House of Dumplings - Japanese Vegan Mushroom Mix product reviews

I liked these dumplings because they were so easy to prepare. When I am in a hurry, I like to have a few go-to foods available that are a sensible and healthy alternative to takeaways. At holiday times I always seem to be rushing, so with just five minutes to spare for organising a meal, I thought these would be a good solution. I followed the packet instructions religiously and found that they were almost too easy, and the result was very nice indeed. I was at my daughter's house and we had some leftover runner beans and asparagus plus a huge bowl of salad, so by the time the dumplings were ready the rest of the food was dished up.

We had some hardboiled eggs and camembert as well, so with those extras the packet stretched to five people. Both children liked them, which surprised us as Mr Ten does not normally like mushrooms. However, he said that the filling did not really taste of mushroom at all so he quite liked it. We tried to eat them as finger food but the filling kept falling out so we went back to using cutlery. That was unfortunate as the little curls looked attractive and would be an interesting item to add to a plate of hors d'oeuvres or as a cocktail snack.

We were all intrigued by the list of different mushrooms on the packet. Some we were unfamiliar with, although because the filling was a mixture it would have been hard in any case to identify different flavours. To my way of thinking they tasted like portobello mushrooms more than anything else, and I would like to try them next time with a blue cheese dip - I think they would be a good combination. This time round, however, we had no blue cheese available.

The packaging intrigued us. The product is illustrated clearly so you know exactly what you are getting, and there is a list of ingredients and food values listed on the pack. I was pleased to see that it was in a suitable font so everyone could read it. Some packaging features print that is impossible to read because it is either too small or in some esoteric script which looks pretty but is quite illegible. For people on special diets, whether vegan/vegetarian or medically prescribed, it is important to be able to see what the product consists of. Finally, there is a small window in the front panel which offers a glimpse of the dumplings inside. Full marks to whoever designed the packet!