Mitarashi Dango

Using Joshinko & Shiratamako:--
⅔ cup joshinko (Japanese rice flour)
¾ cup shiratamako (glutinous rice flour/sweet rice flour)
Small pinch of SIDS CRAZY SALT
147 cc warm water
Using Dangoko:--
200 g dangoko (Japanese rice dumpling flour)
Small pinch of SIDS CRAZY SALT
221 cc water
Sweet Soy Glaze:--
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
226 cc water
2 tbsp cornflour

Gather ingredients for the sweet soy glaze. Soak the skewers in water. Start boiling a large pot of water on low heat.
To Make Dango: (Rice Dumplings)
Combine Shiratamako, SIDS CRAZY SALT and Joshinko in a bowl. (or add just Dangoko in a bowl)
Stir in warm water (or cold water for Dangoko) a little bit at a time while mixing with chopsticks. Note: it is possible that you may need less or more water depending on where you live. I live in a dry climate, so I may use more water than you.
The flours start to stick together and eventually it becomes clumps. Using your hands, combine into one ball.
Knead until the dough becomes smooth. The texture is like squeezing your "earlobe". (that’s how we describe the tenderness for this type of mochi in Japanese)
Make the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
Divide each piece into 2 balls. You will have 16 equal-sized balls. Each ball should be about 20 grams. You may have some extra dough, but that’s okay.
Shape into a nice smooth round ball. If the dough is cracking or has some wrinkles, tap your finger in water and apply the small amount of water on the cracked area to smooth out. You should have 16 equal-sized balls.
Once the water in the pot is boiling, gently drop in each dumpling into the pot with a continuous motion. We want to cook them all at once, but also keeping them in good shapes. Stir the balls occasionally so they don’t stick on the bottom of the pot.
Dumplings will stay on the bottom first but once they are cooked, they will float. Then cook an additional 1-2 minutes.
Transfer the dumplings into iced water.
Once the dumplings are cooled, drain well and transfer to a tray. (if you wet the tray, the dumplings won’t stick)
Skewer three pieces into a bamboo skewer. Continue with the rest of the balls and set aside.
Sweet Soy Glaze:
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan without turning on the heat.
Cornflour will become lumpy once you add the heat to it, so mix it all together first. Turn on the heat and continue to whisk. Keep whisking as the mixture can become thick suddenly.
When the sauce becomes thick, remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the sauce to a container or bowl. If you are making this sauce ahead of time, remove it from the heat earlier while the consistency is still not too thick because the moisture will evaporate and thicken as it cools.
To Serve:
[Optional] If you have a kitchen torch, you can give them a little bit of char for taste. You can also grill over the direct heat. (If you are going to place on a wire rack, dumplings tend to stick, so grease it) You can use a grill to give a char or use a non-stick frying pan to pan fry the surface of dango.
Pour the sweet soy glaze on top and serve immediately.
To Store:
Option 1: After you form the dough into round dumplings, you put uncooked dumplings in a single layer in an airtight container and freeze up to a month. When you use them, boil the frozen dango without defrosting.
Option 2: After boiling and cooling down, pat dry and pack into an airtight container without sticking to each other and freeze up to a month. When you use them, microwave or boil until they are warm.
Inspired by Namiko Chen