If you are a person who loves both sweet and salty, then you should definitely try Mitarashi Dango as your next afternoon snack~
What is Mitarashi Dango?
Mistarashi Dango or 御手洗団子 is a popular Japanese afternoon snack that pairs perfectly with a cup of hot tea. It is traditionally made with skewered dangos (rice dumplings), usually, with 3-5 dangos in one skewer. Then served in a sweet soy sauce glaze. It is among the most popular dishes in japan sold at festivals, street vendors, convenience stores and etc. you may this dish in many animes or Japanese televisions due to its popularity, for example in the of the most popular anime today, Demon Slayer.
Fun fact: 御手洗(mitarashi) is the purfied water infront of shines or temples, which is where the orgin of the name came from.
Is it just basically mochi?
Both Dango and Mochi are made with Mochiko(Japanese glutinous rice flour), but Dango is typically firmer and chewier than traditional mochi. There is also Tofu in Dangos, which gives it a more tender texture. With the Sweet soy glaze, Dango has a unique flavor with both sweet and salty.
Types of Tofu to use
In this recipe, I used soft/silken tofu, which contains more water content that gives me a softer Dango consistency. Soft tofus can be found in Asian supermarkets or your everyday grocery stores in the milk or produce section. If you can not find any tofu for this recipe, you can try replacing it with water. I suggest adding 2 tbsp of water at a time until the desired consistency forms.
Can you substitute Mochiko rice flour with regular flour?
Nope! Mochiko( Japanese glutinous rice flour) is one of the main ingredients of this recipe that makes it so chewy and delicious, therefore you can not skip or replace this ingredient. you can easily find them in your local Asian grocery shops or even on Amazon!
Preparation Process
In a bowl add silken tofu, and mochiko and kneel them into a play dough consistency
Roll the dough into small ball shapes, and dust them on more mochiko to prevent sticking
Cook the dangos in boiling water until they float and then place them into ice water to cool down
Combine together soy sauce, brown sugar, corn starch, mirin, and water in a pan, and cook in low heat until the sauce thickens up
Assemble the dangos and sear both sides in a nonstick pan, and serve with sauce, you’re all done!
Mitarashi Dango
Perfect afternoon snack for anyone who loves sweet and salty
Ingredients
Dango
- 150g silken tofu
- 3/4 cup mochiko
- 1/4 cup rice flour
sweet soy glaze
- 1.5 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp mirin
- 65g water
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- drain all the water out of the tofu and cut them into small cubes
- in a bowl combine together mochiko, rice flour, and tofu and kneel them into a play dough consistency
- roll the Dango dough into small balls
- cook them in boiling water for 5 min or until they all float to the top
- place them into ice water to cool down
- while the dangos are cooling down, we can make the sweet soy glaze
- combine together soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, water, and cornstarch
- cook this mixture in the pan until it thickens up
- once the dangos have cooled down, using a skewer or toothpick, assemble them together(3-5 per skewer)
- in a pan, add in a small amount of oil, add dangos in and sear both sides of until they are slightly crisped
- place the dango in the pan and pour the sweet soy glaze on top
- pair it with a cup of hot tea
- enjoy~ˋ⁽ᵕ̈⁾ˊ
Notes
- Make sure that you are using silken or soft tofu to ensure a softer texture dango
- if the dough is too sticky, adjust by adding more flour, if it is too dry, add more tofu
- dust flour on dangos so they don't stick together in the bowl
- you can replace brown sugar with white sugar
- mirin can be replaced with cooking wine or rice vinegar +sugar at a 1/1 ratio
- if you do not have cornstarch at home, potato starch is totally fine too!
- searing the dangos are not necessary, but they bring an extra layer of crispiness so i would definitely recommend
- you can also use a torch for this process
If you enjoy this recipe, click here for more anime-related ones!
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Linda says
In the instructions with pictures and the TikTok you say to use mochiko flour and tofu but the recipe lists 3/4 mochiko AND 1/4 rice flour? Do we actually need the extra rice flour too?
Gochuzhe says
its not really necessary to add the extra 1/4 rice flour, however i definitely recommend doing so! if you use only mochiko, i find the texture of the dango to be a little too soft/ sticky. on the other hand, the dango with extra rice flour added taste more dense while still maintaining the chewiness which is much better in my opinion! i hope you try this out and let me know how this goes~ thanks for viewing this recipe Linda!!