This recipe is the easiest dango to make. It’s simple, uses the least ingredients and can be used in soups or as a dessert.

Easy Dango

• 1 cup mochiko
• 1/4 boiling water

Fill a medium size saucepan with water and set it to boil.

Slowly add a small amount of the boiling water to the mochiko and carefully knead the mochiko dough together with your hands. Keep slowly adding the water until the dough is the consistency of an earlobe. Form the dough into small balls and add them to the boiling water. If using the dango in soup, add them to the simmering soup.

Cook the dango for 8 minutes or until they float to the surface. If making the dango in water, use a slotted spoon to remove the dango and then toast ‘em or top them with your choice of sauces.

Makes 10 dumplings

Difficulty: Easy | Time: 15 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Moderate

This basic dango recipe is a cinch to make if you have mochiko and joshinko. I find this particular combination of mochiko (glutinous rice flour) and joshinko (non-glutinous rice flour) yields dango with just the right amount of gooieness to chew on and enough firmness for the dango to hold their shape. These dango can be topped with a wide variety of sauces, from mocha to mitarashi. Use these blank slates as tasty canvases for your dango experimentation!

Basic Dango

• 1 cup mochiko
• 2 Tbls. joshinko
• 1/3 cup boiling water

Whisk together the rice flours till they’re well blended.

Slowly add the boiling water a little at a time to the flours, mix it as much as possible with a fork and then knead it with your hands, being careful not to burn yourself. *Note: Thoroughly mixing the mochiko and the water together with a fork or spoon does not work, and will give zero indication as to whether the correct amount of water is being added.

Slowly add more water until the dough is “soft as an earlobe”.

Form the dango into 1 inch balls and place them 1/2 inch apart on a lightly greased steamer tray. Steam on high for 7 minutes. Let the dango cool and thread 3-4 dango onto a skewer.

Either serve immediately or toast the dango. To toast the dango, heat an oven to broil and place the skewered dango in the pre-heated oven. Keep a close eye on the dango and remove them once they’re a golden brown. Top them with sauces and serve hot.

Makes 6-8 skewers

Difficulty: Easy | Time: 20 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Moderate

Here’s a popular dumpling recipe made using basic dango topped with a sweet soy-based sauce.

Mitarashi Dango

• 1 recipe Basic Dango

• 1/2 cup light soy sauce (dark may be used as well)
• 4 Tbls. mirin
• 4 Tbls. dashi stock
• 1/2 cup white or brown sugar
• 1 Tbls. katakuriko (potato starch) or cornstarch, (optional)

Make the dango as per the Basic Dango recipe. While dango are steaming, make the sauce.

Make the sauce by mixing the the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar together in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for two minutes until the sugar dissolves. You may thicken the sauce by reducing it, but the mitrashi may caramelize. This method produces an intense flavor and a very shiny mitarashi.

If reducing isn’t your preferential way of thickening, then dissolve the starch in a tablespoon of water. Add the starch water to the simmering sauce and stir it in quickly. Cook and stir the sauce over low heat until the sauce thickens to your taste. Set aside.

Toast the steamed dango and top them with the mitarashi sauce. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 skewers

Difficulty: Easy | Time: 25 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Moderate

This dango is a seasonal wagashi eaten during the cherry blossom season. Enjoy hanami dango on your next nature outing and savor a bit of hanami in your own picnic basket!

Hanami Dango

The recipe is off site in my article for Sauce’s March issue. Check it out on the right sidebar!

• Note: After the dango are steamed, the green dango (yomogi or matcha) will start to turn a very dark green, and in the case of yomogi, almost black. This is perfectly normal, but doesn’t look too appealing after an hour or so. To cut back on the oxidation process, use less yomogi or switch to matcha. Use less matcha for a pastel mint color. But less matcha also means less flavor so if you’re keen on green tea and are presenting the dango to friends, try and serve the dango straight from the steamer, or keep them warm till they’re ready to be eaten to delay the oxidation.

