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!

It’s not much of a secret that I love Japanese sweets, aka wagashi. In my free time, I go on the .jp and search out new wagashi to research and try. I spend hours pouring over websites and trying my hand at translating katakana.

The only thing that really gets me through the massive amounts of translating and finagling is the Japanese’s love of pictures. Thanks to many illustrative photos and videos, I’ve been able to cobble together the rudimentary beginnings of a wagashi cookbook. One of the first recipes I tried off the .jp was kimishigure.

Kimishigure is made from egg yolks (kimi), bean paste (shiro koshi an and aka koshi an) rice flour (joshinko), water (mizu) and sugar (johakuto). Simple, right? This particular wagashi is a bit tricky since it must crack open when it steams, otherwise, it just isn’t kimishigure.

Adding too much water or too much sugar will hamper the cracks from developing, resulting in uncracked kimishigure. I learned this fact the hard way. My first try of kimishigure ended not so well, as it was not cracked and was overcooked. However, the wagashi were still tasty and pretty, just not as tasty and pretty as they could have been.

Here’s a simple recipe for this elegant and tasty wagashi I found and tailored:

Kimishigure

• 1 2/3 cups shiro koshi an
• 1 cup plus 2 1/2 Tbls. aka koshi an
• 1/4 cup joshinko (non-glutinous rice flour)
• 2 egg yolks, beaten and divided into 3/4 and 1/4 portions
• food coloring, optional
• sarashian (anko powder), optional

1. Wrap the shiro koshi an in plastic wrap and microwave on high for four minutes. Or, heat over medium heat until piping hot and bubbly, making sure not to over dry or burn the an.

2. In the hot shiro an, mix in 3/4 of the egg yolks and blend well. Scoop hot shiro an and yolk mix onto a wax paper-lined cookie sheet and spread it around. Cover with a clean, damp cotton cloth to prevent drying and let cool 20 minutes.

3. After the shiro an is cooled, add the joshinko and remaining yolk. Mix well. Add the food coloring at this time if you’re using it, keeping in mind natural, light colors work best with wagashi. Traditionally, the kimishigure is not colored, but is simply rolled around in the sarashian for added effect. But go nuts. Own that kimishigure!

4. Evenly divide the anko and roll it into 15 balls. Set aside. Evenly divide the kimishigure dough and roll it into 15 balls.

5. In a clean palm, flatten the kimishigure dough into an even round. Place a ball of anko in the round and carefully wrap the anko with the round. Make sure the dough is of an even thickness around the anko center to ensure proper cracking. I shaped mine into ovals and rounds, but you can choose a more traditional route and simply make round balls.

6. Coat each ball with sarashian, if using, patting the powder lightly but firmly into the dough.

7. Line a steamer tray with a damp cotton cloth and place the kimishigure on the cloth approximately 3/4″ apart. Steam them on high for 7-10 minutes or till they crack. Do not steam them longer than 12 minutes as they’ll get tough.

Makes 15

The flavor for kimishigure is reminiscent of fortune cookies and rice pudding and is absolutely delish. The egg yolks are the only added fat in this dessert and you can control the amount of sugar of the kimishigure either in the anko (if you make your own) or in the dough, making kimishigure a healthy dessert alternative.

You can be very creative when making kimishigure or you can take the traditional route and make classic kimishigure without all the frills. If you’re daunted by the thought of “beans as dessert”, use a piece of milk or dark chocolate in the middle instead of anko and coat the outside with cocoa for a kimishigure truffle. Believe it or not, however, the flavor of the beans from the shiro an is undetectable in kimishigure and most wagashi. I’ve found lima beans make the best shiro an for kimishigure since they taste more buttery than beany.

Give this traditional wagashi a whirl in your kitchen and let me know how yours turn out!

Difficulty:Moderate | Time:50 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Moderate