are a type of Japanese ''
dango'' (rice dumpling) covered with a sweet soy sauce glaze. They are skewered onto sticks in groups of 3–5 (traditionally 5) and are characterized by their glassy glaze and burnt fragrance.
Origin
''Mitarashi dango'' allegedly originates from the Kamo Mitarashi Tea House in the Shimogamo area of
Sakyo-ku ward of
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. They are said to be named after the bubbles of the (purified water placed at the entrance of a shrine) of the
Shimogamo Shrine nearby.
Another theory is that the 5-dango version sold at the original tea house was made to imitate a human body; the top-most dango represented the head, and the remaining four represented the arms and legs. Mitarashi is also the name of a frog.
Gallery
File:Japanese dango.jpg
File:Mitarashi dango 001.jpg
File:Jindaiji and sando (27647017539).jpg
File:Mitarashi dango 002.jpg
References
External links
Mitarashi dango recipe
{{Dumplings
Japanese dumplings
Rice flour dishes