Makes 10 skewers

Difficulty: Moderate | Time: 1 hour | Ingredient Availability: Difficult

I was inspired to create a recipe for this famous dango by the many fans who were curious about it. Botchan dango is a regional dango from Matsuyama which was made famous by Soseki Natsume’s novel, “Botchan“. This dango is a sanshoku dango (three colored dango) made from bean paste (an), egg yolk (kimi) and green tea powder (matcha) and filled with white bean paste (shiro an). I used a microwave to help make the recipe, but you can also heat the ingredients on a stove top. This is a difficult recipe but well worth the effort!

Botchan Dango

Filling

• 1/2 cup shiro an
• 1 Tbls. mochiko

An Dango

• 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbls. mochiko
• 1 Tbls. joshinko
• 1/4 cup anko (tsubu or koshi)
• 2 Tbls. sugar
• scant amount hot water

Kimi Dango

• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 Tbls. boiling water
• 2 Tbls. sugar
• 1/4 cup plus Tbls. mochiko
• 2 Tbls. sugar
• scant amount hot water

Matcha Dango

• 1 tsp. matcha
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbls. mochiko
• 3 Tbls. joshinko
• 3 Tbls. sugar
• 1 1/2 tbls. water
• scant amount hot water

• sugar water for smoothing

Make the filling by mixing together the shiro an and the mochiko. Spread the shiro an mixture onto a clean cotton cloth and steam it on high for 10 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool and form the dough into 18 equal sized balls. Cover the balls with plastic wrap and set them aside.

An
Make the an dango by mixing together the mochiko and joshinko and set aside.

Mix together the sugar and anko and heat the mix until it starts to bubble, about 30 seconds in the microwave.

Add the hot anko to the flours and knead it in well. Depending on evaporation and type of anko used, you may have to add some water to make the dough more pliable. Add hot water a few drops at a time to the dough until it’s soft enough to easily form into balls. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside.

Kimi
Make the kimi dango by whisking together the mochiko and joshinko and set aside.

Add the sugar to the boiling water and stir to dissolve. Add the egg yolks to the hot sugar water and heat until the mixture thickens. In the microwave, heat the egg mix for 5 second intervals, then stir it well. Heat then stir. Repeat. The mixture should be a creamy yellow, slightly thick and frothy.

Add the cooked yolks to the flours. Knead the mixture well, and add enough water to create a supple, but not sticky, dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside.

Matcha
Make the matcha dango by whisking the flours and matcha together.

Dissolve the sugar in the water and heat until it barely boils, about 30 seconds in the microwave. Add the boiling sugar water to the flours and carefully knead the dough well, adding enough water to make a supple dough .

Assembling the Botchan Dango
Divide the an dough into 6 equal size balls. Cover them to prevent drying and repeat with the kimi and matcha doughs. There should be 18 balls in total; 6 an, 6 kimi and 6 matcha.

Take a ball of the an dough and flatten it in a slightly dampened, clean palm. Place a ball of shiro an dough in the center of the an round and carefully cover the shiro an with the an dough. Do not overstretch the dough. Make sure it’s an even thickness throughout. Smooth the ball, using a dab of sugar water if needed.

Repeat with the rest of the an dough. Cover to prevent drying and repeat with the kimi and an balls.

Skewer the finished balls in order of an, kimi and matcha. Steam on high for 10-12 minutes. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 skewers

Difficulty: Difficult | Time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Difficult

I love malted milk balls and I love dango. My insane desire to see the two merged was what fired the ol’ noogin to craft this recipe. It’s a great example of how creative you can be with dango!

Inside Out Malted Milk Dango

• 3/4 cup mochiko
• 3 Tbls. joshinko
• 3 Tbls. baking cocoa
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tbls. instant milk powder
• 1/4 boiling water
• 1/4 cup malt powder (not malted milk*)
• 3 Tbls. sugar
• 1/4 water

Mix together the mochiko, joshinko, cocoa and dry milk.

Add the sugar to the boiling water and stir to dissolve it. Slowly add the hot sugar water to the dry ingredients a little at a time. Knead the dough and add more water as necessary to create a supple, but not mushy, dough.

