The traditional method of making steamed buns with old noodles.

Laomian steamed buns are made by leaving a little of the fermented dough for steamed buns last time as dough, adding flour, water and seed dough, fermenting overnight, and then adding the fermented dough (leavened dough) the next morning. Steamed buns are made by adding water, alkali and fresh flour into the main dough, and then dividing, shaping, proofing and steaming. The ingredients for making steamed buns include flour, water, edible alkali, and sugar. It is best to buy bagged flour without additives in the mall. The bulk flour in the vegetable market here is pale in color and smells like lime. I don’t know what is added to it. Edible alkali is available in stores.

Material dosage:

Noodle fertilizer: 10 ml of flour, 2.5 ml of water, 1 chopstick head of old noodles.

Seed dough: 240 ml of flour (that is, one cup of rice measured in a rice cooker, accounting for about one-third of the total flour), about 60 ml of water (one-quarter of a cup).

Main dough: 480 ml (two cups) of fresh flour, about 100 ml (half cup) of water, 40 ml of white sugar (if you don’t like sweet steamed buns, you can omit the sugar and add more water).

Edible alkali: a small amount.

Preparation of flour fertilizer: Use chopsticks to pick up a little yeast dough and mash it in water. Add flour and mix well with chopsticks. Then knead it into a small dough with your fingers, place it in a covered container, and ferment at room temperature. When the dough puffs up and holes are faintly visible on the surface, it is ready to use. The amount of flour fertilizer can decrease or increase with the high or low temperature. If you use a refrigerator, you can keep more yeast dough, seal it and store it in the lower shelf of the refrigerator, and then take it out and use it directly as dough fertilizer, but do not exceed three days, otherwise it may go bad. If it is your first time to make flour fertilizer, you must first dissolve a little yeast powder or a few drops of white wine in water to obtain the yeast needed for fermentation (I have not tried the method of adding white wine, it is for reference only).

Seed dough: Before going to bed at night, soak the flour fertilizer in water, use chopsticks to spread and stir it, add flour and mix into seed dough, and place it in a covered container to ferment overnight. The main purpose of kneading the dough this time is to cultivate a large amount of yeast, so you can add a little more water to facilitate the reproduction of yeast. You don't need to knead the seed dough too carefully, just let the flour absorb enough water. The most suitable temperature for yeast reproduction is around 28 degrees. If the temperature is low, it is best to put the container in the microwave or oven overnight.

Main dough: If fermentation goes smoothly, the seed dough will turn into enlarged yeast dough with slight holes on the surface and a sour taste the next morning. Since the dough becomes sour after a long period of fermentation, alkali must be added to neutralize the acidity of the dough. After neutralizing the acid and alkali, the alkali is harmless to the human body and can bring out the flavor of the old noodle steamed buns. If the alkali is added accurately, the steamed buns will be white in color and sweet in taste; if the alkali is not added enough, the steamed buns will be dark in color and taste sour; if the alkali is added too much, the steamed buns will be yellow, with an alkaline smell or even bitter taste. How do you know whether the base addition is accurate? There are several ways, I mainly rely on smell. The alkali and sugar must be dissolved in water first, and then poured into the container of yeast dough. If the alkali is directly sprinkled into the dough, it will be difficult to knead it evenly, and the finished steamed buns will have yellow spots, which are "alkali flowers". Alkaline water originally has no taste, but when mixed with flour, it will produce a special alkaline smell. After fully mixing the yeast dough and alkaline water, pick up the batter with chopsticks and put it under your nose to smell it. If there is a sour smell, it means that there is not enough alkali added; if there is a strong alkali smell, it means there is too much alkali. In addition, if the color of the batter turns yellow, it means there is too much alkali; It’s good if it’s acidic but not alkali but has a noodle flavor. When the temperature exceeds 30 degrees, the dough will produce a lot of acid quickly. During the subsequent proofing process, the steamed bun base will continue to produce acid, and the added alkali will continue to be neutralized (commonly known as alkaline running), so the amount of alkali added must be greater. Some can be added until it has a slightly alkaline taste; when the weather is cold, add less. As the temperature is now nearly 30 degrees, take a cup of yeast dough made of flour as an example. Use a 1.25 ml measuring spoon (the smallest one in a set of 4 measuring spoons) to measure it. A level spoon and a little more alkali will be enough. (The dosage of alkali with different purity may be different). After adding the alkali, pour in the fresh flour, stir with chopsticks until the flour absorbs the water, then pour the scattered dough onto a clean chopping board, and knead it into a dough of moderate hardness. If there is not enough water or flour, add more. I usually add enough flour at one time and less water first, and then add more during the kneading process. Knead and knead until the buns become white, i.e. dough, hands and chopping board. The buns will turn white only when the main dough is thoroughly kneaded, but you don’t need to knead it for too long, about 10-15 minutes is enough.

