Mitarashi Dango
Dango are boiled mochi balls made from sugar and rice flour. Tofu may be added for a more tender and chewy texture. They are typically served on a skewer. They may be topped with a sweet sauce or paste such as sweet soy sauce (Mitarashi Dango; みたらし団子 御手洗団子), black sesame paste (Kurogoma Dango), sweet red bean paste (Anko Dango) or black sugar syrup (Kuromitsu Dango). They are sold in stores across Japan, as well as in traditional shops.
Variations[]
There are various kinds of Dango (though most Japanese stick to only Mitarashi Dango or other traditional flavors) that are rare/hard to find in Japan, such as:
- Hanami Dango/Tricolor Dango - extremely popular outside of Asia, Hanami Dango is actually rare (and unpopular) in Japan, except during early spring. It includes a skewer with one ball each in pink, white, and green served without any sauce. Strawberry powder is added to create the pink dango and either matcha powder or mugfort is added to create the green color.
- Ramune Dango - Aqua-Blue-dyed, ramune-flavored "shiroan" (white bean paste) is piped atop dango.
- Watermelon Dango - made with watermelon-flavored, watermelon-lookalike dango balls, possibly with black sesame seeds as the "melon seeds" (you could use mini chocolate chips instead, but they might melt), and watermelon syrup/red dyed, watermelon-flavored "shiroan".
- Ichigo Dango - made with strawberry juice (natural color AND flavor) mixed right into the dango ball mixture before kneading and cooking. Topped with strawberry syrup, whipped cream, or/and sugared strawberry slices.
- Birthday Cake Dango is birthday cake batter-flavored dango balls, skewered (use metal skewers to avoid wood splinters) and topped with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Best served cold/chilled for best flavor. The dango balls themselves might be filled with light-blue vanilla icing, the same blue icing used in "Birthday Cake Ice Cream".
- Bubblegum Dango is pink-colored, bubblegum-flavored dango, topped with bubblegum-flavored pink-dyed Shiroan (sweetened white bean paste), mini bubblegum balls (or rainbow nonpareils sprinkles) and skewered through a wooden/steel skewer.
- Peanut Butter Dango is peanut butter-filled dango balls, pierced through a skewer (metal skewers work best, and lack splinters that wood skewers have). PB Dango might also be topped with peanut butter, honey drizzle, honey roasted peanuts/crunchy peanuts ("Iso Peanuts") or/and chocolate/caramel toppings.