Put the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and blend together with your fingers to evenly distribute. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the water, holding back a small amount (about 15 grams or 1 tablespoon) until you see if the flour needs it all.
Make sure you have a plastic bowl scraper at hand, then start to blend the water into the flour with your fingers. As the flour begins to absorb the water and the mixture starts to thicken, plunge both hands in and squeeze the dough between your thumbs and fingers. Work from the side of the bowl closest to you across to the other side, squeezing with both hands.
Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and squeeze your way through the dough again. You will feel the dough starting to come together as a more cohesive mass, and the water and flour will become more fully incorporated. Use your bowl scraper from time to time to scrape the sticky dough from the sides of the bowl into the center. Keep rotating the bowl and squeezing the dough until everything is fully incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. It will remain a shaggy and sticky mass.
The dough should be medium-soft, having definite give but also some resistance; you should be able to feel a core when you squeeze it. Add the reserved water if the dough is not soft enough. You may even have to add additional water to get the right consistency if it still feels too stiff. It is better to have a dough that is a little wet than one that is too dry.
Turn out the dough onto an unfloured work surface, using the bowl scraper to get it all out of the bowl and scraping as much off your hands as you can. Resist the urge to add flour to the work surface or the dough at this stage.
Starting with the edge closest to you, grab the dough with both hands, palms down, and pull it gently toward you. Stretch it up and flip it over the top of the dough mass by 2 or 3 inches and press it into the surface.
Grab the new edge closest to you and stretch it gently up and flip it over the top.
Repeat this stretching and flipping of the dough four or five times, working your way to the far side of the mass. The stretches should be gentle enough not to tear the dough apart. As you continue this process, the dough will hold together better and be easier to stretch.
Scrape up the dough with a dough scraper, rotate it a quarter turn, and repeat the stretching and flipping through the dough mass four or five times, 3 to 5 minutes. With each stretch and flip of the dough, you will feel it developing, becoming more cohesive and less sticky.
When most of the dough holds together and pulls off the work surface as you stretch it, slide the dough scraper under it and gather it into a ball. The dough will not be fully developed yet and will still be a little sticky.
Cup your hands around the bottom of the far side of the ball and pull it gently toward you, allowing the dough to grip the work surface, then move your hands to the left, rotating the dough counterclockwise.
Return your hands behind the dough and pull and rotate again one or two times. This will help shape the dough into a smooth ball.
Return the ball to the bowl with the smooth side up and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Dust your work surface lightly with all-purpose flour and turn out the dough so that the smooth side is down. Gently press out the dough to flatten it into a round about 2 inches thick.
Grab the edge closest to you and stretch it up and over the top of the dough, about two-thirds of the way to the opposite side, and press into the surface.
Grab the edge opposite you and stretch and fold it toward you over the first fold, about two-thirds of the way to the closest edge, and press into the surface. Rotate the dough a quarter turn and repeat two more folds, one away from you and one toward you.
Turn the dough over so the seam side is down. Form a ball by cupping your hands around the bottom of the far side of the dough and pulling it toward you, rotating the dough counterclockwise. Repeat one or two times to form a ball. You will notice that the dough is more developed and will stretch tighter than before. Be careful not to stretch it too tight; if the surface starts to tear, stop tightening.
Return the ball to the bowl, smooth side up, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Repeat this stretching and folding three more times at 15-minute intervals for a total of four folds over an hour. This will develop into a smooth, elastic dough with a good gluten network.