Mitarashi Dango is a variety of sweet Japanese rice dumplings grilled and glazed in sweet soy sauce. The soft chewy little balls are stacked on a skewer with the delectable sweet soy glaze enveloping each one and hints of char grill in every bite. Plus this mitarashi dango recipe uses a secret ingredient for added softness and bounce!
They’re a popular street food snack in Japan that are simply irresistible when the fresh toasty aroma drifts to your nose. Bring that delicious fragrance into your own home by making this traditional and easy treat yourself!
What is Mitarashi Dango?
Mitarashi dango is a type of Japanese sweet similar to mochi. Its main ingredients are glutinous rice flour and a sweet soy sauce glaze. It is gently grilled to give it light charring on the outside, which creates a perfect balance of savoury-sweet. It’s said to have originated from the Kamo Mitarashi Tea House in Kyoto.
The name was derived from the water bubbles of the “Mitarashi” where you purify your hands with water at the entrance of a famous shrine in the city called Shimogamo shrine. The dango were used as an offering for the gods and are still served there today as 5 dango on a stick to represent a body and are believed to bring good health.
Mitarashi dango are also found all over Japan at supermarkets, convenience stores, confectionary shops, traditional restaurants, and at food carts run by street vendors who make them fresh before your eyes.
How to make Chewy “MochiMochi” textured dango ?
So what is the secret ingredient to make these dango so soft with the perfect mochi texture? It’s Tofu! Adding silken tofu to the flour instead of adding and mixing with cold water or boiling water makes the dango much more soft and squishy. There is another benefit as well. It adds more protein and gives the dango the signature chewy texture. This is often described with an onomatopoeia in Japanese called “mochimochi”!
Silken or firm tofu? And what can be replaced?
Both silken or firm tofu works, however, I recommend using silken tofu for a smooth chewy texture. If you cannot get tofu for whatever reason, you can replace it simply with water. The amount of water should be about 90% of the flour weight. You should aim for a dough firmness similar to your ear lobe. So do not add tofu or water all in one go. Instead, add the tofu or water gradually, watching the consistency of the dough.
How to cook dango?
It is super easy. Simply drop the dango into boiling water. Once cooked, they float up to the top of the water. Then scoop them with a sieve, skimmer, or slotted spoon and place the cooked dango into a bowl of ice water. Once they have cooled down, drain the water and transfer them to a tray (I use a bamboo one). Skewer them on to a stick, lightly torch or grill them and then coat with the sauce!
3, 4, or 5 on skewers? How many should be on a skewer?
It is traditionally 5. It originated from an anecdote when Emperor Godaigo washed his hands at Mitarashi. One big water bubble came out followed by four more water bubbles. It also is said to represent a body with the top dango being the head followed by 4 limbs. When you make Mitarashi dango at home, I don’t think the number matters. I bought the short skewers from a local supermarket and thought it is really cute to have just 3 on them. It’s truly up to you!
What types of flour do I use for mitarashi dango?
I used a type of glutinous rice flour called “Shiratamako”, which is made from glutinous Japanese short-grain rice. Using Shiratamako or Mochiko (another glutinous rice flour) creates very soft dango. If you prefer a firmer, more chewy texture, try adding Joshinko, a non-glutinous type of Japanese rice flour, which creates a tougher texture. Use a 50-50 ratio for this or adjust to your tastes. Alternatively, you can also use glutinous rice flour from Thailand, which may be more accessible. In Australia, you can easily find it in the international aisle at supermarkets. It comes in an easily recognisable green packet. Try checking Asian stores in your country for it.
Grill, fry or blow torch?
It depends what you have.The easiest method is to pan-fry or grill using a non-stick frying pan. Be careful not to burn your fingers when you flip the dango skewers. You don’t need any oil for this. If you have a kitchen torch, you can use that. I like the burnt marks it creates and the toasty aroma it gives off.
Can you freeze Mitarashi Dango?
Mitarashi dango lose their chewy texture and harden fairly quickly. Therefore they are better consumed on the day made. But you can also freeze mitarashi dango if you follow these steps. Wrap them individually with cling wrap and then put them in a ziplock bag. They will keep for about 3-4 weeks in a freezer. It is the best to thaw them naturally at room temperature, and this takes about 30-60 minutes.
Mitarashi dango is a popular sweets in Japan and one of my favourite types of dango. It tastes amazing served warm or cold with sweet and salty mitarashi sauce. If you love it, you can try other popular types of dango too like 3-colour Hanami Dango, Shiratama dango, or Yomogi Dango served with sweet anko red bean paste.
Don’t forget to check out other types of Dango recipe on Chopstick Chronicles too! Such as Sanshoku (three coloured ) dango, Yomogi dango, and Shiratama dango.
