[china]

Hello!!! 

   I am an American living in mainland China. I like Pizza but being in China there is not a Pizza Place on every corner. There are a few other problems that are very slowly being overcome. Little things like spices, canned tomatoes, different flours, i.e. OO, no such item in the regular Chinese supermarket. In reply to "where's the can opener", honest to god, "what's a can opener?" So you can see there are little problems to making a pizza in China. My oven solution is a charcoal grill, the big black round one with the cover/lid. You guessed it!!! No oven in this part of China in the homes, condos or apartments. There might be one in one of the villas that rents for over $5,000 per month. But I am far from there. Both financially and distance wise. So do any of you out there have any suggestions in regards to making pizza. I have downloaded some recipes from different sites. But nothing to brag about. I can get the bottom of the pizza to lightly brown but not the crust. Plus I would love to get a better tasting pizza with more of a bread or butter roll taste to it. If there  is such a thing.  I like the thin crust, personally, but I am open to anything that tastes great!! Now this will make some of you laugh. But I would like to open a Pizza Place in China. They have Pizza Hut and the stuff they sell for Pizza makes one wonder. NO offense to Pizza Hut lovers just my observations and opinion. Well if you can help!! Thanks in advance. E-mail to ralphlomaxmansfield@yahoo.com As always, all the best. From China

[TheChairGuy]

China,

You'd probably make a mint opening a pizza place in China....the lines at the KFC's and Pizza Hut's are pretty long there.  They had pizza at some Italian restaurant I visited in Hong Kng a few years ago, but I don't remember seeing it on the mainland. It need not even bea fantastic pizza....there is little/nothing to compare to.

Maybe Papa John's is looking for franchisee's there?  They could help you source the ingredients as opposed to you doing the whole boot-strap operation yourself.

I'll look for a pizza place in Guangzhou/Nanhai City/Shenzhen when I'm there in a couple weeks...don't think I'll find one, tho.

Where are you in China?

[JohninCR]

China,

Pizza crust is a bit of an art, but once you get it down, it's easy.
Your barbeque pit can make a great pizza oven, especially for a
thin crust lover.  You just need bricks to put on the grill.  The
ones you want are uncoated and the easiest are the thin ones
used to make a brick floor, because they will take less time to
heat up than a full brick.  Just start the fire and cover the grill
with the bricks.  No pan is needed, and the pizza goes right on
the bricks to cook.

[china]

Chairguy,

  Just got done typing a nice reply and it may have posted or not. Probable not!!!  But if you want to drop off "MY Maggies". Changsha, Hunan is where home is. As always, all the best.

From China

[china]

Hello John,

   That is a very good idea and will try it. But don't the bricks have to be special?  Like fired to a high temperature when being made or can they be just ordinary bricks?? Glazed or unglazed is another question? Well!!  Anyway it sounds good enough to try!!  So thanks a lot!!  As always, all the best.

From China

[JohninCR]

Hello John,

   That is a very good idea and will try it. But don't the bricks have to be special?  Like fired to a high temperature when being made or can they be just ordinary bricks?? Glazed or unglazed is another question? Well!!  Anyway it sounds good enough to try!!  So thanks a lot!!  As always, all the best.

From China

Unglazed, definitely.  The ones I use look like a regular red bricks on the flat side,
but they are thin like tiles (about 3/8") and for use in making a brick floor.  There
you might ask for bricks used to make a fireplace or oven.  If they're very thick though,
they'll take quite a while to heat up.  A thick steel plate would probably work too.  The
idea is something that holds its heat, so the bottom of the crust cooks instantly without
sticking.

Find someone locally making bread using a brick oven.  Then you just need to make your
own sauce and get some cheese to show them how to make pizza.  Instead of putting
the bread in the oven after it has risen, you let it rise and punch it down and knead it
and repeat several times.  Then the dough gets the elasticity required to stretch it out
thinly and hold together as pizza crust. 

[TheChairGuy]

Chairguy,

  Just got done typing a nice reply and it may have posted or not. Probable not!!!  But if you want to drop off "MY Maggies". Changsha, Hunan is where home is. As always, all the best.

From China

That's a good ways inland....I've not been to Hunan province yet (spend most of my time in Shanghai, Guangzhou and a some in Fijian provinces).  I don't think that'll be the first place pizza will land in China. It may well be in Shanghai by now...given the current pace of change there.

John/TCG

[gitarretyp]

A few more tips:

If you can find them, the unglazed stones (glaze typically has lead) are great to cook on . If not, you can cook the pizza on the grates fine.

