御手洗団子（みたらしだんご）
Mitarashi Dango / Rice Dumpling with Teriyaki-teste Sauce

The white dumplings in the photo are standard type, while the green ones are arranged with green tea flavor. The Mitarashi sauce is very similar to the taste of Teriyaki sauce. So, this sweet seems to be popular for everyone from every country. I usually make it for potluck party because it is very easy and fast to cook. (Cooking Time: about 30 minutes)

Directions

1. Mix Jou-Shinko and sugar well in a bowl and mix hot water bit by bit using a spatula. When the dry powders disappear, knead the dough well with your hands until it becomes as soft as your earlobe. Please beware against burning yourself by the hot dough.
2. Divide the dough into small dumplings with 1 inch in diameter.
3. Boil a large amount of water well in a pot. Put some of the dumplings into the boiled water and boil them well. Keep boiling 2 or 3 minutes after they rise to the water surface.
4. Pick them up and strain off the water from them. Put the dumpling on a dish. Repeat the boiling process for the rest of the raw dumplings.
5. During boiling the dumplings, mix soy sauce, Mirin, sugar and Dashi stock in a sauce pan and heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves.
6. Turn the heating off and add the mixture of potato starch and water into the sauce pan immediately. Mix them well until the sauce becomes thick.
7. Pour the sauce onto the dumplings, and serve.

Notes & Arrangements

• Please control the amounts of the hot water during kneading.
• You can make 茶団子（ちゃだんご） (Cha Dango) with Matcha. Please mix the powdered tea well with Jou-Shinko and sugar before adding hot water.
• It is also tasty with sweet vegetable paste instead of Mitarashi sauce.
• You can color the dumplings. Please dissolve a particle of colorant into the hot water.
• In the case that someone do not like the smell of Dashi stock (as like that of smoked fish), please use water insted of it. If you are afraid of alcohol in the Mirin, you can evapolate the alcohol from the sauce by boiling well.
• The directions of the full-dress Mitarashi Dango are as follows: Divide the dough of Jou-Shinko and sugar into 4 or 5 masses and boil them very well. Strain off the water and knead them well. Make into dumplings with 1 inch in diameter and stick 5 eaches of them with a bamboo/wood skewer. Bake them on a fire with a metal mesh until they are a little burned. Finally, spread the Mitarashi sauce onto them and serve.