Throw yourself a grilled cheese party this summer
Catching up & a guide to grilled cheese bliss
Welcome to Call Me Dumpling :) Wait, you’re not subscribed? Just type in your email above for weekly recipes and the occasional dose of storytelling.
What’s the most interesting thing that’s happened since the last newsletter?
Hi! Happy Friday from a coffee shop in Seattle 🙋🏻♂️ I’m currently sitting in Sea Wolf Bakers (this has become my new favorite writing spot: access to plugs, great people watching during a lull in writing, good toilets, oh and of course delicious carbohydrates) basking in much needed Vitamin D, sipping an iced strawberry oolong tea, and soothing myself with clips of Melissa McCarthy shitting her brains out on Bridesmaids (I’m supposed to be writing 🤪).
I’d say the most interesting thing is I turned 33 🎂 Lately I’ve been down a rabbit hole of watching old Asians give advice on what they would tell their younger selves. The majority of their advice usually goes something along the lines of, “I would tell myself to not hustle as much, to slow down, and to say yes to every day moments more.” So this year in particular I’ve been trying to savor all the benign moments that interrupt my typical penchant for being a reclusive hermit crab grinding through the day. Moments like shower sitting (hehe yes really, you sit on the floor of the bathtub and turn the water extra hot and just sit there as you let the water hit you in the face, it feels like the most luxurious sauna) or saying yes to embracing being my social girly era (I strangely threw a birthday party for myself) even though all the nerves in my introverted body scream no.
What’s the best thing you made this week?
I turned my home into a grilled cheese bar for the day. It was truly one of the most delightful culinary experiences that I feel like everyone should try at least once in their own home. All you need is sliced bread, a plethora of cheeses, and an assortment of fillings and sauces. Here’s a handy dandy guide with some ideas to get you started. 🎉🧀
Grilled Cheese Party: A Guide
I. The Menu
The night before, pre-shred any cheeses, buy or make fillings, sauces, and toppings. Prepping the day before allows you to have everything ready to go when making multiple grilled cheeses on the pan, almost like a little buffet of options!
🧀 Pick a cheese and bread
The soul of a grilled cheese is well, the cheese. I’ll usually pick a few melty options that people can choose from and combine two together. I love pairing a cheaper cheese with something a little fancier, like a double stack of Kraft American singles with decadent helping of gruyere will put me in food coma bliss in two seconds.
Cheeses — Kraft American Singles, Gruyere, Cheddar (I’m a Beecher’s boy), Shredded Mozzarella, Havarti, Muenster
Bread — Any bread with minimal hole-age, meaning not that artisan bread you love with those giant beautiful air pockets (this is the only time I’d ever say no to fancy bakery bread). I love a standard white bread for grilled cheese (the perfect canvas to let the fillings shine) or a fluffy, Japanese milk bread.
🥓 Pick a filling
This is where a grilled cheese goes from a snack to a meal. It’s an addition that not only adds flavor but a comforting coziness to your belly that will incapacitate you for the remaining evening. You could easily prepare everything from scratch, but I like doing a mix of pre-made meats (your local Asian Market will have so many pre-marinated or cooked meats that are perfect for this). Some homemade and premade ideas below:
Easy Homemade Fillings:
🌽 Furikake Corn — Cut kernels off two corn on the cobs and place on a sheet pan with a drizzle of oil. Roast at 400°F for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and pour a generous sprinkle of furikake all over and season with a little kosher salt.
🍄 Miso Mushrooms — Thinly slice 3/4 pound of mushrooms (I love shiitake but any mushroom can work here) then pan fry in a generous drizzle of oil on medium high heat, stirring frequently until browned, around 7 minutes. Once browned, add 1/4 cup of sake and 1/4 cup of mirin (if you don’t have mirin, just use 2 teaspoons of honey), 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon miso, and 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Mix and sauté for a few minutes until the sauce is incorporated into the mushrooms.
Premade Filling Ideas:
🥓 Meats — Bulgogi (H-Mart or pretty much any large Asian market will have bulgogi pre-marinated, all you have to do is cook it!), char-siu, sliced pork belly (just cook, season with salt, then cut into pieces), rotisserie chicken (shredded), and of course BACON.
🥫 Get saucy
I love a good sauce, spread or jam. It really elevates the grilled cheese into restaurant territory. Make your own, or choose a variety from the store.
🔥 Store bought sauces that hit — Any chili crisp, Ketchup mixed with chili crisp, any chutney like tamarind or cilantro, curry (I love Japanese curry cubes, cook one with some water to dilute, add cooked chopped onions to make a spread), Jufran Banana Ketchup, Japanese tonkatsu sauce
Homemade sauces:
🤤 Scallion mayo — Combine 4 finely chopped whole scallions, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon honey.
🌶️ Gochujang mayo — Combine 1/2 cup Kewpie mayo (or whatever mayo you have, but Kewpie really makes this sauce shine), 2 tablespoons gochujang, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon honey.
🌶️ Add a little punch
The perfect grilled cheese to me has that little extra something that balances out the richness of the cheese. A nice punch in the mouth from a topping that adds spiciness, acidity, crunch or all of the above.
✨ Toppings — Hot Cheetos (on grilled cheese, these are truly life changing), pickled cucumbers, pickled onions, tart apple slices, KIMCHI (another truly magical ingredient for grilled cheese), pickled jalapeños
III. Cooking
+ 🧀 On a large pan or griddle on low-medium heat, coat with 1 tablespoon of butter. Add 2 slices of bread, then place a slice or two of cheese and/or a generous sprinkle of finely grated cheese on top of both pieces of bread.
+ 🥓 Add all your fillings and sauces on just one of the pieces of bread, leaving the other with just cheese.
+ 🔥 Cook for 6 minutes until the cheese has melted and the bottoms have crisped and browned. Flip the bread with just cheese on top of the bread with fillings and give it a little pat to meld together. Slice grilled cheese in half and serve!
III. Templates to Use
If you really want to go full extra and make this a whole arts and crafts extravaganza, feel free to use this design template to make your own grilled cheese menu. I use Figma to design all my files so you’ll have to create a free Figma account if you want to edit the actual file. I’ve also attached a blank PDF of the menu where you can write in your own fillings.
💻 Figma file to edit menu, just duplicate this file to your drafts
✍🏼 Blank PDF of menu to print and write in your own fillings
I hope this guide helps you have the most epic grilled cheese parties this summer. Feel free to choose your own adventure and pick fillings that bring you joy. If you end up throwing a grilled cheese party, tag me on Instagram so I can see!!
Rapid Fire
🥟 Currently Eating — Grilled cheese with melty gruyere, cheddar, miso mushrooms, and Vermont Curry with caramelized onion.
🎵 Currently Listening — Where My Girls At by 702
📖 Currently Reading — One Thousand Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
❤️ Currently loving — Turning American Classics Asian making national news on NPR and NBC News!!