Some of you may remember my technique for buying
Jeno's Pizza Rolls. I'd hold the box horizontally
and gently rock it from side-to-side to measure
the amount of free space inside. The more free
space there is, the fewer pizza rolls.

I haven't eaten those in a long time, in fact,
they're no longer made. But I do eat lots of
Trader Joe's Chicken Shu Mai, and I use the same
technique on them.

A confounding factor is the frozen shu mai are
in a plastic bag inside the box, which restricts
their movement. (Jeno's Pizza Rolls had no bag
inside the box.) Nevertheless, the technique is
useful.

Today, I got a box that when I picked it up,
I could hardly sense any movement inside, so
right away I knew this one was a keeper, but
I've had boxes like that before which only
had 18 shu mai inside. Most boxes contain 17
or 18. A few have 19, and a very few have 20.
This one had 20! Only the second time I've
found a box with 20 shu mai inside! It must
be the harbinger of something good! I must be
living right, and the gods are smiling on me!