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Place the balls 1/2 apart on a steam tray and steam them on high for 7 minutes.

While the balls are cooling, make the sauce by mixing together the malt, sugar and water. Heat the mixture on low heat, stirring constantly. Let the sauce reduce to desired thickness and set aside.

Skewer the chocolate dango, three per stick. Top the dango with the malt sauce and serve immediately.

Makes 7 skewers.

Difficulty: Moderate | Time: 30 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Moderate

*I used malt flour, which is malt powder without the added milk or sugar. Malted milk powder, which already contains sugar plus milk and is readily available at supermarkets, may be used. Omit the sugar and cook till thickened to your taste.

There’s an incredible variety of sweet dessert-style dango, which makes the amount of savory varieties pale in comparison. Sweet dango can be filled, topped or crafted with all manner of traditional Japanese dessert (wagashi) foodstuffs. A few of these traditional ingredients include anko (also known as an), goma (black sesame) and kinako (roasted soybean flour).

However, dango aren’t limited to just Japanese ingredients. You can get creative like I did and create your own toppings for dango; it’s your wagashi- make whatever you want with it!

If you’ve ever considered making your own dango, either with traditional or personal ingredients, this is your lucky day! Today we’ll explore the possibilities with dango and look at the many varieties of the dumplings. Get your steamers ready guys, there’s more to dango than you think!

First, let’s break down the different ways of making dango, including cooking methods, ingredients, and end with varieties.

Cooking

Technically, all dango are cooked in some manner. There are many ways to prepare and cook dango, varying in degrees of simplicity and difficulty.

Boiling
The easiest way to make dango is:

• Mix together mochiko and water
• Make mochiko dough into balls
• Drop balls in boiling water, soup or other liquid
• Cook for about fifteen minutes

Steaming
The next step up from boiling would be:

• Form the mochiko dough into balls
• Steam the dango
• Skewer the balls (optional)
• Roast the dango (optional)

Twice Cooked
Higher up on the dango difficulty scale is what I call twice-cooked dango. To make this dango:

• Reduce dango batter from a viscous liquid to a solid dough
• Form dough into balls
• Thread balls on skewers and steam

Shiro An Method
This is a complex method of making dango, but will yield unique dumplings with an interesting flavor and texture:

• Mix mochiko with shiro koshian
• Steam mixture and work sugar into mix
• Add additional ingredients
• Form into balls and skewer

Flours

Mochiko, glutinous rice flour, is what gives dango their super chewy, gooey texture. Shiratamako, another glutinous rice flour, is also used to make dango. A dango recipe made entirely from mochiko or shiratamako will result in a very soft dango.

Shiratamako is lumpy, and must be dissolved in water or ground before using in a recipe. I’ve heard mochiko can be used interchangeably with shiratamako with little to no adverse results. I personally have used mochiko in place of shiratamako and haven’t noticed the difference. Mochiko is also waaaay cheaper than shiratamako, especially if it’s bought under the name “sweet rice flour”.

Joshinko, non-glutinous rice flour, can be added in varying amounts to create a firmer dango. I recommend a ratio of no more than 1:1 of mochiko to joshinko for dango which is firm but still has some gooey mouth feel. Anything above that results in a denser, less chewy, harder dango.

Liquids

Water is normally used as in making dango, and boiling water at that. However, nothing’s keeping you from substituting other liquids or semi-liquids (anko, mashed fruit, pumpkin filling, etc.) for a portion or all of the water. Fruit or vegetable juice, rose water, milk, tea, or coffee can all be added to dango to enhance the flavor and change the texture. Also, extracts and concentrated flavorings can be added to alter the flavor.

The more liquid used in dango, the softer and gooier it will be. Less water will create a firmer dango, but will also result in a drier dango. Keep in mind you want the liquids hot, unless you plan on cooking the dango ingredients together anyway. Boiling the liquids will dissolve sugars and help bind the mochiko to the other ingredients, which in turn results in smoother, less gritty dango.

