Kawaii Mitarashi Dango

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Hi Guys, today we are making these adorable “Kawaii Mitarashi Dango”.  Have you ever eaten Japanese confectionery DANGO? Small round sweet dumpling balls are skewered on bamboo sticks and covered with a gooey brown sauce.  

Mitarashi dango are my favorite traditional sweet, they are quite satisfying without being overly sweet. The shiny brown colored sauce (which is called Mitarashi Sauce) is sweet and savory at the same time. It goes perfectly with the bland, slightly chewy Dango or dumplings (Dango is the name for unfilled solid dumplings.)

This traditional Dango dessert is not as difficult as you may think. I hope you enjoy these traditional snacks and a taste of history today!

KAWAII MITARASHI DANGO
Yield: 18 pieces
Active time: 1 1/2 hour
Total time: 2 hours

INGREDIENTS
Dango:

• 240 grams Glutinous Rice Flour
• 60 grams Icing Sugar
• 260 grams Japanese Silken Tofu
• Cocoa Powder
• Food Colouring (Black, Red)

Mitarashi Sauce:

• 130 grams Water
• 20 grams Soy Sauce
• 10 grams Corn Starch
• 45 grams Brown Sugar

INSTRUCTIONS
Dango:

1. In a large bowl, mix together Glutinous Rice Flour, Icing Sugar and Japanese Silken Tofu. Simply mix the ingredients together until it’s form a dough ball.
   *If the dough is too dry, you can add more tofu and if it’s too sticky to handle just add more Glutinous Rice Flour.
2. Once the dough reach the right consistency, you can start to colouring them (for the extra flavor, instead of using food colouring I’m using cocoa powder for the brown colour).
   *You can create any design and colour you want, just take note that after boiling, the colour will be darker than before, so be mindfull with the colour.
3. Take about 20-25 grams of dough and roll it into a ball shape for the teddy bear, lucky cat and panda head. Place the head onto a small piece of greaseproff paper, then add the details as shown in the video.
4. After finish with all the design, bring a small pot of water to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Carefully place the dangos into the simmering water (you can cook a few of them at a time).
5. Remove the floating greaseproff paper.
6. When dangos start to float, that means they are ready to be picked up! (it will takes for about 3-5 minutes). Scoop them out and place it into a bowl of ice water so they don’t stick together.
7. After cooling down a bit, take out the dangos from the ice water, then simply stick the dango into a skewer. Make sure that you stick it right in the middle of the head

Mitarashi Sauce:
Put all the mitarashi ingredients in a saucepan, then set on a medium heat and bring it to a boil. Keep stiring until the sauce has thickened. Pour it onto the Dangos and serve.

NOTES

1. Dango comes with many different varieties, so they are usually named after the various seasonings served on or with it.
2. In Japan, this dango is easily found in markets or convenience stores and I think you also might find it at Japan store in your country.
3. Some people use water to make these, but I’m prefer to use tofu for a hint of extra flavor and it will give the dangos a light and fluffy texture.
4. It’s best to serve it hot, coz the colder it gets, the chewier it will become.
5. Put the Dango in an airtight container and keep at room temperature up to 2 days.
   If you live in hot place, I recommend to put them in an airtight container or a ziplock bag and store them in the refrigerartor.
   If you can’t eat them after a day or 2, you might try freezing them (you can keep them for about a month in a freezer). When you want to eat them, It is the best to thaw them naturally at room temperature (this takes about 30-60 minutes) or you can microwave it.
6. As for the uncooked Dango, although you can freeze them in ziplock bag for up to 3 months, these method will dry them out and they cracked slightly around the edges. They did cook as per normal once they were dropped into the boiling water, but the cracked edges are not as perfect as you’ll like them to be, so better not freeze them too long.