HappyLesson.org

Squash Corn Bread

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes | No Comments »

Corn Bread and Onion Pancake

What you see in the picture are two of the most popular panstries you can get from the street food vendors in China!  On the left, you see delicious corn bread (fyi, the ones the Chef makes are soooo much better, we got these from the local supermarket, I think they added ingredients to make the bread puffier, so they tasted more like cake than bread).  On right right are the onion pancake, in some restaurants, these onion pancake can be made into multiple thin layers.  When made in those style, the typical green onion pancake becomes the "Thousand Layer Pancake!".

I like the corn bread a lot.  They are different from the American ones and are usually much softer.  (I also love the American corn bread).

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes, Asian Pastry | No Comments »

Super Thin Banana Nut Cookies

So…last night, I woke up at 3 am in the morning and heard strange ding/dong sounds coming from the kitchen.  Thinking bad people had broken into our house again, I carefully tiptoed my way over.  And…..VOILA, the "burglar" has been identified.  MY MOM WAS BAKING 3 am in the morning!!!!!

 I think she either couldn't sleep or really wanted me to have freshly baked cookies in the morning.

These cookies are based on the delicious banana bread we recently discovered at the nearby mall.  Her version is extremely thin and very crisp.  This is one of Chef's more unique inventions, you can't get these anywhere else.

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes | No Comments »

Strawberry and Walnut Pancake

The Chef baked these last week early in the morning so they would be nice and fresh for breakfast.

The pancake and the walnuts are very good.  The strawberries were a bit too sour. 

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes | No Comments »

Fried Date Pancake with Sesame

These came in in prepackaged frozen sets.  A package of 4 was about a couple bucks.  I like them but they're a little bit too hard, not chewy enough for moi.  I like the soft pancakes much more!  hehe….you buy them uncooked, then you fry them yourself. 

Terrific dessert pastry.

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes, Asian Desserts and Sweets, Asian Pastry | No Comments »

Chinese Bun (Mentou)

A long long time ago….a food genius in China invented this goodness called:  MENTOU!  For the next few thousand years, this food became the single most eaten food in the East.    Let's all hail the great mentou!!!!!

Made with 100% white flour…the traditional mentou is available in most Asian supermarket, available in both prepackaged bags as well as freshly steamed bamboo boxes!   My favorites types are the freshly made ones with home made dough, they're especially chewy and delicious.  The prepackaged ones tend to contain a form of ingredient to make it last longer and it takes some of the taste away.

The Chef will be here shortly to provide recipe on how to make this very yummy Asian pastry.

**If you've never had mentou, you can't say you know Chinese food!  It's true……..ask any Chinese native and they will back me up.

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes, Asian Pastry | No Comments »

Steamed Green Onion Bun

You can not claim that you know Chinese food without having tried these classic Steamed Buns!

The ones shown here came straight from a Chinese bakery inside the Asian supermarket.  Many Asian grocery store chains have a small section reserved for food.  These ones are two for a dollar!  A great deal, don't you think? 

My mom knows how to make them from scratch. Personally, I think the ones she makes taste better.  The ones made in the stores always taste funny…some of them are okay though, maybe it's some sort of special ingredient put in when they're made in large batches.

Try them!

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes, Asian Pastry | No Comments »

Chinese Fried Donut and Fried Red Bean Sesame Ball

  *warning!* *warning!*These desserts are not the healthiest choices, but they're so delicious~

I like the fried sesame balls.  (get the red bean ones…some bakeries also make them with coconut fillings, but I don't like those as much)

The Chinese Fried Donut (also known as Fried Dough) is good for breakfast.  In China, many people have it along with soup for breakfast.  The fried dough is my mom's favorite, strangely…I've never really liked it that much.   If you like donuts and fried food in general, these desserts will taste heavenly for ya!

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes, Asian Desserts and Sweets, Asian Pastry | 1 Comment »

Red Bean Pancake, Sugar Pancake and Green Onion Pancake

My mom made the most delicious pancakes today!  In addition to the rest of the dishes I had for dinner, I ate 2 red bean pancakes, 1 sugar pancake and almost a whole green onion pancake.

~sigh~  I'm getting ready to gain that 20 pounds to built up more winter insulation. hehe

Attention!  The three small red ones stacked on the lower left corner are the red bean pancakes (my favorites!), the upper right ones are the green onion pancakes and the ones on the right are the sweet sugar ones (also one of my favorites).

My mom made these from scratch, yup, that's the entire "mix flour –> mix dough –> add stuffing –> pancake frying" process.   I will request recipe from the great Chef Jiang, stay tuned! 

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes, Asian Desserts and Sweets, Asian Pastry | No Comments »

Stir fried cauliflower, broccoli and carrots

This dish can also be made without the broccoli.

Posted in Bread, Cookies and Cakes | No Comments »