Japanese rice dumplings “Mitarashi dango”
About Japanese rice dumplings “Mitarashi dango”
Japanese rice dumplings “Mitarashi dango” are rice flour dumplings that are skewered, lightly grilled, and dipped in a sweet soy sauce glaze. It is a Japanese sweet that a wide range of generations from children to adults love it. In addition to Japanese confectionery specialty stores, you can also purchase it at supermarkets and, in recent years, convenience stores.
The chewy texture, the lightly toasted aroma, and the sweet soy sauce glaze are an exquisite combination. Soy sauce is the most familiar condiment for Japanese people. It is a nostalgic food that everyone in Japan has eaten since childhood.
I can’t buy it easily in Europe, so I sometimes make it at home. It’s a simple version, but once you make it, your family will happily eat it.
Below I put a link to an article about Japanese rice dumpling (dango), please read it if you like.
Recipe tips
You can mix rice flour and glutinous rice flour to make the texture of rice dumplings to your liking. If the proportion of rice flour is high, the rice dumpling will be firm and chewy. If there is a lot of glutinous rice flour, the texture will be soft, sticky and chewy. I like soft one, so I use more glutinous rice flour. The recipe uses 40% rice flour and 60% glutinous rice flour, but feel free to make it several times and find the ratio you like best.
Basically, the rice dumplings are skewered and grilled to brown them. So If you want to brown it, it’s convenient to use a frying pan or kitchen torch. However, you can omit it. It’s delicious enough just by boiling them and pouring sweet soy sauce over it.
Japanese rice dumplings “Mitarashi dango”
Equipment
- 1 Large pot to boil dumplings
- 1 Sauce pan
- 1 bowl
- 1 Frying pan or kitchen torch
Ingredients
- 90 gram Glutinous rice flour
- 60 gram Rice flour
- 15 gram Fine granulated sugar
- 120 gram Water (80% of flour) for dumplings
- 2 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon Mirin
- 2 tablespoon Cornstarch or potato starch
- 4 tablespoon Granulated sugar
- 100 ml Water for glaze
Instructions
- Put glutinous rice flour, rice flour, and sugar in a bowl and mix well.
- Add about 90% of the water and mix. When the whole thing comes together to some extent, knead it with your hands to make a smooth ball. (If the dough is too wet, add a bit more rice flour. If it's too dry and crumbly, addanother teaspoon of water.)
- Divide the dough into 24 pieces and roll them into balls by hand.
- Boil plenty of water in a pot and boil the rice dumplings. After they float to the surface, boil them for 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through. Place the rice dumplings in cold water, and when they are cold, drain them in a colander.
- Thread 4 rice dumplings onto each skewer.
- Make sweet soy sauce glaze. Add soy sauce, mirin, sugar, cornstarch and water to the saucepan and mix with a spatula. When the cornstarch is dissolved, heat over medium heat while constantly stirring. Once thickened, reduce heat to low and heat for 2 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Heat a frying pan and line up the rice dumpling skewers to brown both sides. Or brown with a kitchen torch. Arrange the rice dumplings on a plate and pour over the sauce.
Notes
It’s very easy to make, so please try it once. I put links to recipes that use glutinous flour, so please try making them if you like.
Thank you for reading and Bon Appetit!