Mantou

This is the steamed bread people in northern China, a wheat-growing region, eat as a staple in lieu of rice. From the crack of dawn, steaming hot mantou is sold on street stalls, in taverns and in restaurants, and it is eaten in the same way, accompanied by dishes, as one eats rice. For better or worse, mantou is always made with light, white flour rather than whole wheat flour, just as Chinese people eat polished white rice rather than brown rice.

‘To make mantou at home is as comm