The role of salt here is two-fold, first, to promote the development of gluten tissue in the dough, making it tough to support the mixture, and second, to inhibit the yeast, delaying the fermentation rate. We use room temperature cold water instead of warm water. The ratio of yeast and flour is 1.1%, rather than the usual 1.4%, the purpose is also to avoid the fermentation going too fast as slow fermentation is the first tip to creating delicious bread.

Add 3 g of salt to the flour.

Stir in evenly as high concentrations of salt can instantly kill the yeast.

Mix 4 g of yeast and 200g cold water (at room temperature) and stir evenly to ensure the yeast is combined evenly.

Tip the flour out onto your clean work surface and with a scraper make a ‘nest’ or hole like a crater in the middle.

Pour the yeast water directly into the “crater” in the center, and then with your finger gently slide some of the flour from the inside edges into the middle of the yeast water until it has the appearance of batter.

Then mix all the flour together with a scraper to form the dough. Why do I push a little bit of flour into the water first? Because the proportion of the dough water is relatively high, and so doing it this way and will make the rest of the dough a little firmer, and not too soft and sticky.

On the contrary, in the production of noodles, because the proportion of dough water is relatively low, it must be the opposite way, adding flour bit by bit to the water which will make the dough soft for kneading.

And then hand mix into a dough.

The last part of the process is the most manual part: kneading. Knead the dough for at least 15 minutes to form a smooth and soft dough. To knead, press down softly on the dough and apply a little force and push it forward. The kneading method should not be too fierce, or it is tiring. Kneading gently can be therapeutic once you get into a rhythm!

Once the dough is smooth and shiny, shape it into a ball. Take a large bowl and coat the sides and base with a thin layer of vegetable oil (use a relatively light vegetable oil such as peanut oil or grape seed oil) and place the ball of dough inside. Cover the dough itself closely with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place to rise for 40 minutes. Here it is 20 C room temperature, if the room temperature is high, you can shorten the time to 30 minutes.

After this first fermentation take the dough out, then knead again. The main purpose of this second kneading is to expel any air or bubbles from the dough, making it soft and flexible, and avoid getting any big holes in the finished bread. Knead for about 5-10 minutes, and then put the dough back into the bowl, covered with plastic wrap to continue fermentation for another 40 minutes.

This is “fermentative – exhaust”. The kneading cycle requires 4 rounds in total.

After the last round of kneading, lay the dough on your work surface and shape it into a uniform cylindrical shape. Cut into 6 equal parts.

These are the 6 buns. Steamed bread is best as buns and does not do as well in a whole loaf, as it forms large air holes inside the bread. To ensure well-shaped buns, the dough requires constant turning so that all sides of the dough are kneaded evenly ensuring smooth and uniform buns.

These are the 6 buns. Steamed bread is best as buns and does not do as well in a whole loaf, as it forms large air holes inside the bread. To ensure well-shaped buns, the dough requires constant turning so that all sides of the dough are kneaded evenly ensuring smooth and uniform buns.

The shape of the bun should be tall and narrow, like this, but after the second rising it will gradually expand horizontally, becoming round and ball-shaped.

Place the bun dough cylinders into the steamer for the second rising. To prevent the dough from sticking, use baking paper on the base of the steamer. Set the steam temperature to 45-50 C. The second rising time is about 30 minutes. Bread made following this technique of rising is pretty much foolproof, and produces delicious bread!

Finally, steaming the bread is a very simple process: put cold water into the steamer and the buns onto the steamer. Bring to the boil and turn down to medium heat, cook for 10 minutes, and then turn off the stove. Wait 3 minutes and your steamed buns can be taken out!