HappyPearEats

Have you attempted to make bread? I have made it ten thousand times, but none of them was success! Yes, it is depressing to be honest. I have come to the point giving up, as I just don't know what went wrong. All the bread I made were so hard to eat. Very unpleasant! -__-

Until I "met" Veronica, my bread making teacher on her blog "Veronica's Recipes", I was very reluctant to try making bread again. I just simply cannot afford the attack from failure.

In her blog, there are so many Asian bread/ bun recipes and it also has the step by step pictures, so you can follow better and know how your dough should look like in each stage. It's so helpful especially for the new bee like me.

Most of her recipes are using basic method which is mixing, kneading, initial proofing, resting, shaping, final proofing and baking. Yes, it is basic method even it has so many steps, but I guess this is the most direct way to make your bread dough. One thing you have to bare in mind, before you start to make bread, make sure you have plenty of time because it takes a very long time. However, it is very rewarding when the bread comes out from the oven. You can definitely taste the sweetness and love from each bite of the bread.

Ever since I have made my very first edible bread, I start to love making bread. Til today, I have made: this sweet corn & tuna bun, sausage bun (2 times), egg salad bun, pineapple bun and seaweed & pork floss bun. Exciting right? I start using tang zhong method for the last two buns. However, the results were not up to standard. They still tasted very nice, but I think the texture of the bread can be improved.

This is the first time, I kneaded the dough by hand... so it was a very good experience, even it is very tiring... Stay tuned for my bread making adventure. 

Happy Chinese New Year!! Oops... I think it is over soon! :P Anyway, how's your CNY so far? Mine, was good. Got a reunion dinner at in-laws, a little bit of fishing and I finally made this Chinese Radish Cake. I remembered mum used to make this and the New Year Cake (Niangao 年糕) every Chinese New Year . 

I missed those days.

Anyway, have you tried the Chinese Radish Cake before? This is my all time favourite whenever I go yum cha. They normally served as a pan fried dim sum. But lately, they are also served as a steamed dish which I find more original and healthy. Mum used to fry radish cake with XO sauce and it is yummmm~

This batch I made it a bit lumpy but the taste was great. According to my father-in-law, he said next time I can put a little bit more water, then it should turn out smoother :D Thank God that I have a father-in-law who can really cook! 

There are many different recipes in the internet world, this time I picked the one from Day Day Cook 日日煮. Yes, it is a Chinese site, but you can choose to read in English. Awesome right? I know! So now you can cook Asian food without any trouble! :)

This actually happened in August last year. Yes, after that I was pretty occupied with different things and that is why I have been MIA… and I didn't think about this until now - making a good use of my commuting time on the bus. Do I get motion sickness? Not really, otherwise I will be really bored on the bus... haha.

Anyway, in early June (of course last year), a close friend of mine asked if I could bake some cupcakes for her wedding. She would like to have chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting and vanilla cupcake with strawberry buttercream. I know what you are thinking, you must think I must be very good at baking and friends keep asking me to bake for their special occasions.

I can honestly tell you that I am nowhere close to good, but I am persistent and determined. I like to challenge myself and try my best to achieve result. However, it only happens when I am interested. Heh~

I had not been baking back then as my oven was a bit old and the heat sneaks out from the oven. How can I bake a good cake with this oven? Plus, I have never decorated a cupcake! Can you believe it? So me being me, I was freaking out. Therefore, I started to practise with the RSPCA cupcake day and the result was amazingly good. 

This cupcake is rich like brownies together with the peanut butter frosting. Tell me, who can resist such a perfect combination? 

* Sorry, I was too concentrated to make this mini cupcakes, so I forgot to take the step by step photos. 

Ok, it might be new to you... something about me... I always have a thing for Japan. I love almost everything from Japan, be it animate, manga, craft, home decor, people, or the place itself.

However, among all, I love Japanese cuisine the most. Not hard to understand why. They are simple, fresh and delicious, plus most of the popular dishes are actually super easy to make than they look!

Remember the oyakodon? Cooking gyudon is just like cooking oyakodon. 5 main ingredients and ready in less than half an hour. It is definitely a weeknight winner, especially after a long day at work :))

Happy New Year everyone!!! How was your new year eve like? Mine was a quiet and relaxing one with Mr. Pear. He prepared a beautiful dinner and we shared a glass of champagne. It was wonderful :D

I am sorry for the lack of post for such a long time. I was meant to post this before Christmas. However, my computer was playing up, so I needed to get Mr. Pear to fix it... and now it is up and running again! Yay!

Not long ago Two months ago, my dear friend Jade referred her friend to me as her friend wanted to have some macarons for her wedding. To be honest, I was really happy on one hand, coz someone trusted me and recommended me to their friends. How cool is that~

But on the other hand, I was a bit freaking out, as I haven't baked macs since 2010 after Jade's wedding. A good three year without making any, and now I have to bake for someone's wedding again?! How can I not freak out?!

So, the macaron madness begins...

I know I may shock you a bit if I tell you I am actually not a macaron fan but what makes me so fascinated about macaron is the unlimited combinations you can have with the shell flavours and the fillings.

If you follow my facebook page, you sure know how often I bake macs for the past few a couple of weeks. It has been an ups-and-downs journey. And it was so good to see the macs getting beta each time.

Of cause, every now and then accident happened, especially when trying new stuff.... haha...Yes, please do not expect to get it right at the first time. This recipe is a guide line for you to practise and the key steps are mostly followed from Adriano Zumbo's book, Zumbo with a little modification according to my personal experience and preference. However, please be aware that the outcome may vary due to different circumstances which will also be shown as we go through the process. It is gonna be a long post, but it records all I have come across these few weeks, so you know what to expect and what may happen :)

Once you have got the idea of how to make it and it is just a matter of time before you nailed it :) So, "Never Give Up" is the first and the main ingredient that you must have.

So, are you ready?

   Cauli-Crust Pizza  

{ adapted via taste.com.au magazine issue 1, p.60 }

serves 4 | prep & cook 1 hr | Italian 

♥  bon appétit :)

If you ever got someone to ask about my favourite food, you should know the answer by now and it will always be the same -- SOUP! No any other answer but SOUP! If you get it wrong, I will be really upset! :(

As you know, I originally from Hong Kong and most people from this city love to have soup, if not all. That partly explains why I love soup. But then there is another contributor, the major one, to my obsession of soup. That is my mum. We were brought up with mum's yummilicious soup everyday. If there is no soup one night, there must be something wrong. No matter what the reason is we feel like we are missing something for that particular meal. Yes, we are so addicted to mum's soup. 

Since I am away from home, I must learn how to cope with this addiction. Therefore, I started to ask mum and search online to learn how to make my ultimate comfort food. 

You will soon to know I genuinely love soup! There will be lots of soup recipes later on... if you love soup like I do, stay tuned :D

For the time being, enjoy this hairy melon and dried squid soup. You will love it! :D