Dango Recipe with Anko (Sweet Red Bean Paste)

Deliciously chewy Dango are a quick and easy treat you can make in minutes. Japanese anko (sweet red bean paste) brings in the sweetness to complement the cute little rice flour dumplings perfectly.

Why We Love This

We have a real obsession with all things mochi and red bean paste. Unlike mochi though, which is cooked in the microwave, dango is made into balls and boiled until soft and chewy in just a few minutes, then it’s popped on a stick and topped with that amazing sweet red bean paste!

What is Dango? 

Dango are small round rice flour dumplings, often found on a stick in sets of three or four. They’re only around 2 cm / 1 inch in diameter, so they’re nice and easy to eat each dango.

There are lots of local varieties of dango across Japan, but we’d most often see three main types available almost everywhere:

• Anko Dango – These are our favourite, and what we’ve made today. They consist of 3-5 dango dumplings threaded on a skewer, topped with anko (sweet red bean paste). 
• Mitarashi Dango – Similar to anko dango, except basted in a syrup made from soy sauce and sugar. The dumplings are usually grilled first before being coated in the syrup. They’re a little more savoury than anko dango. 
• Hanami Dango – Famous for the 🍡 emoji, these are similar to regular white dango, except the pink ball is coloured with food colouring and the green is flavoured with Japanese mugwort leaves, so it has a slightly earthier flavour. The colours represent the evolution of the peach flower in spring, from pink blossom to green new growth. They’re usually enjoyed during cherry blossom season at ‘hanami’ (cherry blossom viewing) celebrations.

What You’ll Need

• Glutinous Rice Flour – The traditional flour used in Japan is called shiratamako (glutinous rice flour) or mochiko (sweet rice flour). It’s often blended with another type of flour called joshinko (non-glutinous rice flour) to give the dumplings the perfect balance of chewy texture named for how it sounds: ‘mochi mochi’. We find these flours are a little hard to source where we live, so we use Thai style glutinous rice flour which we can buy from both our local supermarket and the nearby Asian grocery. Look for the green label (it also comes with a red label, this is the non-sticky rice flour, so don’t get this one!). You can also buy any of these flours online.
• Sweet Red Bean Paste (Anko) – We used coarse red bean paste, but you can use the fine bean paste as well, it’s completely up to your taste. Store bought is fine – you’ll find it at your local Asian supermarket, otherwise you can also make your own from azuki beans. In a pinch, you could make a filling with sweetened kidney beans, like in Vietnamese 3 Colour Bean Dessert. Or ditch the beans, and make up your own filling!

How to make Dango:

1. Bring small pot of water to the boil. In a medium bowl, add your glutinous rice flour and water and mix until combined. It should start sticking to the spoon / your hand and coming away from the sides of the bowl.
2. At this point, use your hands to bring the dough together into a big soft ball. It should feel soft and smooth ‘like your ear lobes’.
3. Next form them into balls shapes around 2 cm / 1 inch in diameter. Use ‘soft hands’ here for a nice round shape.
4. Pop in boiling water and cook until they start to float (3-5 minutes).
5. Remove from hot water into a bowl of cold water to stop them cooking further and cool them down.
6. Once cooled, place three dango on a wooden bamboo stick and top with anko (sweet red bean paste). Enjoy!

Wandercook’s Tips

• Serving Suggestion – Serve as a dessert after classic Japanese dishes like tantanmen ramen and Japanese gyoza dumplings!
• Boil First – Make sure you boil the water first, so your dango don’t dry out waiting for it to be ready.
• Prevent Dango Drying Out – If it’s a particularly hot day or you can’t cook them straight away, keep them in a plastic bag to keep from drying out.
• Soak the Skewers – This will help stop the dango from sticking to the bamboo.

FAQs

Variations & Substitutes

• Grilled Dango – For added texture, you can lightly grill your dango on the stove before topping with anko. 

Serve your dango after these popular Japanese dishes:

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