mitarashi dango.

I've been wanting to make this for the longest time because the last time I went to Kyoto, I had a dango from a roadside stall that blew my mind away. My version definitely doesn't compare to it.

I didn't make my own dango from scratch- I used frozen ones I got from the supermarket. Recently, I managed to get my hands on some mochi, so I decided to do a mitarashi mochi as well. For the frozen dumplings, I just cooked them according to the packet's instructions, boiling. I planned to skewer them after boiling, ladle on the mitarashi sauce then grill the skewers but somehow, those grill marks didn't want to form and most of the sauce stuck to the griddle.

For the mochi, I grilled them on medium heat until they start to puff up and almost double in size. This way, they got the beautiful char marks. I knew the sauce would stick to the griddle if I coated them with sauce and grilled them again, so I just placed the mochi in a bowl and spooned it over.

This sauce recipe I followed was a bit saltier than I would have liked so I would recommend cutting down on the soy sauce by half if you like your sauce sweeter like me. Also, mitarashi dango tastes good with nori too! Try it!

Mitarashi Dango
adapted from Just Hungry

Store-bought dumplings or made-from-scratch ones, cooked

Mitarashi Sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water, with 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in it
2 tbsp soy sauce (I would use 1 tbsp)
1 tbsp mirin
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until thickened and let it cool. The more it cools, the more viscous it will get.

Ladle over your dango.