Waking up the steamed bun dough: Roll the kneaded main dough into a dough rod, sprinkle a little flour on the chopping board and spread it evenly (it can prevent it from sticking to the bottom, but it is not advisable to sprinkle too much to avoid the surface of the steamed bun becoming smooth). Place the dough pin on top and cut into several dough pieces with a knife. Use your hands to shape the dough into a steamed bun shape. Place the steamed buns in a steaming tray or steamer covered with wet gauze. Leave a distance of two finger widths between the doughs to prevent them from sticking after expansion. Once the steamed buns are placed, do not place them again. Move it, cover the pot and wait for steaming. This time of proofing is for the reproduction and gas production of yeast. The most suitable temperature for yeast to produce gas is about 35 degrees, so the temperature of proofing can be controlled slightly higher. In summer, it can be proofed at room temperature. When the weather is cool, you can heat a pot of water and put the steamed bun base in the pot to proof. The water temperature should be slightly warm to the touch and should not be too high. If the water temperature is high, the humidity will be high. Excessive water vapor will condense on the surface of the steamed buns. After steaming, the surface of the steamed buns will easily bubble. If the temperature exceeds 50 degrees, yeast will be burned to death, resulting in the formation of steamed buns. Can't get up. It is very important to accurately grasp the proofing time of the steamed buns. If the proofing time is insufficient, the steamed buns will crack and taste too strong after steaming; if the proofing time is excessive, the steamed buns will shrink and collapse after steaming. How to wake up? As long as you see the steamed buns expand to twice the original size (i.e. double the size), don't be greedy, otherwise as soon as you open the lid after steaming, the white and plump steamed buns will shrink into a "smashed to death dog" under your eyes. "Steamed bun. Do not frequently open the lid to check during the proofing process, otherwise the surface water of the steamed buns will be lost too much and there will be small cracks in the skin after steaming. The proofing time varies greatly depending on the proofing temperature and the activity of the yeast used by each person, ranging from about 1.5 hours to 3.5 hours (the proofing speed of old noodle steamed buns is slower than that of yeast steamed buns). If you can't make it in time for breakfast that day, you can put the steamed buns in the refrigerator and re-steam them the next morning, but the flavor will be slightly less. It is worth mentioning that if the dough fertilizer is made with yeast powder, the dough will produce less acid and rise faster during the first few times of making steamed buns. The amount of alkali added and the rising time should be adjusted accordingly.

Steaming: For example, 6 steamed buns made with the above amount of flour are enough to steam over medium heat for 11 minutes. If the amount of flour is large, the time will be longer. The heat should not be too high or too high. The surface of the large steamed buns will bubble. To steam old noodle steamed buns, boil the pot under water (it is best to prepare two pot lids. The steamed buns will be placed outside the pot during the few minutes from the heat to the water boiling, but they must also be covered to prevent the steamed buns from losing moisture), then turn off the heat. Remove the lid after 3 minutes to prevent the steamed buns from shrinking due to excessive temperature difference.

Finally, open the lid, and the steaming steamed buns are ready to be served. At this time, if paired with a bowl of yuba and ginkgo porridge or a cup of homemade soy milk, a DIY classic Chinese breakfast is ready. How to steam steamed buns

How to steam steamed buns to make them soft and firm?

The tips are as follows:

1. Use cold water to knead the noodles in summer and warm water in winter. Kneading and rising of noodles in winter should be done 1 to 2 hours earlier than in summer. Add water carefully.

2. Knead the dough several times to encourage the starch and protein in the flour to fully absorb water, and the resulting gluten will have good consistency. The mixed dough should be kept at a certain temperature, preferably 30°C.

3. When the noodles have risen, you must control the degree of fermentation. If you see that the dough has become honeycomb-shaped and there are many small ones, it means it has fermented well. The larger the eyes of the honeycomb surface are, the older the fermentation is, or even over-fermentation.

4. The steamed buns must be steamed and cooked through the noodles. The noodles last about 15 to 20 hours in winter and shorter in summer. When the steamed buns are cooked, the water in the pot must be boiled to the full steam for 10 minutes.

5. There should be no air leakage at the joint between the cage and the mouth of the pot. Any air leakage must be sealed with a damp cloth. When steaming in an aluminum pot, the lid should be tightly closed.

6. When steaming steamed buns, the pot must be heated with cold water and gradually heated up so that the steamed buns are evenly heated. Don't try to steam the steamed buns with hot or boiling water right from the start, as the steamed buns will easily become raw. If your steamed buns are a little yellow, spray some white vinegar and they won't turn yellow.