is a Japanese

dumpling Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

made with regular

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 ...

and

glutinous rice Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; they may also hav ...

flour. They are usually made in round shapes, and three to five pieces are 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 ...

, which is called . The pieces are eaten with sugar, syrup,

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 ...

, and other sweeteners. Generally, ''dango'' falls under the category of ''

wagashi is traditional Japanese confectionery, typically made using plant-based ingredients and with an emphasis on seasonality. ''Wagashi'' generally makes use of cooking methods that pre-date Western influence in Japan. It is often served with green ...

'' (Japanese confectionery), and is often served with

green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...

. It is eaten year-round, but the different varieties are traditionally eaten in given seasons. ''Dango'' is sometimes compared with

mochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...

, but is different in that mochi is generally made only with glutinous rice. A popular type of ''dango'', the ''hanami dango'', has been made into a

Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...

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 modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...

(🍡).

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

; ingredients other than ''

azuki ''Vigna angularis'', also known as the , azuki bean, aduki bean, red bean, or red mung bean, is an annual vine widely cultivated throughout East Asia for its small (approximately long) bean. The cultivars most familiar in East Asia have a un ...

'' are used on rare occasions. Other toppings for anko include made from

edamame is an East Asian dish prepared with immature soybeans in their pods, which are boiled or steamed, and may be served with salt or other condiments. The dish has become popular across the world because it is rich in vitamins, dietary fiber, and i ...

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 any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

) paste. * is

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

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

. Furthermore, the one wrapped with

nori Nori is a dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, usually made from species of the red algae genus ''Pyropia'', including ''P. yezoensis'' and ''Pyropia tenera, P. tenera''. It has a strong and distinctive flavor, and is generally made in ...

is called . * also known as is eaten during

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

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

sakura The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

''-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. This one was chosen for the Dango Unicode emoji, 🍡 * 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 millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

flour. This variety is prominently featured in the tale of

Momotarō is a Folk hero, popular hero of Japanese folklore. His name is often translated as ''Peach Boy'', but is directly translated as ''Peach + Tarō (given name), Tarō'', a common Japanese given name. ''Momotarō'' is also the title of various books, ...

, 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, like

kusa mochi Kusa mochi (, "herb mochi"), also known as ''yomogi mochi'' (), is a Japanese confection. It is made from mochi and leaves of yomogi (Japanese mugwort). The leaves are kneaded into the mochi, giving it a vivid green color. The greenness depend ...

. 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 Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, 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 diet ...

. * is produced and eaten primarily in

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

. ''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 ''wagashi'' (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) t ...

mitsumame is a Japanese dessert. It is made of small cubes of agar jelly, a white translucent jelly made from red algae or seaweed. The agar is dissolved with water (or fruit juice such as apple juice) to make the jelly. It is served in a bowl with boi ...

. * is a white dango eaten during

Tsukimi or , meaning, "''moon-viewing"'', are Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon, a variant of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The celebration of the full moon typically takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the traditional Japanese cal ...

, related to the

Mid-Autumn The Mid-Autumn Festival (for other names, see § Etymology) is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid-S ...

festival.

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 is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Tokushima Prefecture to th ...

’s

miyagegashi refers to a sweet made with the purpose of selling it as a souvenir. As with most other Japanese souvenirs (), the typical is a regional specialty () and cannot be bought outside its specific geographic area. The making and selling of is an i ...

, which was named after

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', ''Kusamakura (novel), Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work ''Light and Darkness (novel), Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of Br ...

’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 there are generous amounts of humor and sarc ...

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

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan 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 fr ...

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 cultures ...

and baked with sweet boiled beans. * is coated in chestnut paste. * is a type of Japanese

meatball A meatball is ground meat (mince) rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are m ...

. Chicken ''niku dango'' is called ''

tsukune is a Japanese chicken meatball most often cooked yakitori style (but also can be fried, baked, or boiled) and sometimes covered in a sweet soy or yakitori ''tare'', which is often mistaken for teriyaki sauce. Summary Thickeners are added to ...

'', served on a

. File:Hanami_Dango.jpg, ''

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

dango'' File:Dango on plate with stick.jpg, ''

Kusa Kusa or KUSA may refer to: * Kusa, Russia, a town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia * Kusa, Latvia, a village in Madona district, Latvia * Kusa, Oklahoma, United States * Kusa, indigenous name of Beles River (in Gumuz language) * KUSA (TV), a televisi ...

dango'' File:Bean-jam-dumpling,dango,katori-city,japan.JPG, '' Anko dango'' File:Goma dango 001.jpg, ''

Goma Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the North Kivu, North Kivu Province; it is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and shares borders with the Bukumu Chiefdo ...

dango'' File:Chi chi dango.jpg, '' Chichi dango'' File:Tsukimi dango.jpg, ''

dango'' File:Kinako dango in Isezakicho.jpg, ''

Kinako ''Kinako'' ( or "yellow flour") is roasted Soy flour, soybean flour, used in Japanese cuisine. In English, it is usually called "roasted soy flour". ''Kinako'' is mostly used as a topping to flavor rice cakes like mochi. History Usage of th ...

dango'' File:だんご3と魚 (34657200343).jpg, Roasted with fish

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 head but sometimes on the face or body. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although ...

consisting of ''dango''-like buns on either side of the head is sometimes known as ''odango''. ''

Dorodango is a Japanese art form in which soil and water are combined and moulded, then carefully polished to create a delicate shiny sphere. Etymology The phrase is derived from the Japanese language, Japanese words and . Technique Making the bas ...

'' 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 Phan may refer to: * Phan (surname), a Vietnamese family name * Phan District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand * Phan River, Bình Thuận Province, Vietnam * Phan (tray) Phan (, ) is an artistically decorated tray with pedestal. It is common in T ...

. 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

character 🍡 is used to resemble

dango. The character was introduced in October 2010.

References

{{Dumplings Japanese dumplings Japanese rice dishes Skewered foods Wagashi Glutinous rice dishes Rice flour dishes