Additives

Certain additives, such as powders, non-rice flours, beans, nuts and seeds can be added to the dough, but it’s important to keep in mind how they’ll effect the texture of the finished dango. Small amounts of powdered spices, espresso powder, cocoa, matcha and powdered milk can be added to the rice flour(s) or dissolved in the water/ juice to create flavored dough. Experimentation with amounts is important in finding a recipe that works with your preferred texture and flavorings.

Toppings

After the dango are steamed and/or toasted, it’s your choice what you top them with, if at all. I personally am a huge fan of anko and goma an (black sesame seed paste) on my plain toasted dango. Drowning freshly browned dango in a sea of beans and sesame seeds is more yummy than it sounds. It’s up to you, though, to choose what to cover your dango with.

Some traditional ideas are:

• Tsubu An: Chunky bean paste
• Koshi An: Smooth bean paste
• Shiro An: White bean paste
• Goma An: Black sesame paste
• Kurumi: Walnut powder
• Kuri: Chestnut powder or paste
• Kinako: Roasted soy bean flour
• Mitarashi: Sauce similar to teriyaki
• Matcha An: Green tea paste
• Zunda: Dango topped with slightly sweetened green soybean paste
• Nori: Savory dango wrapped in seaweed

Dango Varities

Dango are named after their toppings, their added ingredients to the dough and their fillings. The above are a sampling of dango named after toppings (goma dango, an dango) but there are also dango named after what’s in the dough and the finished dango or how they’re cooked:

• Matcha Dango: Green tea powder flavored dango
• Kibi dango: Dango made with millet starch
• Yomogi/ Kusa Dango: Mugwort flavored dumplings (kusa dango were originally flavored with cudweed)
• Gomasuri Dango: Lil’ dumplings filled with black sesame paste
• Zunda dango: Dango filled with green soybean paste
• Sasa Dango: Dumplings filled with anko and steamed in bamboo leaves
• Kushi Dango: Skewered dumplings
• Sanshoku Dango (Three Color Dumplings: Sanshoku (three colors): Dumplings made with three colors. Contrary to popular belief, sanshoku dango does not refer to a specific variety. Any dango with three colors is sanshoku dango, including hanami and botchan dango.

Dango are also named for festivals and even fictional characters!

• Hanami Dango (Flower Viewing Dumplings): Three dango on a skewer. Colors are pink (food coloring), white

(plain) and green (matcha, yomogi or food coloring). Hanami dango are eaten during cherry blossom season.

• Tsukimi Dango (Moon Viewing Dumplings): Non-skewered filled or plain dumplings. Usually presented as a pyramid shaped pile of dumplings, tsukimi dango are eaten during the moon viewing festival. I’ve seen ornate tsukimi dango shaped like usagi (bunnies!) as a homage to the mochi pounding rabbit in the moon.
• Ikinari Dango (All of a Sudden Dango): Don’t know why this is called dango, but this daifuku-looking dumpling is made with satsumaimo topped with anko, wrapped with mochiko dough and then cooked. It’s a specialty from Kumamoto where it gets its name from being so easy to make. If visitors pop by, all of a sudden, ikinari dango is so simple, it can be whipped up in minutes.
• Botchan Dango (Named after a fictional character): Three dango on a skewer made from red beans, matcha and egg yolk.

Hopefully, I’ve inspired you to try your hand at making dango. If I have, keep reading for recipes on basic dango and complete dango recipes!

White Day, which falls on March 14th, is the day men return the favor of candy giving, and pony up the treats to the women who gave them chocolate the month before. Originally, marshmallows were given on White Day, hence why it was dubbed White Day. I think that’s uber weak, and so did the ladies who eventually received white and/or milk chocolate and other goodies instead of marshmallows.

So you gents who were showered with choco last month need to get some treats handy for this Friday. For those who didn’t get showered with choco, no problem, show that special gal in you’re life there’s no hard feelings by making her some white chocolate chip cookies or better yet, by making her some Chizukeki Chichi Dango.

