or a fork to seal the edges, but this device not only seals the dumpling shut, it also ensures that you put the right amount of dumpling filling in the wrapper.

Cheap Saffron Substitution for Paella Salad (9/3/13)

This tip comes from “Eating My Feelings” reader Michelle: “I used this recipe as an inspiration and tweaked it. It was a serious hit with me and my boyfriend! I used the Mahatma Yellow Rice Mix instead of buying saffron: they’re little pre-flavored packets of rice that make one pot of rice for only $0.75. I compensated for the increased sodium by using these sodium-free chicken bouillion packets I found (their secret is they use potassium instead).”

Garlic Butter Addition to Shrimp Fried Rice (9/16/13)

This tip comes from “Eating My Feelings” reader Natalie!  Are you a fan of Benihana-style fried rice? One of their tricks is to add garlic butter to their fried rice!  You can click here to find a crazy simple recipe for garlic butter. You will add the garlic butter to the recipe in the final step (when you add the edamame, peas, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and cooked  shrimp). Good luck!

 

Bamboo Mat for Homemade Sushi (10/23/13)

This mat is exceptionally help (and pretty much necessary) for rolling sushi – plastic wrap just isn’t gonna cut it! You can find these online here or at various grocery stores, and they’re pretty inexpensive! You can re-use them simply by throwing them in the dishwasher. Making sushi is tons of fun and delicious – give it a try!