Flavored Dango

Dango are Japanese dumplings made from rice flour.  They can be made sweet or savory, but I chose to make a few sweet ones as a dessert.  

These are very close to "Kushi Dango", which is usually presented on wooden skewers.  I didn't have any skewers, though, so we ate them with toothpicks instead.  The dumplings themselves are plain, but the sauce gives them a wonderful flavor - I couldn't stop eating them.  

I adapted the recipe from this one

For the Dumplings:

3/4 cups glutinous rice flour

1/3 cup hot water

1 tbsp sugar

Mix the sugar with the rice flour in a mixing bowl.  Add the hot water and combine to form a dough.  Knead with your hands until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is soft.  If it is sticky, add more rice flour.  

Form the dough with your hands into 1 inch balls.  Then drop them into a pot of boiling water. Once they float to the surface, let them cook there for 2 or 3 more minutes before removing them.  

For the Sauce:

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp molasses

3/4 cup water + 2 tbsp

2 tbsp cornstarch

In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tbsp of water.  

In a small saucepan, heat the rest of the ingredients until the sugar dissolves.  Then add the cornstarch mixture and stir over medium low heat until the sauce thickens.  

Pour the sauce over the dumplings and serve on wooden skewers.  Or just eat them with toothpicks, fingers, forks, or chopsticks!  They're good any way you eat them.  

I made these dango sweeter (since they are sauceless) and flavored them with melon.  

To make them, follow the dango recipe above, but use 2 1/2 tbsp of sugar instead of one, and add 3 tsp of melon liqueur to the hot water before pouring it into the rice flour and sugar mixture.  

These are green tea flavored dango, also known as "Cha Dango."  I used matcha (green tea powder) to flavor them.  

To make these, follow the first dango recipe, but use 3 1/2 tbsp of sugar, and add 1 1/2 tbsp of matcha to the rice flour and sugar mixture before adding the water.