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Love is in my Tummy

Plant-based flavor

July 1, 2016 By Tina Dawson 10 Comments

Coconut Kinako Dango

Coconut Kinako Dango

‘Dango‘ is a Japanese sweet dumpling made with mochi (rice flour). A popular dessert in Japan, there are exclusive stores that sell only dangos in a multitude of flavours and colors that change with the passing of each season. My first glimpse of these sweet little things came through my interest in Japanese Dramas – my favourite being Hana Yori Dango – where the heroine works in a dango store part-time after school.

Since then, I’ve wanted to sample these desperately, so when I found a recipe for it on Pickled Plum, I was thrilled. Not just because I could make dango for myself, but because it was so reminiscent of a South Indian breakfast/dessert that I grew up with – Kozhukattai – a rice flour dumpling usually filled with sweet or savory fillings. I jumped at the opportunity to fuse two cultures – and made this Coconut Kinako Dango.

Don’t you LOVE finding your native food in other cultures! It tickles me when I do! The Indian addition to this Japanese dessert is a traditional sweet coconut filling. As the dango cooks, the filling gets molten and gooey in the middle, and when you take a bite into it, this is what you get:

Coconut Kinako Dango

Hey! I’ve heard of Kinako!!!! I think…

Mizu_Shingen_Water_Cake_1_1024px

If you read my earlier post on Mizu Shingen Mochi – The Japanese Water cake, you would know that Kinako is just Roasted Soybean flour. For those of us who’ve only had soy as milk or sauce, it is surprising to taste Kinako and find it to be ‘nutty’ – much like a peanut. You’ll find Kinako at your local Asian store in the flour/dango section. If you can’t find it, substitute with roasted peanut powder, and it’ll still taste awesome!

The dango comes together quite easily – just mix glutinous rice flour and water. A few seconds of kneading and you’ll see that it feels exactly like play-doh. If you don’t get carried away playing with it, you’ll be done with the dough in less than a minute!

Note: Glutinous rice flour is NOT the same as rice flour. You cannot directly substitute one for another without varied end products. I have not tested this recipe using regular rice flour, and have no insights into how that would be.

Dango dough

The filling is a simple mix of jaggery and coconut. For the Indian kozhukattai, we add a pinch of cardamom to this coconut filling. I wanted to keep the flavours simple and neat and skipped it. But if you want that exotic kick to this filling, go forth with a teeny tiny pinch of cardamom!

To make the filling, just cook coconut and jaggery in a saucepan for a couple of minutes to dry it out.  Cool completely before attempting to fill the dango.

Sweet Coconut Dango Filling

To fill and shape the dango, take a small piece of dough and flatten it in your palm. Place a small amount of filling in it and seal up the edges. Roll between both palms till it shapes into a ball. Simple huh? Just repeat that until you run out of dough and filling.
Shaping Sweet Coconut Kinako Dango

Filled Coconut Kinako Dango

While you are shaping the dango, put a pot of water to boil, just like you’d do for pasta or noodles.  Drop the shaped dango balls into the bubbling, boiling water and let it cook. They’re done when they all float up to the top and you can remove them with a slotted spoon.

See how raw vs cooked dango look – when cooked, the rice flour gets almost translucent, and you can vaguely see the filling showing through.

cooked vs raw dango

Transfer to a bowl of cold water – this prevents the dango from overcooking and from sticking to each other. Seriously, they’re like fly paper when cooked. They stick to each other and everything around them.
Cooked dango cooling

In the meantime, mix kinako and sugar in a bowl, and toss the cooled dango into the kinako mix. No more sticky-sticky!

Coconut Kinako Dango

This reheats very well after refrigeration. Microwave for about a minute to soften it up the next day. Personally, I like it cool.

How does it taste?

When you bite into it, it’s very soft, and you get a nutty whiff of the kinako – then you start chewing and it is very gummy – a little effort to the jaw but more fun than work. The stretchy dango is interspersed with the crunchy sweet coconut filling, making for a very interesting mouthful. You really can’t stop with one!

