yuuzora

daggerfella93 @daggerfella93 Feeling okay I guess, things have been kinda depressing as of late

yuuzora @yuuzora Oh? State of the world or personal existential dread? Maybe both? How are you managing? If you really need to talk to someone you can message me. I'll give you my Discord.

daggerfella93 @daggerfella93 Father has cancer, brother has cancer, work was a nightmare and I should have seen the red flags and either not accepted it or left a long time ago. I don't have existential dread on anything. But I am managing fine, I'm cool with being let go. Benefits and pay sucked at this place, they lied to me about alot when I applied, and there was too much potential drama, nepotism and people not working at all. Management was poor and everyone wanted my manager to have been fired a decade ago. And the owner violated HIPPA by spreading my private medical information to everyone.

yuuzora @yuuzora Oh. That is a fuck ton to deal with. Hopefully I can lend an ear. Do you have another job in mind or are you stuck?

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying The scenery looks so relaxing and you looked gorgeous in those clothes, Yuu-Chan.

yuuzora @yuuzora The hanfu was a birthday gift some years ago from my sister. I wear it wherever I have an excuse to. So a Chinese Tea House is a pretty good excuse. Have you ever been to a Chinese Tea House before?

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying I haven't been to a Chinese Tea House...let alone any kind of Tea House. I love the way Hanfu's look though, they are so pretty.

yuuzora @yuuzora Hnhn. It's a shame you don't like tea so much, though I maybe could convince you to go for the lotus cakes? They're sweet, slightly crispy pastries with a azuki(a sweet red bean) inside. As for hanfu, there's so many different styles that there's gotta be at dynasty for every body shape.

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying I'm always down to try tea just to try something new. I'm not sure if I'd like it, but it's worth giving it a try. I've also never tasted a lotus cake before, I'd love to give that a try too though! Oh? What style Hanfu are you wearing then?

yuuzora @yuuzora The style of hanfu I wear is from the Wei-Ji era/Northern Dynasty. It suits my body shape better than the others. Though I also like Ming Dynasty, I haven't found a good Ming Dynasty one that both suits my tastes and my wallet. lol They can get a little expensive but they're cheaper than kimono. Definitely trying moon lotus cake is worth it. Have you ever had a sweet bean paste at all? Since a lot of Westerners I know don't much like the texture.

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying Well, it's a very pretty Hanfu and your sister definitely chose well for you. I haven't ever tasted a sweet bean paste, I watch tons of cooking videos where some Asians use bean paste and I always want to try it cause I think it looks really delicious.

yuuzora @yuuzora Hn. It's also pretty good for you aside from all the sugar. It makes a good replacement for frosting in some recipes. Though I will admit, making it is a labor of love like anything with beans in it. Not everyone likes the texture, but it's nothing a food processor can't fix. My sisters hate the 'chunky' kind but like the smooth kind I make during Obon and New Year. Which is the only time I'll make it because it takes so long. lol. Do you cook with beans often?

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying I don't know if I'd say I cook with beans in the sense of making my own pastes or dips, but I do eat a lot of beans, one of my favorites is pinto and black beans. I can eat chickpeas, but I prefer those as a hummus, but learning to make a paste would be nice as that would be something new to try.

yuuzora @yuuzora Good to know you have familiarity with the process. If you've ever made your own hummus, it's that same sort of process just removing more of the water by straining. A bit like refried beans, too. The only different step is adding sugar to the paste. You can also add spices if you like. I actually add a tiny bit of cocoa powder and use it as a chocolate frosting sub once. It ended up pretty good. I hear people add vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying Do you have any recipes I could maybe try making with my sisters in the future? We plan to have a tea room for us girls to hang out in in our new home, and we love the thought of baking our own desserts for it, maybe we can try making a bean paste with something when the time comes.

yuuzora @yuuzora Sure. What sort of sweets did you want? The lazy person's moon lotus cake is just azuki bean paste pancake fried into some pastry dough(premade pastry dough works fine), so that one is relatively easy.

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying Honestly whatever you recommend will be fine, whether it is something simpler or more technical, we would have fun attempting to make it either way.

yuuzora @yuuzora Hm, well, for beginners I can always recommend this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQo8qgz-PNk&ab_channel=SoupedUpRecipes It's a great recipe for cold weather and you can try the bean paste filling instead of the custard if you want. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYjggwmRqgQ&ab_channel=JapaneseKitchenbyMissWagashi

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying Thank you, Yuu-Chan! While we are on the topic of Asian desserts, are there any others that you enjoy making yourself or eating?

yuuzora @yuuzora Making myself? Probably melon bread. Which is in fact a labor of love, but one can make it all in a rice cooker. Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxz_bGskjNg&ab_channel=BruckThatsMe I add some almond extract(or any flavor you want) and make a simple melted butter and powdered sugar glaze over the top.

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying They look so good! Is it a kind of recipe you can switch the flavors for or are there only certain things that work with it?

yuuzora @yuuzora They're really flexible with flavor. Melon bread is known for it. As for moon cakes, you can certainly play around with the filling if you want. I have heard of people using jams, custards, and sesame seed pastes. I am excited to see how they turn out, so I hope you'll share them here.

Rose Mommy ® @wei_ying I definitely will try to remember that when I am able to try and make one or the other or both. Pretty sure they won't look as good when I make them as it's my first time making it, but I hope they'll be delicious despite everything.