Chizukeki Chichi Dango is an easy chichi dango with the rich taste of cheesecake. Tell her your feelings for her are as pure as the white mochiko this treat is made from!

Chizukeki Chichi Dango

• 1 3/4 cups mochiko
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 Tbls lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup water
• potato or cornstarch for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil enough water to fill a shallow baking pan.
Whisk together the mochiko, sugar and baking powder. Set aside.

Cream the cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla and water with a hand held mixer on high. Add the mochiko mixture to the cream cheese mixture and mix on high.

Pour the mochi batter into a greased 9×13 pan. Cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil. Place the pan in a shallow baking pan and place the baking pan in the preheated oven. Pour the boiling water into the baking pan till it’s full. Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Let the chichi dango cool completely then turn it onto a starch dusted cutting board. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts. Dust the hearts with starch and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. Heat briefly before serving, if desired, for a softer texture.

Makes 12, 2 inch Hearts

Difficulty: Easy | Time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Moderate

So far this year I’ve only seen pumpkin cappuccino, pumpkin coffee creamer (this stuff is not good), pumpkin bark, the obligatory pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins, and a few other unremarkable pumpkin flavored offerings. Boring and underwhelming. What gives this year?

Once again I must trek to the kitchen to appease my inner pumpkin demon who howls for this seasonal treat to be delivered in a fresh, new way.

Well, silence Pumpkin Demon! I call forth my culinary powers to create Pumpkin Chichi Dango!

Chichi dango is a soft mochi treat traditionally made with coconut milk and baked to a gooey consistency in the oven. I substituted pumpkin and evaporated milk for the coconut milk to make a pumpkin pie flavored dango. It’s easier to make than pumpkin daifuku and has a slightly different consistency than other mochi based wagashi. It’s also a gluten free way to enjoy a seasonal dessert without a lot of the fat!

ingredients

• 1 16 ounce box of mochiko
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. each of cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. each ginger and allspice
• 1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2/3 cups evaporated milk
• 1 1/4 cups water
• orange food coloring, optional
• Additional boiling water for water bath

directions

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13″ baking pan.
2.) Sift together mochiko, baking powder, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. Set aside.
3.) Process together brown sugar, vanilla, pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, water and food coloring (if using) on high in a food processor or blender for 15 seconds. Stop and scrape sides. Blend additional 15 seconds. *Note- Processing in this manner helps break down the fiber in the pumpkin and gives the puree a smoother texture.
4.) Blend pumpkin mixture with mochiko mixture by hand till completely combined.
5.) Pour mochiko/ pumpkin mixture into pre-greased pan. Very tightly cover pan with aluminum foil, making sure there are no gaps to let air in.
6.) Place pan in another pan (I used a cookie sheet which had steep sides). Place doubled pans in oven and add boiling water till roasting pan or cookie sheet is full.
7.) Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cool chichi dango completely.
8.) To cut: Either cut directly in pan with a plastic knife or flip dango onto a potato starch dusted cutting surface and cut with plastic knife. Lightly dust each piece of chichi dango with potato starch. Store in an airtight container in fridge up to eight days (freeze after eight days).

*Note: After about three- four days in the fridge, the dango will harden up slightly; thats normal. Microwave the dango for about five-eight seconds to soften it up, or broil it a few seconds in the oven to toast it.

Pumpkin chichi dango is easier to make than other mochi desserts and tastes just like pumpkin pie. On a side not, it’s interesting that this stuff is called “chichi” (type in chichi). After making and tasting this dessert, which definition of chichi do you think is most applicable? (I’m going with the one at the bottom, first word.)

I liked pumpkin chichi dango because:

• It tasted like pumpkin pie but felt only slightly guilt-inducing
• It was easy to make
• It has great texture.

My only complaint about pumpkin chichi dango is:

• It may be difficult to get a hold of the mochiko for some people.

Make pumpkin chichi dango this fall season and enjoy this new Japanese twist on pumpkin pie!

Difficulty: Easy | Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Easy- Moderate