is a Japanese

dumpling Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), oftentimes wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, ...

made from

rice flour Rice flour (also rice powder) is a form of flour made from finely milled rice. It is distinct from rice starch, which is usually produced by steeping rice in lye. Rice flour is a common substitute for wheat flour. It is also used as a thickening ...

mixed with uruchi rice flour and glutinous rice flour. It is different from the method of making

mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ma ...

, which is made after steaming glutinous rice. ''Dango'' is usually finished round shaped, three to five ''dango'' are often served on a

skewer A skewer is a thin metal or wood stick used to hold pieces of food together. The word may sometimes be used as a metonym, to refer to the entire food item served on a skewer, as in "chicken skewers". Skewers are used while grilling or roasting ...

(skewered ''dango'' pieces called ). Generally, ''dango'' comes under the category of

wagashi are traditional Japanese confections that are often served with green tea, especially the types made of ''mochi'', ''anko'' ( azuki bean paste), and fruit. ''Wagashi'' are typically made from plant-based ingredients. History In Japan, the wo ...

, and is often served with

green tea Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since th ...

. It is eaten year-round, but the different varieties are traditionally eaten in given seasons.

Types

The many different varieties of ''dango'' are usually named after the various seasonings served on or with it.

Popular dango

* is commonly covered with sweetened

red bean paste Red bean paste () or red bean jam, also called adzuki bean paste or ''anko'' (a Japanese word), is a paste made of red beans (also called "adzuki beans"), used in East Asian cuisine. The paste is prepared by boiling the beans, then mashing or ...

; ingredients other than '' azuki'' are used on rare occasions. Other toppings for anko include made from

edamame is a preparation of immature soybeans in the pod, found in cuisines with origins in East Asia. The pods are boiled or steamed and may be served with salt or other condiments. In Japan, they are usually blanched in 4% salt water for 5 minu ...

paste and

kurumi is the Japanese word for walnut. It is also a given name in Japan, primarily for women (though occasionally for men, such as novelist Kurumi Inui). It may refer to: People Actors *, female child actress *, female voice actress *, female actress, ...

(

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

) paste. * is

(matcha) flavored ''dango''. * is a kind of baked dango (), and is seasoned with

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or '' As ...

. Furthermore, the one wrapped with

nori Nori is a dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, made from species of the red algae genus '' Pyropia'', including ''P. yezonesis'' and '' P. tenera''. It has a strong and distinctive flavor, and is often used to wrap rolls of sushi or ...

is called . * is covered with

sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cul ...

paste. It is both sweet and salty. * is to eat during

hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always refer to those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around ...

. It has three colors (pink, green, white), and is traditionally made during ''

sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

''-viewing season, hence the name (''hanami'' means "flower viewing"; ''hana'' meaning "flower", and ''mi'' meaning "to see"). The order of the three colored dumplings is said to represent the order in which cherry blossoms bloom. Pink represents cherry buds, white represents cherry blossoms in full bloom, and green represents leafy cherry blossoms after they have fallen. * is made with

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets a ...

flour. This variety is prominently featured in the tale of Momotarō, a folkloric Japanese hero, who offers the rounded ball (not skewered) to three talking animals in exchange for their aid in fighting demons. * is made with toasted soy flour. * is mixed leaves of

yomogi ''Artemisia princeps'', also called Yomogi, Japanese mugwort, Korean wormwood, Korean mugwort or first wormwood in English, is an Asian plant species in the sunflower family, native to China, Japan and Korea. It is a perennial, very vigorous pl ...

, like kusa mochi. It is often covered with '' anko''. * is covered with a syrup made from '' shouyu'' (soy sauce),

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

, and

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...

. * is produced and eaten primarily in

Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...

. ''Sasa dango'' has two varieties: ''onna dango'' and ''otoko dango''. ''Onna dango'' (literally "female dango") is filled with anko, while the ''otoko dango'' (literally "male dango") is filled with '' kinpira''. The ''dango'' is wrapped in leaves of sasa for the purpose of preservation. * is eaten in

anmitsu Anmitsu (, rarely ) is a Japanese dessert that dates to the Meiji era. It is made of small cubes of agar jelly, a white translucent jelly made from red algae. The agar is dissolved with water (or fruit juice such as apple juice) to make the je ...

or mitsumame. * is white dango to eat during Tsukimi. It is traditionally made during autumn

full moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This mea ...

(

Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival ( Chinese: / ), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan (), Korea (), Vietnam (), and other countries in E ...

Various other dango

* has three colors. One is colored by red beans, the second by eggs, and the third by green tea. ''Botchan dango'' is a product name of Ehime’s

miyagegashi Miyagegashi, also , refers to a sweet made with the purpose of selling it as a souvenir. As with most other Japanese souvenirs ( omiyage), the typical miyagegashi is a regional specialty (meibutsu) and cannot be bought outside its specific geograp ...

, which was named after Natsume Sōseki’s novel ''

Botchan is a novel written by Japanese author Natsume Sōseki in 1906. It is one of the most popular Japanese novels, read by many during their school years. The central theme of the story is morality, but the narrator serves up this theme with gene ...

''. * is a slightly sweet, light treat usually eaten as a dessert. * from

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

is made from

potato flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

and baked with sweet boiled beans. * is coated in chestnut paste. * is a type of Japanese meatball. Chicken ''niku dango'' is called '' tsukune'', served on a

Derived terms

A common

Japanese proverb A may take the form of: *a , *an , or *a . Although "proverb" and "saying" are practically synonymous, the same cannot be said about "idiomatic phrase" and "four-character idiom". Not all ''kan'yōku'' and ''yojijukugo'' are proverbial. For in ...

refers to a preference for practical things rather than aesthetics. A

hairstyle A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human scalp. Sometimes, this could also mean an editing of facial or body hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal groomi ...

consisting of ''dango''-like buns on either side of the head is sometimes known as ''odango''. '' Dorodango'' is a Japanese art form in which earth and water are molded to create a delicate, shiny sphere, resembling a billiard ball.

In Vietnam

Bánh hòn is a specialty dessert of Phan Thiet. The cake is made from tapioca flour, coconut, roasted peanuts, salt and sugar. When finished, it is rolled over shredded coconut and skewered like Japanese dango.

Unicode character

The Unicode

emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conv ...

character 🍡 is used to resemble

dango. The character was introduced in October 2010.

References

{{Dumplings Dumplings Japanese rice dishes Skewered foods Wagashi