When to use bleached vs. unbleached flour?
When flour is first milled, it’s naturally yellowish in color. Flour bleaching agents are added (such as peroxide and chlorine) to yield whiter color and finer grain. My thought is that some bleaching is fine but when you overdo it, you rob the flour of too much flavor. Note that for making tender sweets, such as cookies and cakes, I use bleached all-purpose flour. For savories, such as pot stickers or poached shuijiao dumplings, unbleached flour contributes a more toothsome texture and deep flavor. How to choose all purpose flour for bao and other Asian dumplings? High-protein flour, such as King Arthur All-Purpose (flour stats sheet), do not work for most Asian foods because the gluten (protein) level is too high – around 11.7 percent. Doughy Asian foods are not of the rustic European kind; chewiness is obtained from the addition of starches or other techniques, not from the wheat flour alone. All-purpose flour with a moderate about of gluten — about 10.5 percent — works best for A
