Basic Dough for Chinese Steamed Buns Recipe

If you’ve ever been to a Chinese bakery you know that there are tons of different varieties of buns available. There are steamed buns, baked buns, fried treats, and a variety of meat filled buns. The recipe below is for the dough that is used in many of the steamed and baked buns. This is a basic yeast dough which is quite simple to make, however it does take some time. It must sit for 2 hours prior to use so that it can rise. If you are making filled buns, I suggest making the dough first. Then while it is left to rise, make the filling for your buns. Enjoy!

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6 cups flour
1¾ cup warm water
¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp shortening

Place the flour in a large bowl and set it aside.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the warm water and the sugar. Stir thoroughly until all of the sugar has dissolved.

Next, add the yeast and stir it in gently. Let the yeast sit for 10 minutes so that it activates.

While the yeast mixture sits, add the baking powder to the flour stirring it with a fork until it is mixed through. You can sift these two ingredients together if you wish, but it is not necessary.

After about 10 minutes the yeast should be active. The mixture should have a large amount of foam on top. Once the mixture has accumulated the foam, pour it into the flour while stirring.

Then add the shortening and continue to stir until a stiff dough forms.

Once a dough forms, use your hands and mix everything together thoroughly.

If the dough feels too dry and is breaking apart, add just a little water and continue to mix it with your hands. At this point, the dough should be a bit sticky and malleable. Continue to mix until all of the flour is incorporated into the dough.

Once everything is mixed through, knead the dough with your hands for another 10 minutes. Use the heel of your hands to press into the dough and knead it.