00:00If you're a fan of that chewy mochi texture and sweet rice fragrance, then you're gonna
00:04love this super easy Shiratama Dango recipe. These simple rice dumplings can be served
00:08in so many ways, but I'm going to show you how to make them into an easy dessert with
00:13just a few ingredients.
00:15For a printable version of this recipe, visit my website, just google Shiratama Dango space
00:19that you'd find me.
00:21First, we're gonna make a dark brown sugar syrup we call kuromitsu, so grab a small pan
00:25and add 25g of dark brown sugar, 25g of white sugar, and 60ml of water.
00:34Give it a mix, then set the heat to medium. We just wanna keep mixing and try to break
00:40up those lumps of brown sugar.
00:42Typically, the syrup is made with Okinawan sugar called kokutou or kurozato, but muscovado
00:47works just fine. You might wonder why I add white sugar to a dark brown sugar syrup, but
00:53I find it can be a bit bitter without white sugar. You can play around with the ratios
00:58to suit your taste.
01:00Once the sugar is melted and the mixture is gently bubbling, you can stop stirring and
01:04just wait for it a second. Rather than mixing, swirl the pan occasionally to help heat it more
01:10evenly. This kuromitsu is perfect for all kinds of Japanese desserts like warabimochu or amitsu.
01:16You can even use it for drinks or on an ice cream. It's so good.
01:21You need to be careful not to let it thicken too much in the pan because when it cools,
01:26it's gonna continue to thicken. Once it looks like this, you can take off the heat and leave it to
01:31cool.
01:32Next, we're gonna make the dango. Grab a mixing bowl and add 100g of shiratamako,
01:38that's coarse glutinous rice flour used especially for shiratama dango. I'll give it a quick whisk
01:44with chopsticks to get some air in there. Next, I've measured out 90ml of cold water
01:52and I'm going to start by adding half of it. Mix it thoroughly, then keep adding the water little
01:57by a little, mixing between each addition. We're aiming for a clumpy texture that looks a bit like
02:04scrambled eggs. It's important to add the water a little at a time to avoid adding too much. It's
02:10really easy to add too much and then it becomes too soft to shape. If you accidentally add too much
02:16water, you can fix it by adding more shiratamako or mochiko, but it's not ideal. Shiratamako has a
02:23really nice soft and bouncy texture, but if you can't find it, you can use 90g of mochiko with 10g
02:29of potato starch instead. The starch helps make dango a bit softer, so the end result is more like
02:36shiratamako. Once there's no more dry flour, use your hands to press it into a bowl. Try kneading it
02:44first and if it seems a bit crumbly, you can add a little more water. If it doesn't crumble, then
02:51you're good. 90ml of water is generally how much I use for this recipe, but in winter, when it's dry,
02:59I might need more. And in Japan's humid summer, I might need less. You can tell by the feel of
03:05the
03:05dough. In Japanese, we'll say that it should have the texture of an earlobe. Knead the dough in the bowl
03:11or oil in your hands. This is to help the moisture distribute more evenly. If it tends to crack or
03:16break, you might need a little more water. I like to spray my hands with water to help incorporate a
03:22little more moisture without overdoing it. Once it's done, it should look something like this.
03:29At this point, start boiling a pot of water.
03:33So now I'm going to cut the dough in two and roll it into cylinders.
03:46This recipe makes 20, so I'll just roughly cut 10 from each roll. You can eyeball this. No need to
03:55measure exactly. Next, I've prepared a container with a sheet of baking paper. This is just to stop them
04:02from sticking to the container. Roll each piece into a bowl, then press the centre like this to make
04:08a dent. Although dango are usually round, Shiratama dango often have dents like this. I don't know the
04:14exact reason why, but when you serve them with syrup, this dent catches it and stops it from sliding off.
04:21That's a good enough reason for me. Don't worry if your dango are a little cracked after shaping them,
04:26they will smooth out while they cook.
04:29Okay, our water is at a boiling boil, so carefully place the dango in the pot. They will sink to
04:35the
04:36bottom, so use chopsticks to gently nudge them and stop them from sticking to the bottom. It's important
04:42that the water is bubbling vigorously to help the dango move around the pot, otherwise they're just
04:48gonna sit at the bottom of the pot and get stuck. The nice thing about Shiratama dango is the fact
04:54that
04:54they're basically a blank canvas. They're often served with other desserts like in a sweet red
05:00bean soup called zenzai or with hamitsu which is basically a fruit salad with content jelly and red
05:06beans. But because Shiratama dango are unsweetened, you could even use them in savoury dishes such as
05:13soups and hot pots. They cook pretty quickly, a few minutes or so. You know when they're almost ready,
05:19because they'll start floating at the top of the water. Once they're floating, set a timer for one
05:24minute and grab a bowl of ice water. Use a mesh strainer to scoot them out and transfer them to
05:32the ice water bath. This just stops the cooking process and quickly cools them down ready for eating.
05:39It also stops them from drying out, so if you're not eating them straight away, just leave them in there
05:44and pop the bowl in the fridge for later. You should eat them the day they're made though.
05:50While they cool down, I'm just gonna prepare some kinako powder. This is made from roasted soybeans
05:56and has a nice nutty flavour. You can sprinkle it as it is, but I like to mix it with
06:03an equal amount
06:04of sugar and a pinch of salt. Shiratama dango is unsweetened, so it's a nice addition. I'm making extra
06:10for future dishes, but this recipe makes about 3-4 portions, so I'd say about half tablespoon of
06:17kinako and half tablespoon of sugar will make plenty. Finally, we can serve up. So I've got my Shiratama
06:25dango here, and I'm just gonna pour the cold syrup and sprinkle my kinako mixture over the top.
06:34And that's it! Simple Shiratama dango with kuromitsu and kinako, the perfect no fast Japanese
06:40dessert. Want even more delicious recipes? Grab my free cookbook from the link in the description.
06:48Okay, let's cover the ingredients one more time, and if you're ready to cook, grab the written
06:52instructions by clicking the full recipe box with a picture that's about to pop up on your screen.
06:57There we go, the link to the full recipe is on the screen for you now, and if you want
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