Dango

Introduction

This Japanese rice dumpling dish comes in many forms, but because of its simplicity, you can transform and enhance it to become almost anything. Dango is essentially just small, cooked rice dumplings on a skewer. They can be flavored by mixture, sauce, coating, or even the water that they’re cooked in. The options are nearly limitless, as the rice flour itself has very little flavor, allow it simply serve as a vessel for other flavors, or a base for a more complex concoction. Now, the traditional flavors of dango are still plenty tasty, but this recipe becomes so much more fun when you get creative and make the dango your own way.

Make this dish when…
This dish is fairly simple, doesn’t require too much work (including cleanup), and once you get it down, it can probably be whipped up in around 30 minutes. Because of the creativity allowed, this dish can easily be adapted to a wide variety of occasions: make creepy eye-ball dango for Halloween, pastel-colored dango for Easter, etc.

Don’t make this dish when…
The only time I wouldn’t recommend this dish is if you don’t want to get your hands dirty, have less than 30 minutes, or simply don’t like rice. For the most part, it’s just a matter of taste.
Statistics

Dish Type: Snack
Health Value: Depends on how exactly you make, but for the most part, these are like bread
Serving Size: Depends on a lot of things, but a batch will almost certainly be more than enough for 1 person
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, once you get the hang of it
Preparation Time: 30-45 minutes, depending on how fast you can get the dough ready
Shelf-Life: A few hours (though this can be slightly extended by keeping the components separate)
Freshness Requirements: Probably best when fresh, but can be refrigerated
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: Unless you put meat in them, they’re totally fine
Pre-cooked Edibility: Probably gross and sticky, but shouldn’t really be a problem