Kahou Dango ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

1. [Dango rice dumpling] Knead the rice flour while adding the hot water little by little until it has the softness of an earlobe. Shape the dough into 64 individual round dumplings, place the Hagi wood pieces in several, and clean up the outer appearance, so that no wood pieces are visible. Boil the dumplings until they float to the surface, dunk them in cold water, and strain them using a colander.

2. [Dumpling Soup Stock] Add water and Kombu kelp to a pot, turn on the burner, and take out the Kombu kelp just before the water starts to boil.

3. Reduce to medium heat, add the bonito flakes, remove pot from heat immediately before it starts to boil, and wait for the bonito flakes to sink to the bottom.

4. Put a colander on either cooking paper or cheese cloth and strain the result from step three.

5. [Soup Dumplings] Cut the daikon radish and carrots into chunks and shave the burdock root into thin slices. Soak the dried shiitake mushroom and slice into strips. Cut the mitsuba leaf into 3 centimeter pieces. Cut the chicken into easy-to-eat pieces and blanch it.

6. Add the daikon, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms into the dashi soup stock and allow it to simmer. Add in the burdock root and chicken when it starts to boil, and once everything has been boiled, season with soy sauce, sake, and salt.

7. Add in the dango rice dumplings, bring everything back to a boil, turn off the heat, and serve with the mitsuba leaf as a garnish.

8. [Azuki Sweet Red Bean Paste and Dango Rice Dumpings] Wash the azuki beans, add them to a pot with enough water to cover the beans, and drain the water once it boils. Repeat by adding water to the pot, bring it to a boil, and drain the water once it reaches boiling.

9. Add water to the pot with azuki beans, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the azuki beans to cook until soft.

10. Add sugar in two or three divisions to step 9 so that it can simmer without burning. Once the water has simmered out, add salt and turn off the heat.

11. [Azuki Dango] Add the bean paste to a pot, turn on the heat, and cook it to your desired thickness while adding hot water.

12. Add in the dango and turn off the heat once it boils.