Mitarashi Dango Recipe Japanese Cooking 101

Welcome to Japanese Cooking 101. Today we are making mitarashi dango, small round mochi balls skewed on bamboo sticks and covered with a gooey, sweet, and salty brown sauce. These are the ingredients. We use mochiko, sweet rice flour, soft tofu, and for the sauce, we use sugar, soy sauce, water, and katakuriko or cornstarch. For more information about the ingredients and complete recipe, please visit our website, JapaneseCooking101.com. First, we are making dango. Mix tofu and mochiko well. The dough should be not too loose or not too firm, about the firmness of an earlobe. Scoop out tablespoon-sized portion of dough and roll into balls. Boil water in a large pot and cook the dough balls until they float. Once they float, cook for a few minutes longer, then remove from the water. Place onto a plate with a paper towel. Meanwhile, make mitarashi sauce. In a small pot, add water, sugar, soy sauce, and katakuriko starch and stir. Cook until the sauce boils and keep it warm. And take a bamboo stick, slide three to four dango balls onto each skewer, like that. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and place dango and cook until they are browned. Place dango on a plate and pour the sauce over to coat. Mitarashi dango is one of the many very traditional Japanese mochi sweets. It's a great snack and quite satisfying without being overly sweet. You may want to try it one afternoon with hot green tea.