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Starters and koji from Northern China

Jiaozi (dried dough-crumb starter for mantou)酵子

Jiaozi is a Chinese traditional starter for steamed buns (mantou). A grain base such as wheat flour, rice, corn flour or bran is mixed with water, fermented naturally again and again, and air-dried into crumbs or powder that keep between bakes. It carries a mixed culture led by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Jiaozi itself.

Short entryStarters and koji

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo source gives household amounts; one commercial Henan laomian was made from corn flour, wheat flour, rice wine and a melon-based qu.
A grain base (wheat flour, rice, corn flour or bran)[liu2022]
Water, mixed with the base in a set proportion[liu2022]
A piece of old fermented dough to seed it[liu2014]
Starterbackslop
Start
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What changes: Old dough is mixed into flour or corn meal and water

Step 1 of 4
Mix the grain base with water and old dough
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts
Lactic acid bacteria
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Jiaozi is a Chinese traditional starter for steamed buns (mantou). A grain base such as wheat flour, rice, corn flour or bran is mixed with water, fermented naturally again and again, and air-dried into crumbs or powder that keep between bakes. It carries a mixed culture led by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia anomala do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
AciditypH 3.7–5.5Measured[liu2014]Air-dry into crumbs or powder

What makes this one different

Jiaozi is a dried sourdough. Western sourdough starters are kept wet and fed, while jiaozi is dried to crumbs or powder so it keeps without feeding.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Henan market starter (dry powder)Higher pH (5.46) and lower acidity than the wet starters from five other provinces.
  • Commercial Xinxiang laomianMade from corn flour, wheat flour, rice wine and a melon-based qu.

Safety

One study notes that these mixed starters may even contain pathogenic bacteria along with yeasts, lactic bacteria, Bacillus and Acetobacter. The finished buns are steamed.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Steamed buns made from sour dough are recorded from the 13th century. Commercial active dry yeast reached the Chinese market in the mid-1980s and largely replaced traditional starters, but many rural areas still use them.

  1. [yang2013] Yang H.Y., Zhang G.H., He G.Q. 2013, Biodiversity of microorganisms in Chinese traditional starter cultures ecosystem (传统面食发酵剂中菌群多样性的研究), Modern Food Science and Technology 29(9):2115–2119paper
  2. [liu2014] Liu T.J., Li Y., Wu S.R., Jin L.T., Zhang G.H., Yang H.Y., He G.Q. 2014, Isolation and identification of bacteria and yeast from Chinese traditional sourdough (传统酸面团中细菌与酵母菌的 分离与鉴定), Modern Food Science and Technology 30(9):114–120, doi:10.13982/j.mfst.1673-9078.2014.09.020paper
  3. [liu2022] Liu Y., Zhang C., Gao L.L., Zhang K.Y., Yan M.H., Zhang G.Z. 2022, Influence of bacterial flora and flavor substances in the process of dough fermentation (老面对面团发酵过程中菌群结构及风味物质的影响), Journal of Henan University of Technology (Natural Science) 43(3):65–73paper