Kneading and proofing the dough was a bit more complex.
However, it was complex for her fans. For Jiang Qiuqiu, making steamed buns was second nature.
She mixed flour and water, adding the yeast powder of this era. The two originally separate ingredients gradually came together until the powder formed a ball of dough.
The initial dough wasn't smooth. Jiang Qiuqiu stressed the importance of the flour-to-water-to-yeast ratio, saying, "After you finish kneading, we need to give the yeast and flour some time to proof. You can wrap the dough in a sealed bag for one to two hours."
"To save time on the stream, I'm going to take out some dough I proofed earlier."
"The proofed dough will have expanded and gotten bigger. Just like before, we'll gently knead it to get the air bubbles out. And there you have it—a smooth ball of dough. At this point, the whole process is pretty much done."
