We making three types of Tofu Dango, Japanese sweet dumplings. Enjoy one of the healthiest Japanese sweets with soybean flour, black sesame seeds and sweet soy sauce.
Let's make two types of toppings for Tofu Dango. Combine the kinako, roasted soybean flour and sugar. Mix well to make the soybean topping.
Finely grind the black sesame seeds with a suribachi mortar and surikogi pestle. Add the sugar and combine well, making the black sesame topping.
Let's make the dough for the dango. Combine the shiratamako, sweet rice flour and soft silken tofu with your hands in a bowl.
If the dough is dry and crumbly, add a little water at a time until it becomes easily workable.
Knead until the dough is smooth.
We’ll shape the dough into 27 dango pieces. Divide it into three equal pieces. Then, divide each dough piece into three again, and then split each into 3 smaller pieces. Shape them into balls and you should end up with 27 pieces in total.
Let’s cook the tofu dango. Gently place the dough balls into a large pot of boiling water. At first, the dango will sink to the bottom, but soon they should begin to float to the surface.
Boil the floating dango for 1 to 2 more minutes and then place them into a bowl of ice water. This process will make the dango firmer and easier to handle.
Drain well and thread 3 dango pieces onto each bamboo skewer.
Let’s coat each of the skewers with a different topping. Coat a third of the skewers with the black sesame topping.
Powder another third with the soybean topping until they are completely covered.
Let’s make the sweet soy sauce for the rest of the skewers. Combine the mirin, sugar and soy sauce in a pot and bring it to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low and stir with a whisk. Remove the pot from the burner and swirl it to prevent the sauce from burning.
Reduce the sauce until thick and pour onto a plate. Cover the dango with the sweet soy sauce.
Recipe Notes
You can substitute firm tofu for soft silken tofu, though the texture will be a little different.