Japanese Dango and Mochi-gashi: Skewered Rice Cakes and Seasonal Sweets

Ingredients

• For the dango dough
• 150 g joshinko (non-glutinous rice flour)
• 50 g shiratamako (glutinous rice flour)
• 100–120 ml water, warm; added gradually until dough holds together without cracking
• 20 g silken tofu, optional; by weight 5–10% of dough weight, pressed smooth
• For the mitarashi tare
• 30 ml dark soy sauce
• 30 ml light soy sauce
• 60 g sugar
• 15 g katakuriko or potato starch, dissolved in 60 ml cold water before use
• 60 ml water
• Equipment
• 16 bamboo skewers, 18 cm length, soaked in cold water

Method

1. 1
   Combine the joshinko and shiratamako in a bowl. If using silken tofu, press it through a fine sieve into the flour. Add warm water gradually, working the dough with the heel of the hand until it is smooth and holds together without surface cracking — the texture should resemble soft earlobe tissue, neither sticky on the fingers nor dry enough to fissure when pressed.
2. 2
   Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces of approximately 20 g each. Roll each piece between the palms into a smooth sphere. Ensure uniformity of size: uneven balls cook at different rates. Thread four balls onto each soaked 18 cm bamboo skewer, pressing them into light contact.
3. 3
   Bring a wide pot of unsalted water to a full rolling boil. Lower the skewered dango into the water. The dango will sink; when they rise to the surface, continue boiling for a further 2 minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: remove a single ball, halve it, and inspect the cross-section — the interior must be fully translucent with no white, chalky core remaining; if any opacity persists, return to the boil and check every 30 seconds.
4. 4
   Immediately transfer the cooked skewers to a bowl of iced water and hold for 1 minute. This arrests carryover cooking and fixes the chewy-firm boundary that defines dango's correct texture. Lift out and drain on a clean cloth.
5. 5
   Prepare the mitarashi tare while the dango cools. Combine both soy sauces, the sugar, and the water in a small saucepan. Stir the potato starch slurry to re-suspend it, then add it to the pan. Set over medium heat and stir continuously with a wooden spoon, reaching into the corners of the pan. The sauce will turn opaque, then clarify to a deep amber glaze as the starch fully gelatinizes. Remove from heat the moment the sauce coats the spoon in a glossy, slow-falling ribbon and holds a brief trail across the surface.
6. 6
   Apply the mitarashi tare immediately while still warm, spooning it over the dango on the skewers or briefly passing the skewers through the sauce. The warm tare flows into the gaps between balls and adheres; if allowed to cool and set before application it will not coat evenly. Serve at once.