Today I used different kinds of flour made the steamed buns, All-purpose flour, bread flour, cake flour, self-rising flour. you will see the different texture from different flour.
All purpose flour steamed bun it's so soft bouncy
it is soft light and fluffy, almost like eating a piece of soft bread
Bread flour steamed buns, it's also very soft, a little bit different in texture, because bread flour contains more protein, more protein in flour means more gluten and can develop, so this bread flour steamed bun has this distinct chewiness that all purpose flour steamed buns doesn't have
My recipe steamed buns: All-purpose flour+ corn starch
it's not as airy and fluffy like all purpose flour buns, it has that soft but also firm texture, I think people from Shandong province China they know what I'm talking about it's pretty much similar like the Man tou from that area
Cake flour steamed buns
it is softer than I thought but
less airy than the other three flour buns
Self- rising flour
this is so weird
I'm not just talking about the texture
I'm talking about the flavor
because the self rising flour it already contains baking soda
leavening and salt,
so you can taste baking soda and salt inside of this bun
and as you can see the texture is not soft and fluffy
it's firm and hard, so it's not great for the steamed buns
I don't recommend to use this self rising flour to make steamed buns at all
otherwise all purpose flour and bread flour are the good options for steamed buns
you also can try my recipe use all purpose flour , add some corn starch into it too it's great just texture a little bit different
The cake flour, I personally Don't recommend use it for steam buns unless you use it for some special Cantonese Dim sum, they require to uses low protein, low gluten cake flour, still soft less airy not too chewy
ingredients:
2 and 1/2 cups flour(all purpose or bread flour)
1 cup lukewarm water
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp instant dry yeast
今天我用四种面粉做了五款馒头（有一种是我自己的方子），大家可以看一下不同面粉在发酵过程中的区别，以及蒸出来之后的结果。
配方比例适合中筋与高筋：2杯半面粉，一杯温水，2汤匙糖，1/2汤匙速发酵母（instant dry yeast）(不要用active dry yeast活性干酵母)
我的配方：2又1/4杯中筋面粉，1/4杯玉米淀粉，1茶匙泡打粉，一杯温水，2汤匙糖，1/2汤匙速发酵母
适合底筋面粉：3又1/2杯-4杯低筋粉，一杯温水，3汤匙糖，1汤匙速发酵母
个人不建议用自发粉（self-rising flour）来做馒头，口感不好。