Mitarashi Dango

Today in honor of Japan I'm sharing my recipe for Japanese traditional snack "Mitarashi Dango" there are lots of different kinds of dango but this one I would say very traditional and loved by many Japanese people.  Dango has consistency of mochi but a little stiffer since you have regular rice flour with the sweet rice flour which gives the chewy sticky consistency and the sauce I'd say its sweeter version of Teriyaki sauce.

You'll need either Glutinous Rice Flour or Mochiko basically they are the same thing, different maker and one is produced for Thai food and the other Japanese but I have not have problem using the Thai stuff and they are cheaper than the Japanese ones. 

You will also need Rice Flour.  I use the Thai one because the Japanese Rice Flour Joshinko is more expensive compared to the Thai version.  Again same thing, different maker for different consumer.

so the ratio I like the best is 2 to 1.   2 parts

Glutinous Rice Flour to 1 part Rice Flour so depending on how much you want to make you can change the amount you use.  So if you just want to try it out, you can use 1 cup Glutinous Rice flour and 1/2 cup Rice flour.  mix well by hand, add warm water little at a time until you can incorporate and the consistency should be like your earlobe. Soft yet hard.... sort of like play dough. 

 then You roll it to the size you want. I like bite size maybe about a size of a quarter or less.

then boil water, drop it in the water, boil for about 7-10 min depending on your size of the dango it may take more or less time.  (again sorry for being very vague) best thing to do is take the biggest one, put it under cold water to give it a quick chill, cut it in half, if its cooked through, should be all shiny inside and out, if you see something dull or powder like its not ready yet.



Drain well

 Then stick it on a wooden stick.







We make sauce!
in a pot combine,  1/4 cup water, 2 TBSP soy sauce, 1/4 cup sugar, 2tsp corn starch over med high heat cook until it turns shiny and clear.  see the difference between the left and the right picture?

 Now we dip the dango in the sauce or spoon the sauce over the dango making sure you coat it well.  Enjoy!