For stone cooking, roll-out or toss (tossing really does make a better crust) your dough into your preferred shape. Brush the dough with olive oil and bake (grill) until firm. Remove from heat, top, and return to the oven/grill until the cheese is melted. (Another important tip for stones: Do NOT wash them with soap and water. Use water and baking soda. If you use dish soap, everything you cook will taste like soap.)

For a raw grill, prepare as above. Place on the grate and grill one side until firm. Remove and top the side that was facing the grate. Return to the grill.

Here's the recipe i use for dough:

1 packet yeast (not rapid rise!)
1 tsp sugar
1 cp warm water
3 cps flour
1 tbs salt (this is for coarse salt, if using table salt you may need less)
2 tbs olive oil

Dissolve the sugar in warm water and add yeast. Allow yeast to dissolve for a few minutes. In a bowl, mix the salt and oil together. Add the yeast mixture to the salt and oil. Add flour 1/2 cp at a time to 2.5 cps while stirring with a fork. Remove the dough from the bowl and work in the last 1/2 cp by hand and knead for ~10 minutes (drizzle some olive oil and coat your hands in flour to prevent a mess). Form a dough ball and transfer to a bowl coated with olive oil and roll the dough ball in the olive oil to coat. Cover with a moist towel and let rest until doubled in size (about 2 hours).

After risen, remove dough and roll into a cylinder. Cut into 2-3 pieces and roll them into balls. Let the balls rest for ~10 minutes. Each ball becomes a crust.

[china]

A few more tips:

Hello Again!!! 

  This sounds great to me!!!  Even the work of making pizza is a lot of fun when everyone helps out and does a little. But what is really great is when the children get involved and "make" their own pizza. I will
most definitely give all your suggestions a good work out. I do not know what I like most. Making pizza or eating pizza. Anyway, the worst thing about pizza is the cleaning up and the most fun is the flour fights with the kids!! Now that is a mess and the ladies of the home go ballistic on me. But I just blame the kids and get off, scot free, sort of. What is life without a good home cooked pizza, anyway!!! Just like to say "thank you for all your help". As always, all the best.

From China

[mcgsxr]

When I was in Taiwan for a couple of years in the mid 90's, Domino's made their appearance.  Decent pie, but I could not get past the funky toppings.

As for living in Hunan province, boy am I jealous, that happens to be one of my all time favourite styles of beef!

Have an extra hot one for this guy!

[china]

A few more tips,

Hello Again,

   Just a quick note and many thanks for the tips. After making a few pizzas here in China. The recipe that I "liked" is so very similar to the one that you posted that it is scary. I take it that you have made several pizzas??  I am off today on my search for tiles. That will be an adventure as my Chinese is so very poor and the sellers of goods have great fun with me. Generally, being a westerner in this part of China is a novelty for everyone concerned. The Chinese tend to be forgiving somewhat and more helpfull as I get to know them. Though there is always an exception. Learning to get a long in China is a challenge.
When trying to buy something, i.e. stereo equipment. Nobody knows anything about anything. This is coming from the high end manufacturers, i.e. Opera Consonance and Aurum Cantus. What I thought would be audiophile heaven turned into audiophile frustration. Opera has a website full of equipment, just none of it is for sale in mainland China. When referred to a local dealer, nothing in stock and inflated price quotes. I traveled to Hong Kong for an appointment with a Opera distributor only to have him no show and then he wanted me to go to another dealer that may or may not have equipment on hand. Aurum Cantus has two lines for speakers, one for export and one for the home market of China. It only took two or three weeks to get this information from the manufacturer and that was learned only by accident. JungSun is another high end maker of amplifiers. When referred to the local dealer, the building that the dealer was to be in. Was torn down many years ago and no dealer was there or anywhere near there. I still do not know if there is one or not. No one at JungSun will accept responsibility for the directions that where given or it was my mistake not theirs. Saving face it is called. This is just part of the Chinese Puzzle. So it is great to receive some straight up advice and help. This seems to be the culture here, no one is responsible but everyone wants the credit. I just want to take some time out and thank you for all your help with the pizza and your suggestions. Sorry to get off the track with my stereo buying experiences in China. Just wanted to use an example of the brick wall of frustrations when one lives in a foreign country. Putting that aside it is an adventure being here. For the most part, it is a great learning experience. Well!! Got to go. Have some replies to email about the "T" amplifier that I am interested in selling from China. As always, all the best. And thanks again!!

From China

[JohnnyLightOn]

That's a very interesting report, china!  But I'll bet there's no shortage of slave labor or cancer-causing industrial pollution!  And you moved there why???

[china]

My reply to the last post!!!

For personal and private reasons, but, because I could, can and did!!! About the rest. Enough has been said already. As always, all the best.

From China