If you liked my recipe for Mitarashi Dango, please rate it and leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest happenings on Chopstick Chronicles. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ChopstickChronicles so I can see your wonderful creations!
Mitarashi Dango
Ingredients
Mitarashi Sauce
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs mirin
- 2 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs potato starch
- 80 ml water
Dango
- 150 g silken tofu *1
- 100 g Shiratamako *2
Instructions
Mitarashi Sauce
- To make the Mitarashi sauce, place all ingredients for the mitarashi syrup in a small pot over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spatula until the syrup becomes thick and clear. Set aside the sauce.
Making Dango
- Place the rice flour and silken tofu in a large bowl and mix well until it forms a dough.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal portions.
- Roll each dough into a long cylinder shape and cut each into 6.
- Roll each dough into a small round ball shape.
- Boil a large pot of water and add the dango balls.
- Once the dango rises to the surface of the water, scoop them out with a skimmer or sieve and put them into a bowl of ice water to allow them to cool.
- Thread 3 balls each onto a skewer.
- Char or grill the surface of the balls in a frying pan (or lightly torch) then set aside.
- Roll the skewers in the syrup to serve or brush it over the top.
Bev says
Hi! Will the dango remain soft if I place it in the fridge ?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Bev, no it will become hard.
Coline says
Hi! You’re a life saver! I’ve been looking for these perfect dango for months and i’m so happy right now, i ate the whole batch by myself :’) I used Martini instead of mirin because I had it on hand, but I’ll buy mirin next time ! Thank you so much
anonymous says
Is it possible to sub out the silken tofu with firm tofu and water?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Yes 😀
Rebekah says
Loved this recipe! Made two batches yesterday and they came out perfect! I used the glutinous rice flour in the green bag since I couldn’t find the other type of rice flour at the oriental store. Also added a little extra tofu since 1/1 tofu and rice flour wasn’t exactly enough. My sauce was thicker than the one in the picture and a little more milky but maybe it’s because I used corn starch? Regardless, it was a great recipe (so easy and tasty) and I’m totally gonna use it from now on! Thanks so much!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you for your lovely comment and rating Rebekah 😀
Angie says
Hi I have no access to the Japanese type of rice flour. Can I substitute them with glutinious rice flour instead?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Angie Yes 😀
Tenzin Sangmo says
Hi! I loved your recipe. However the balls turned out a bit grainy after I boiled them. Is there any way to fix that for next time?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Tenzin Sangmo, I would pound them all together in a Japanese mortar then shape, but it will be sticky.
CS says
Would I be able to mix and roll the dough the day before, and then cook them the day-of? Or do you recommend mixing and rolling the dough AND boiling, and then only using the frying pan the day-of? How quickly do they harden after you make them? Should the sauce go on last-minute? Will the sauce keep in the fridge pre-made?
I need to have these ready in the morning the day after tomorrow. Having no experience with these, I am not sure how much time I would need to make a few hundred so I wanted to get started the day before. Thank you for any clarification or tips on how to handle this!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi CS, I have never made that many amount at once, so I am not sure. However, if I were you I would roll the dough and make the sauce keep in the fridge. On the day in the morning, cook dango and reheat the sauce. Hope it helps
molly says
Yum! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome 😀
Gina Matsoukas says
Delicious! Thank you for this recipe!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome Gina 😀
Beth says
These are delicious! Hubby and I loved them! Thanks for taking the time to explain everything.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome 😀 Beth, I am glad you and your hubby loved Mitarashi Dango 😀
jing says
can the dango be frozen after boiling and cooling, then brought to room temperature and grilled?
can the dango be frozen before boiling, then boiled frozen?
thank you,
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Jing Thank you for your question. I am updating this recipe tomorrow. And answered to your question in the post 😀
Christina says
For the silken tofu, should I use firm or soft? Looking forward to this and want to get it right, I love fresh dango!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Christina, usually silken tofu is softer. Use soft and smooth one 😀
Brandon Griffin says
Can anything else be used instead of potato starch?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Brandon, you can use flour instead of potato starch.
pablo says
this is super great i love it!
Chopstick Chronicles says
thank you very much!
Christine says
For freezing, so you freeze with the sauce or freeze the sauce separately? Thanks.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Christine, you can freeze dango with sauce. Also you can just freeze dango only and make sauce fresh when you are ready to eat 😀
Rose says
Should i use regular rice flour or glutinous rice flour? Thanks!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Rose, Glutinous rice flour 😀
Anonymous says
For the grilling part, are we supposed to have oil in the pan?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Anonymous, NO oil, instead I used non-stick frying pan or you could use torch burner 😀