Introduction: Kneading dough should be the most technical and difficult part of making buns, requiring attention to the dough's wetness and dryness, and the water's temperature. Here, I'll explain the general process. When kneading dough, generally no additives are used. In summer, a small amount of salt can be added, but not excessively, as too much will make the dough skin tough. Do not add alkali, as it will affect the color of the dough skin.
How to knead dough for buns?
Ingredients: 500g all-purpose flour (I like to use high-gluten flour from Damofang), 250g warm water (flour to water ratio is 2:1), 2 teaspoons of dry yeast (that's 10g. I usually use Angel dry yeast), and 5g of sugar.
1. Place the flour in a basin and make a well in the center.
2. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water (this process takes about five minutes). Note that the water temperature should not be too high; just warm to the touch. Otherwise, it will kill the yeast and render it inactive.
3. Pour the mixture from step 2 into the well in step 1. Immediately stir with chopsticks to form a small dough, then knead by hand into a dough that does not stick to your hands. If the dough is too wet when following a 2:1 flour-to-water ratio, add a little more flour. I've seen on TV that this indicates good quality flour. The final kneaded dough should meet the "three glows" standard: dough glow (the surface is smooth and not sticky), hand glow (no flour on your hands), and basin glow (no flour left in the basin). After kneading, cover the basin with a damp cloth and let it ferment in a warm place. In summer, room temperature is fine. In winter, you can place it on a heater, but never in direct sunlight! The fermentation time is about 1 hour.
Precautions: When adding water to the flour, avoid adding it bit by bit. Add all the water at once. Adding water gradually will result in a dough with insufficient gluten strength, requiring a long time of kneading to achieve the "dough glow" effect.
4. After fermentation, the dough should have a faint sour smell. Take out the fermented dough, place it on a lightly floured work surface, and knead it again with a little more flour until it is no longer sticky. Let it rest for ten minutes.
5. At this point, you can start making buns, twisted rolls, and other leavened foods. After shaping them, let them rest for another twenty minutes. During this time, prepare your steamer and bring the water to a boil. Place the shaped buns, rolls, etc., in the steamer and steam for 15 minutes.
Kneading dough should be the most technical and difficult part of making buns, requiring attention to the dough's wetness and dryness, and the water's temperature. Here, I'll explain the general process. When kneading dough, generally no additives are used. In summer, a small amount of salt can be added, but not excessively, as too much will make the dough skin tough. Do not add alkali, as it will affect the color of the dough skin. For specific kneading techniques, you need to knead, slap, and rest the dough a lot. According to traditional methods, the dough should be slapped and rested three times each, going through three cycles of soft and hard before it is ready to use.
How to make Pork and Cabbage Buns:
Filling: 3/4 lean pork and 1/4 fat pork. (Absolutely do not use all lean pork, it won't be tasty!!)
Cabbage: 1 head.
Ingredients: 1 large green onion, chopped ginger set aside.
Dough for buns:
Flour: 500g, my measurement is not very precise, just about that amount.
Yeast, baking powder, sugar, salt to taste.
Steps are as follows: Super time-saving. Note, do not make the dough too hard.
1. Mix the flour, yeast, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Stir the dry flour with chopsticks.
2. The water for kneading should be hot, but not scalding. Pour in the water and stir with chopsticks until the dry flour is gone. Knead into a ball, place it in a small basin, cover with plastic wrap, and put a lid on it. Let it rise until it's double in size. This is what I read online; my dough had already grown by the time I finished preparing the filling. (Tip: I placed a small basin of hot water under the dough basin. I read online to put it in a warm place, but it's spring and there's no really warm spot, so I came up with this method. But the water can't be too hot, I was afraid of cooking the dough.)
3. Prepare the pork filling first, this allows the flavors to fully penetrate. Add half of the chopped green onion and ginger. Add 1/2 of a level KFC spoonful of salt (A note: because the seasonings are added in two parts, first to bring out the flavor of the pork, don't be lazy and add too much seasoning at once), cooking wine, light or dark soy sauce, chicken powder, Lübanlv sauce (optional, as it adds a nice flavor to cabbage filling), and five-spice powder or thirteen-flavor powder. Add a little water and mix well, set aside.
4. Heat oil in a wok. When it's about 70% hot, add 1 KFC spoonful of Sichuan peppercorns, reduce the heat, and fry the peppercorns until they are dark brown. If you're not sure, you can stop when you smell a strong peppercorn aroma. Remove and discard the peppercorns, and set the peppercorn oil aside.
5. Wash and chop the cabbage. Put on gloves (to protect your hands) and sprinkle four level spoons of salt on the cabbage (adjust the amount based on the cabbage's quantity). Knead and squeeze the cabbage repeatedly until it wilts and releases water. Rinse the salt off the cabbage with clean water. Drain the water in a colander, then squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Add it to the pork filling. Add the seasonings used for the pork filling (not including the salt yet), pour in the peppercorn oil, and finally add salt and mix well.
