I first posted this Sanshoku (three colour) Dango in 2016 to celebrate “Hina Matsuri” also known as “Girls Day” in English. This time, my post includes a mini movie to help show you how to make delicious Sanshoku Dango.
Sanshoku Dango are sold not only March, but all year round in Japan. Even though March is still a little bit far away, I still think it would be good to write tell you all about the girl’s day festival. The 3rd of March marks the Girl’s Day Festival in Japan, known as “Hina Matsuri” or “Doll’s Day”.
This name stems from the Japanese tradition of display a set of Hina Dolls dressed in traditional Japanese clothing. The dolls are displayed on tiered shelves covered in red carpet along with other ornaments such as food and flowers. Families in Japan will display these dolls to wish happiness, growth, and prosperity for their girls.
One of the foods that is usually displayed on the stands with the dolls is Hishi-Mochi, a type of rice cake (Mochi) made into a diamond shape with three different coloured tiers of pink, green, and white. However instead of making Hishi-Mochi, I decided to make three colour Dango (or “Sanshoku Dango”), because it uses the same colours and I think they look cuter (plus they are also easier to eat!)
These three colours are used because they are said to represent peach flowers (pink) which bloom in March, the pure colour of snow (white), and the beauty of new growth (green). My daughter is obsessed with this kind of Dango, so my parents will always bring her a packet of it when they go to pick her up from the airport (apparently, she can’t wait another 2 hours until they get home to eat it!). Whenever we visit Japan, she eats it almost every single day!
Dango all have the same sweet taste, but the green one has a slightly different flavour to the others because it is made with a type of leaf called Yomogi. On my last post, I said “Unfortunately, I can’t find this anywhere in Australia”, but I am happy to report that this time around I found some and am now cultivating it in my backyard. I still don’t have enough to make Mochi with it yet, so I made the green one with Matcha instead, which tasted really yummy.
The colour of the Dango dough becomes intensified when it is cooked. I like subtle colour of the greens and pinks so I only add tiny bit of colouring agent. You can see it how light the dough colour is, but how it gets strong after it is cooked in the mini movie below.
I used tofu rather than just water because I think tofu adds a bouncy texture to Dango, and I prefer that “mochi mochi” texture. There are two types of tofu, and for this recipe silken tofu works better to create the smooth and bouncy texture of the Dango. Of course, if you cannot get silken tofu, just add water equivalent to 90% of the weight of the flour.
If you liked my recipe for Sanshoku Dango, please rate it and leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook 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 see your wonderful creations!
Sanshoku(three colour) dango recipe
- 90 g Glutinous rice flour
- 90 g Silken tofu
- 2 tbs white sugar
- 1/4 tsp Matcha powder
- A drop of Pink colouring
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Place the rice flour, silken tofu, and sugar in a large bowl and mix well until it forms a dough.
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Divide the dough into three equal parts.
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Add the Matcha powder into one of the dough parts and knead until the dough turns green.
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Add a couple of small drops of pink food colouring into one of the other dough parts and knead into the dough until it turns a light pink.
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Roll each ball of dough (green, pink, and white) into 6 even-sized balls.
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Boil some water in a pot or sauce pan and add the Dango balls.
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Once the Dango raises to the surface of the water, scoop them out and put them into a bowl of cold water to halt the cooking process.
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Place one green, one white, and one pink Dango onto a skewer and repeat until all the Dango are gone then serve!
Recipe Video
When the dough is cooked, the colour of the Dango will be intensified, so try not to drop any more than one drop of food colouring into the mix, unless you prefer a strong and intense colour.
Substitutions: If you don’t have tofu, you can replace it with water. The texture will be slightly different.
I love sanshoku dango! I used to go to the wagashiyasan in my neighborhood as a child to get all kinds of wagashi, sanshoku dango being one of them 🙂 I thought about making sakura mochi for Hinamatsuri but chickened out and made matcha cupcakes instead haha.
Hi Ai, Matcha Cupcakes is delicious too:D and me too, thought about Sakura mochi but can’t get ingredients here in Australia so we made Sanshoku dango which is my daughter’s favourite.
Hello! May i ask how the tofu affects the flavor of the dango? I’ve noticed two of your dango recipes called for silken tofu and I would like to know what flavor they add(as oppose to just water) 🙂
Hi An, Tofu does not affect the flavour of the dango at all as tofu does not taste anything( well At least Japanese tofu doesn’t and I use Japanese tofu)
Also, I love dango!
Thank you An, me too 😀
About how much do the ingredients cost? Also, I am going into a tasting contest where I have to cook. Is the Dango a good contestant? And what is used to give them eyes like in the Anime clanned?
Hi Aaliyah, the cost of the ingredients are depends on where you live. In Australia it will cost like A$5 and you will have left over like food colourings as only 1-2 drops will be used. I am not sure about Anime clanned eyes and also the contents of my blog is copyrighted.
can you make them ahead of time? and if so do they need to be refrigerated?
Hi Susan, sorry no you can’t. This Dango is best served fresh. If you make them ahead, the dango become a little harder and dry especially when they are stored in fridge.
Hi 🙂
I’d love to make these, but just to check, by “3 tbs of white sugar” do you mean 3 tablespoons or teaspoons? I’ve never made my own dango before, so I wouldn’t know! xD
Thank you!!!
ps Thanks for publishing this recipe! <3
Hi Rosie, yes 3 tablespoons 😀 Enjoy making it. It is fun!
Hi! What brand of rice flour did you use?
Hi Miggy. The flour I use is in the shop. Thank you 😀
Hi!
I can’t find silken tofu, so I’m gonna use water… how much should I use
Thanks!
Hi Marti, I would use 80% of the dry ingredients. So try to use 120ml water which is 1/2 cup of water. Add water gradually to see the mixture consistency because you don’t want a too runny mixture. When the mixture become like your ear tub softness, stop adding water 😀
Got it! thank you so much!
Hi! Is the glutinous rice flour the same as shiratamako? Or is it different? Like joshinko?
HI Aileen, yes it is same 😀
Hi, is there way to make your own shiratamako. I can’t find any.
I want to make japaanese sweets but everything requires mochiko flour or shiratamako.
Hi Joanna where do you live? I don’t know how to make shiratamako. Japanese people buy them from shops. If you live in Australia, you can buy glutinous rice flour from supermarkets 😀 If you would like to know what it looks like have a look at my shop page.
Would it mess up anything is I added a couple drops of flavoring? I have some glutinous rice flour and I would love to try making this.
Hi Becky, I don’t think it will mess up anything if it is only a couple drops of flavouring 😀
wow love it simple and easy!
yes! Thank you 😀
Was craving these after my trip to tokyo – so glad i found your recipe – its spot on ! They are so good !! thanks so much 🙂
You are welcome littleb 😀 I am in Tokyo now enjoying all delicious food to recharge myself to share more delicious Japanese recipes when I get back to Australia 😀
Looks good I miss dango! What kind of silken tofu should I use soft, firm, or extra firm? Thank you!
Hi Jordyn, I just got back from Japan and miss Sanshoku dango already 😀 Silken tofu is soft and smooth one. You can use any but soft silken tofu is the best to use for smooth mochi like texture.