Japanese cuisine is rich in dishes that have almost no analogues in the world. Traditionally, most of them are made from rice flour. Sweet desserts (“motiko”) are very popular among the local population, among which one can distinguish a dish called “Dango”. The recipe for its preparation has dozens of different options. For example, we can consider only a few of them.
Classic treat
In any Japanese family, housewives know how to make Dango. The recipe and cooking features of this dish depend on the time of year and the available ingredients. In fact, this is a dessert that consists of rice balls of small size, neatly laid on a plate and poured with pre-prepared sauce. For their preparation, as a rule, it takes a little more than half an hour. As an example, we can consider the classic version of "Dango", the recipe of which provides for the following main ingredients:
For the test you need: a glass of rice cereal 110 milliliters of hot water.
For the sauce you need: one and a half tablespoons of potato starch, 200 milliliters of water, ½ cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
The whole process consists of several stages:
- First you need to make balls. To do this, grind the rice in flour, pour it into a deep bowl, and then, gradually adding boiling water, prepare the dough, which in consistency resembles plasticine. After that, you need to roll neat balls from the resulting mass and carefully place them on a cutting board. The size of each piece should be slightly smaller than a walnut.
- Boil water in a saucepan and lower the balls into it. Wait until the semi-finished products come up, and cook them after that for 3 minutes. Remove the finished products with a slotted spoon and lay them on a dish.
- Slowly string the balls on wooden skewers of 3 pieces each and lay them on plates.
- From pre-prepared products make an original sauce. To do this, you must first boil water in a saucepan, gradually add all the ingredients to it and cook them until thickened.
- Pour the kebabs with the prepared syrup.
Serve this dessert with freshly brewed green tea.
A bit of history
The Japanese have been preparing Dango for more than five hundred years. The recipe for this time has changed many times. Initially, the raw materials for it were nuts. Then, grain preliminarily ground into flour was used as the main ingredient. Small dumplings were made from it, which in size should easily fit in the mouth. Later, in the 14-15th century, billets began to be strung on small sticks. So eating dessert became convenient. Yes, and the dish looked more original. In the 16th century, a rule was introduced, according to which it was necessary to wear exactly 5 balls on one skewer. Later this figure changed several times, and now in local stores packages of 3 or 4 dumplings are sold per one serving. Currently, there are a huge number of varieties of "Dango". This mainly depends on the sauce with which this dish is served to the table, or the seasoning used to give it a new taste. Among the most popular options are:
- An-dango is rice balls sprinkled with original red bean paste.
- Kuri Dango. The aromatic mixture is made from chestnut.
- Goma Dango. Billets are sprinkled with sesame seeds.
- Bottat Dango. Each “kebab” consists of three balls of different colors. One of them is stained with red beans, the other with green tea, and the third with an egg.
- Sasa Dango. This option can have two varieties: masculine (Otoko) and feminine (Onna). At the final stage, the balls will certainly be wrapped in bamboo leaves.
- "Dampun-dango" is made from potato flour. After that, they are baked with boiled sweet beans.
- Kibi Dango is made from wheat flour.
- Chadango is an option when green tea is added to the dough itself.
In each locality, the population prefers to cook certain varieties of Dango, paying tribute to centuries-old traditions.
Original version
For a long time, the Japanese considered the national dessert a means of cleansing the human body and spirit. They perceived it as a kind of offering to the gods. To do this, used a variety of options "Dango." A recipe with a photo will help you better understand the cooking technique of this dish. One of the methods involves the following products:
150 grams of rice, 75 milliliters of warm boiled water, a pinch of salt, 30 grams of sugar, ½ teaspoon of sesame, poppy seeds and cinnamon.
Work sequence:
- First, you need to turn rice into a flour using a coffee grinder. The dough is best prepared from a mixture of ordinary grains and rice for sushi.
- Pour dry ingredients into a deep bowl (sugar, flour and salt).
- Gradually adding water, knead the plastic dough and knead it thoroughly.
- Divide the mass into balls.
- Place them on a wire rack and cook for 25 minutes.
- Put the finished products together and turn them back into a single mass.
- From the resulting test again make round billets.
- Roll them in a mixture of sugar with sesame, cinnamon or poppy seeds.
- After this, the semi-finished products need to be chopped into skewers one, three or four pieces and pour in syrup.
Alternatively, the balls can simply be folded into a bowl or neatly distributed on a plate.
Appetizing Daifuku
There is also a recipe with a photo for the preparation of "Dango". At home, this dish can be made in its own way, preserving only the main directions of the process technology. For example, the Japanese sometimes make their favorite rice balls by adding different products inside. It turns out a kind of "mochi" with a filling. They are called “daifuku”. To prepare such a dessert, you may need: 100 grams of “motiko” (special rice flour), 120 milliliters of cold water and 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Sweet balls are prepared as follows:
- First, the flour must be mixed with powder, and then, adding water, prepare the dough.
- Put it in a plate, cover with cling film and put in the microwave at 200 degrees for 5 minutes.
- After this, you need to put the dough on a cutting board sprinkled with starch, and roll it into a pancake.
- Using a glass, cut even circles out of the whole layer.
- Put a filling in the middle of each piece. It can even be a piece of chocolate bar or a fresh berry.
- Pinch the edges, and then roll everything into a neat ball.
- Lay finished products, lightly sprinkled with starch, put on a plate.
Now you can eat the balls, adding any sauce or sweet syrup if desired.
Favorite dessert
There are different situations in life, and not always at hand are those components that are needed according to the recipe. What to do in this case? How else can I make Dango? A recipe without rice flour also exists. You just need to grind raw grits in advance, and then use the resulting product in further work. So, to prepare a classic Japanese recipe you will need: 300 grams of ground rice and a glass of hot water.
For Mitarashi sauce: 1 teaspoon of starch, ½ cup water, 50 grams of sugar, half a teaspoon of rice vinegar, 25 milliliters of soy sauce and a teaspoon of Mirina Japanese wine.
The preparation of the dish is very simple:
- First of all, rice should be gradually mixed with water and prepare a plastic dough.
- Roll it in the form of sausages, and then divide it with a knife into 25 identical blanks.
- Form even balls out of them.
- For 3-4 minutes, dip them in a pot of boiling water, and then hold them a little in the cold.
- String the balls on bamboo sticks and lay the resulting "kebabs" on the corrugated surface of the grill pan. In order to avoid burning, it is better to turn them periodically.
- At this time, you can do the sauce. You just need to combine all the ingredients and heat them until the mixture thickens.
- Put the prepared balls on skewers on a plate and pour in aromatic sauce.
The Japanese are very fond of this dish and are happy to cook it in case of any celebration.