Product Review: Feel Good Foods' Asian-Style Dumplings

Ingredients
Dipping Sauce
Low Sodium Wheat Free Tamari (water, organic soybeans, salt, organic vinegar), sugar, white vinegar, ginger, garlic, and ground black pepper.

Wrapper sweet rice flour, water, potato starch, rice flour, soybean oil, salt, xanthan gum, corn starch.

Chicken Dumplings
Filling chicken, cabbage, sesame oil, green onion, sugar, salt, garlic, ginger, cilantro, yeast extract, black pepper

Pork Dumplings
Filling cabbage, pork, potato starch, water, sugar, green onion, garlic, ginger, corn/soy bean oil, sesame seed oil, salt, yeast extract, black pepper

Shrimp Dumplings
Filling Shrimp, cilantro, carrot, green onion, ginger, sesame oil, sugar, salt, garlic, yeast extract, black pepper

Vegetable Dumplings
Filling Cabbage, yellow onion, vermicelli (pea, mung bean, corn starch, water) carrot, green onion, corn starch, sesame oil, dry shiitake mushroom, sugar, salt, yeast extract, ginger, black pepper

Overall Rating - 4.5 out of 5

Kelsey: While the cooking instructions are very particular (and must be followed to the letter) and they retail for ~$8.00/box, these are much easier and tastier than any homemade gluten-free potsticker/dumpling/gyoza I've had in the past 8 years!

Taste
Becky: So out of the four flavors of these potstickers (chicken, pork, vegetable, and shrimp) I first chose to cook the chicken and shrimp for a seafood-loving (and non-gluten-free) friend, and my extremely picky gluten free daughter. We sat down together to have these as our meal, along with some homemade fried rice as an accompaniment. WOW! These dumplings are delicious: full flavored, savory and tasty, and oh-so-Chinese-food-satisfying! The dipping sauce that's included is gluten free and perfect - when I warmed it up a bit, it was just like the sauce that comes from the Chinese restaurant, minus the little plastic container. We decided to cook the pork and vegetable flavors the following night, and we were equally satisfied with these. To pick a favorite flavor would be impossible - they're all delicious, and would be a terrific appetizer or hors d'oeuvre to serve for guests. Not only will no one know they're gluten free, they won't care: these are worth the effort! Besides, you could tell a little white lie and say they're homemade!!!! Five stars!


Kelsey: Three words: oh my gosh. These potstickers/dumplings are delightful! They come in four flavors (Chicken, Pork, Shrimp and Vegetable) but due to a very severe shellfish allergy, I could not try the shrimp - but the other three were fantastic! The chicken was my personal favorite, but it was a tough contest to be sure. The vegetable was a little cabbage-heavy and tended to be the most delicate in terms of holding its shape, but they were all DELICIOUS! 5 stars!!!


Texture
Becky: Once I got the directions down pat, the texture of these was wonderful - soft and chewy melded with just enough crispy counterpoint to feel like a dumpling just prepared and served at a restaurant or dim sum bar. The key is to follow the directions to the letter - in my excitement to eat, I plopped the dumplings into a cold pan of water and oil, and the first three were a disaster, literally dissolving before my eyes. But once I actually slowed down and read the box, the dumplings that came out of the pan were cooked perfectly. Given the sensitivity of the directions, one needs to keep an eye on these so the texture isn't crumbly or falling apart. But OH, the perfect yumminess of these once I got the hang of it! Without reservation, five big ol' stars! BC


Kelsey: Aside from some minor melting issues with the vegetable variety (probably because I added too much water -oops!), they steamed up perfectly and fried up in a minute without any added oil, becoming the perfect combination of crispy-crunchy and soft'n'chewy. It IS incredibly important to follow the directions to. the. letter., otherwise you end up with a mushy dissolving mess - but really, for all of their specific instructions, these dumplings are so worth it! Be really careful though, the "non-stick pan" part is crucial to proper texture! 5 stars!


Storage
Becky: My potstickers arrived on dry ice, and they need to remain frozen right up to the point of putting them in the pan. This was how I achieved the best results in cooking them. The box is small, and holds 8 dumplings plus sauce, and the four boxes I was sent were perfect to fit into my already crowded freezer. I wonder, though, how long I'd actually need to store them, since they disappeared the night after they arrived! Five stars!


Kelsey: The boxes are petite, smaller than most frozen meals and hold 8 dumplings + sauce packet. They store beautifully in the freezer, but it's really important to keep them frozen until you begin cooking (again, from frozen) - the product itself is raw and defrosting could pose some unpleasantness. Five stars.


Cost
Becky: Yeah, well - these are pricey little packages of heaven, so watch out for the sticker shock. But I'll qualify that by saying that for a real treat, and worth every penny, the flavor and ultimate satisfaction far outweigh the price per dumpling. On the Gluten Free Mall the price is over $8 per box, and then one needs to allow for shipping costs on top of that, so with 8 dumplings per box these are well over $1.00 per dumpling. I say they're worth the splurge because two boxes are a filling meal for three hungry people, so when that's totaled up, the cost is far less than a take-out meal. AND it's totally and safely gluten free! Four stars.


Kelsey: I'll be honest, at over $1 per dumpling I was a little bit skeptical, but really, they are so worth it. Even when we used to be able to go out for dim sum, it would cost just as much (and you had to deal with chicken feet...) and, obviously, was not gluten free. While the sticker price may first seem a little ridiculous, keep in mind the price of take out and remember that you can't put a price on peace of mind... right?


Availability
Because this is a new product, word is only just beginning to spread. This New York City-based company has just started distribution on the Gluten Free Mall, and is also branching out to health food and gourmet markets in the Northeast and eastern Mid-West. I imagine shipping will cause a problem with distribution, since the potstickers need to stay frozen, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this hurdle is an easy one to get over, because these are worth it! 3.5 Stars!