Two years ago I threw a D.I.Y. soup-dumpling party that required me to buy an array of kitchen tools I fully expected never to use again: small wooden dowels, plastic soup spoons, and a two-tiered bamboo steamer. Though I was mostly right (why, oh why, did I think it was a good idea to buy a 12-pack of Chinese-style soup spoons?), that steamer has become my shortcut to getting dinner on the table when the last thing I want to do is, you know, get dinner on the table.
