I’m like many girls and women outta there who love receiving flowers on special occasions such as Valentine’s Day.
Well, Yang thinks that flowers are superficial and would rather get me practical gifts. For this Valentine, he bought me an excellent Blu-ray documentary series ‘Planet Earth’. We enjoyed watching each and every episode of ‘Planet Earth’. Some of the animal behavior and natural forces and sceneries were an eye-opener for me. It is the best production on nature I’ve seen so far.
It is getting more and more challenging to think of a suitable gift to give Yang for Valentine or his birthday. I mean, Yang is really good and personal with his gifts. Tough to match up. So for this Valentine, I decided to hand-make a Hawaiian pizza for him. He’s big on pizzas.
After surfing the Internet for a proven recipes for the pizza crust and tomato sauce, I was eager to try it out on Valentine’s Day. Wah, I found out that kneading the dough by hand was no joke man. I was practically doing a workout while at it. I’ll be smarter next round – use my dough kneading mixer. On the whole, pizza making was an enjoyable experience for me. I get freshly-made pizza crust with home-made tomato sauce and personalised toppings. Yummito!
The baking process is simple – just 15-20 mins in the oven…and presto, your pizza is ready to be served 
Initially, I wanted to shape the pizza into a heart-shape. But it would such a waste of space and food! (I’m sure Yang would prefer more pizza than inedible romance). In my opinion, the pizza was a great success. Yeah, the juices from the pineapple pieces soaked part of the crust but the freshness of bread was unmistakable. The crust was crispy on the outside and soft-chewy on the inside.
I would give myself full marks for the first attempt even though Yang rated the finished product only 60 percent.:(
It certainly looks good, Ling. Over here, pizza-eating is practically a way of life. All kids ever want to eat is pizza, pizza, pizza. I went through the same thing myself. But these days, I’ve found that I really can do without it.
Where once I loved really thick crust pizza, now it seems impossible to get them without being drenched in enough grease to facilitate an auto-mechanic’s shop. For that reason alone I opt instead for thin and crispy crust, even though I yearn for the crust you described.
The biggest reason I’m no longer the avid pizza fiend I once was is the tomato sauce. Too often at pizza joints they seem to just pile it on indiscriminately. Yuck!
All of the above is why I tend to prefer home-made pizzas these days. (Though I don’t make them myself—that aversion or fear of baking pops up again!) Oh, but my favorite? Pineapple and ham!
PS:
I surprised to hear that the pineapple juices soaked through portions of the crust, but since I’ve never baked one myself, I can only guess why that happened. Though perhaps not as pleasing, do you think it would make any difference if you placed the pineapple chunks on top of the pizza instead of mixing it with the cheese topping? Perhaps that layer of cheese mixture would prevent the juices from percolating through?
Thank you for the encouragement, Matt :D
Honestly, I’m not a fan of pizzas. Perhaps it has to do with over-eating whenever we order home-delivery pizzas. Over here, we have to order a minimum of 2 pizzas to enjoy the free delivery service. But Yang cannot get enough of it, ha ha.
About the pineapple pieces, thanks for the suggestion too. I’m afraid that the juices might trickle downwards and soak the crust on the side if they are piled on top of the cheese. Perhaps pressing out the juices might work?
Hey, wanna try out making the pizza when you come over here?! :D
We did try pressing out all the juices, but that only caused the pineapple pieces to become a sort of squishy mess haha.:)
Ling had another idea; next pizza we try, we’ll just lose the pineapple pieces.:)
Though I’m not big on pizzas either, Ling, just thinking about a pineapple-and-ham pizza right now has my stomach in a fury. I love biting into the pineapple chunks as they provide such a juicy, refreshing contrast.
Obviously, eliminating pineapple from the equation will remedy any such problem with sogginess. I’m not sure what kind of pineapple you’ve tried, but my wife Sandilin recommends the fresh “cored” pineapple, cut into rings. At the grocer here, they come in clear cylindrical containers and since they’re fresh and not canned (which is the norm here), they tend to not come packed in their own juices. The only other thing I can think of is to set the pineapple chunks on paper towels and add them midway through the pizza’s cook-time. Actually, I always assumed that was how it was done but I’m probably way, way wrong.
We’re definitely going to have to give this pizza-baking thing a try during my next stay over there. It sounds like a lot of fun! After all this talk of home-made pineapple pizza, Sandilin appears poised to give it a try this week. I’ll let you know how it turns out. :)
Have either of you tried the Japanese pseudo-pizza (more like a highly decorated pancake), okonomiyaki? I might have asked this once before, but I noticed a vendor in the Funan Mall and was pleasantly surprised.
There’s actually a Japanese pizza joint here: e.g. see this web site: http://www.oishipizza.com/menu.htm
As to how popular the joint here is, I’m less certain – because they don’t stuff our mailboxes with the advertising flyers with the same frequency as the other pizza joints. I mean, on an average day, we’ll get 2-3 flyers from eateries including Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, Canadian Pizza.
Then again, it could be because there isn’t a nearby Oishi Pizza outlet, so maybe they don’t deliver to Rivervale. :)
Ya ya ya, i’ve seen the Jap pseudo-pizza being sold at some shopping malls. Haven’t given it a shot yet. :)
Hey, it seems that we share similar preferences for our food, Matt! Glad that my pizza efforts can excite your wife to consider making one at home :D It would be great fun kneading the dough, spin it in the air, flatten it all out, etc!
Ling enjoys making pizzas more than consuming them for sure. Whenever I suggest having Pizza for dinner, she’ll give me that kind of look. :)