6. Take dry flour on the work surface. Take the risen dough out of the basin, knead it on the work surface until smooth, divide it into even-sized portions, roll out the skins, and fill.
7. Place the buns in the steamer with cold water. Once the steam starts coming out, steam for 12-15 minutes. The fragrant buns are ready!
How to make Tianjin Buns
Ingredients: 500g refined flour, 400g pork, 100g each of sesame oil and soy sauce, a small amount of green onion, ginger, salt, and monosodium glutamate, old dough starter, and an appropriate amount of alkali.
Method: The main difference of Tianjin buns from others is the use of less old dough starter. The ratio of water dough to old dough should be 70:30. The dough should not be over-proofed, just enough to rise. Knead in the alkali evenly. Divide into 50g portions, then roll each portion into a round skin with the edges thin and the center thick. Mix the pork filling with minced ginger, soy sauce, chopped green onions, and water. Stir well, then add sesame oil, salt, and monosodium glutamate, and mix evenly until ready to use.
When wrapping the buns, place an appropriate amount of filling on the rolled-out skin. Use your right hand to pleats with your fingers while your left hand turns the skin. It's best to make 15-16 pleats per bun. Place them in a steamer and steam over high heat for 10 minutes.
How to make meat buns?
1. The dough can be a leavened dough or a half-scalded, half-cold dough (i.e., scald half the flour with boiling water and mix the other half with cold water). The leavened dough should just be softer than the dough used for regular steamed buns.
2. Prepare the filling: Use a pork filling with a fat-to-lean ratio of 4:6. First, add salt, soy sauce, five-spice powder, chicken powder, cooking wine, and sugar. Mix these thoroughly with the pork. Then add water [or pork rib broth] and stir vigorously in one direction. When you can no longer see any water, add more water and stir again. Continue until the filling is neither too runny nor too thick and has a sticky consistency. Then add chopped green onions and ginger, mix well, and drizzle with sesame oil.
Note: For example, for 2 jin (1kg) of pork filling: Salt: 1 heaping spoonful. Soy sauce {dark soy sauce: 5 spoonfuls}: Cooking wine: 4 spoonfuls. Sugar: 1 level spoonful. Five-spice powder. Chicken powder: to taste. Water: 8 liang - 1 jin. Must be added in multiple portions to the filling. Using cold pork rib broth is better.
3. Start wrapping.
After wrapping, steam in a steamer for 20-25 minutes. Before placing in the steamer, wait for the water to boil, then add a little cold water to the steamer (for leavened dough). This step is not needed for half-scalded dough.
On this basis, you can also add celery, dried vegetables, vermicelli, cabbage, etc. Add whatever vegetable you like.
How to make Soup Dumplings (Xiaolongbao)
Kaifeng's small steamed soup dumplings have a history of over a hundred years, and its founder was Huang Jishan. It is now operated by the state-owned First Floor Bun Shop and is a famous local specialty.
Ingredient Formula: 5kg refined flour, 5kg pork hind leg, 1250g sesame oil, 400g soy sauce, 150g cooking wine, 150g minced ginger, 55g monosodium glutamate, 100g salt, 35g sugar.
Production Method
1. Grind the pork hind leg into a filling. Place it in a basin and add soy sauce, cooking wine, minced ginger, monosodium glutamate, salt, and sugar. In winter, use 4 liters of warm water; in summer, use 3.5 liters of cold water. Add the water in 5-6 batches, stirring into a filling that is neither too runny nor too thick. Finally, add the sesame oil and mix well.
2. Pour the flour into a basin and add 2.5 liters of water (hot water in winter, warm water in spring and autumn, cold water in summer). Mix the dough evenly. When mixing the dough, do not pour in all the water at once. Start with a little water, mix into coarse crumbs, then gradually add the remaining water and knead into a smooth dough. Perform the "dian mian" (adding dry flour) process three times, making the dough soft then hard. Then, wet your hands and knead the dough again into a moderately firm dough.
3. Take the kneaded dough out of the basin onto the work surface and knead repeatedly. Depending on the dough's consistency, add a small amount of dry flour as needed. Knead and fold the dough several times. Roll it into a long log, divide into 15g portions, roll each portion into a thin wrapper with thicker edges, and fill with 20g of filling, pinching 18-21 pleats.
4. Place the raw dumplings into a small steamer (32-35cm in diameter) and steam over high heat. The steaming time should not be too long, or the dumplings will lose their bottom and the soup will leak. They should be eaten right after steaming, served directly from the steamer. When eating, serve with black vinegar and garlic cloves.
Product Characteristics: Thin skin with large filling, filled with soup and dripping with oil. When lifted from the steamer, they resemble lanterns; when placed on a plate, they look like chrysanthemums.