When you make these (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram (@loveisinmytummy) or Twitter (@loveisinmytummy). I’d love to see what you cook from here and will share it with pride on my social media feeds.

Coconut Kinako Dango

Created by Tina Dawson on July 1, 2016

Coconut Kinako Dango

  • Prep Time:10m
  • Cook Time:10m
  • Total Time:20m
  • Serves: 7
  • Yield: About 14 dango balls

Ingredients

  • 1/4 c jaggery, grated
  • 1/4 c grated fresh coconut
  • 1 c glutinous rice flour / dango powder
  • 1/2 c + 1 tbsp water
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/3 c Kinako
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • Water, to boil the dango and cool it

Instructions

Coconut filling

  1. In a small pan, combine the jaggery and coconut. Keep stirring till the jaggery dissolves and all the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat and let cool compeltely.

Dango dough

  1. Mix together the glutinous rice flour, pinch of salt and water until it comes together into a dough much like play-doh.

Filling the dango

  1. Take a small piece of the dough, make a ball, flatten it and place a small amount of filling in it. Seal the edges and roll into a ball again. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
  2. In the meantime, put a large pot of water to boil. Take another bowl of cool water and set it aside to blanch the cooked dango in.

Cooking the dango

  1. Drop the filled dango balls into the boiling water, cover and cook until the dango balls rise to the surface.
  2. Drain with a slotted spoon and blanch into the bowl of cool water.

Assemble

  1. In a medium bowl, mix together the kinako powder and sugar. Drain the cool dango balls and drop into the kinako mix and toss to coat completely.
  2. Serve immediately. Reheats pretty well in the microwave.
Source: Adapted from Pickled Plum
  • Print
Coconut Kinako Dango Pin

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Breakfast, Cuisines, Desserts, Indian, Japanese, Vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: Breakfast, coconut, dango, Dessert, Indian, indian fusion, Japanese, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Previous Post: « Baked Navratna Mixture – Indian Trail Mix
Next Post: Amaretti – Italian Almond Macaroon »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Holly says

    July 1, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    I really like trying new things and this Coconut Kinako Dango sounds like it’s right tup my alley. I absolutely love your description of how they taste… “stretchy dango is interspersed with the crunchy sweet coconut filling, making for a very interesting mouthful. You really can’t stop with one!” SOLD!!! Can’t wait to give these a try!

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      July 2, 2016 at 3:52 pm

      Thanks a lot Holly!!! I was eating them as I was typing tbose words… It just made sense!

      Reply
  2. Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says

    July 1, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    Ooh I’ve never heard of these but they sound delicious! They look really easy to make too.

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      July 2, 2016 at 3:53 pm

      Thanks Becca!!! It was pretty delicious!

      Reply
  3. Sophia | Veggies Don't Bite says

    July 1, 2016 at 5:56 pm

    Oh wow, I’ve never heard of these or some of the ingredients but I love the idea of something nutty with coconut! The chewy texture sounds fun to eat too. I love little finger sized treats so they sound delicious!

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      July 2, 2016 at 3:54 pm

      Thanks Sophie! I hope you try it someday!

      Reply
  4. Azlin Bloor says

    July 1, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    Fantastic combination of your childhood memories and something new! Growing up in Singapore, I am lucky enough to be familiar with both of these, I used to be quite fond of mochi. And we used to pick up the South Indian ones when we went to the market in Little India! I love the jaggery coconut filling!

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      July 2, 2016 at 3:54 pm

      Oh then you are so lucky !! I cnt wait to walk into a dango store myself and sample everything!!!

      Reply
  5. Donna says

    July 1, 2016 at 5:35 pm

    Oh wow, I love this fun fusion recipe! I have never tried either, but the sounds delicious 🙂

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      July 2, 2016 at 3:55 pm

      Thanks Donna! It really was!

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Tina - the human behind all the content you see on this blog. Welcome to my little corner of the internet where I create flavorful and unique plant-based recipes.

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