Yoko Yamada shows how to make dango with anko and kinako.
She has lived in Dunedin for six years, where she works as a veterinary nurse and has a 4-year-old son.
Red adzuki beans, cooked and sweetened are used in many desserts and sweets throughout Japan, China and Korea.
You can cook them yourself and control how much sugar you add, or you can buy them tinned.
Dango are little dumplings made of glutinous rice flour that are light and chewy.
Kinako is ground roasted soy beans, which has a slightly sweet, nutty flavour and is sprinkled on many desserts and sweets.
Ingredients
1 cup dried adzuki beans
brown sugar to taste
1-1½ cups glutinous rice flour
Method
Soak the beans in plenty of water overnight. Drain, rinse and put into a pot with fresh water. Bring to the boil then turn off the heat and let stand for a few minutes. Drain, add plenty of fresh water, bring to the boil, turn the heat down and cook until soft (about an hour).
When cooked, drain, add sugar to taste and a little salt. Store in the fridge for up to a week.
To make the dumplings, put the glutinous rice flour in a bowl and add enough filtered water to make a thick dough. It's best to work it with your fingers until it no longer sticks to the bowl or your fingers. It should be shiny and soft yet hold its shape.
Put a pot of water on the stove to boil. Shape the dough into small balls, a little smaller than table tennis balls, and drop into the boiling water. When they float to the top, let them simmer for a few moments, then drain and serve.
Put a few dango dumplings in a bowl with a spoonful of sweet red beans and sprinkle with roasted soy flour.
Tips
• Sweet red bean paste is good with vanilla ice cream. It's also used as a filling for bread and cakes and dumplings, and can be thinned into a soup and served with dumplings.
• Dango are often served on a stick sprinkled with kinako.
• Kinako is often used to roll sweet balls and jellies in.
• Glutinous rice flour and roasted soy flour can be found in Asian groceries and good supermarkets.
• Thanks to Afife Harris and Centre City New World.
