Sweets
Hange Dango
Hange Dango — a wheat dumpling wrapped in myoga leaf, made for the day farm labor gets a rest
Wheat dough is wrapped around sweet red bean, then wrapped again in a myoga leaf and steamed — a confection from Otoyo Town. It's made on hange, July 2nd, to mark a rest from farm labor, and is said to be offered to the paddy field's guardian deity too. It also goes by the name myoga dango.
- Origin: Kochi Otoyo
- About 590 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Unwrap the myoga leaf and a bright fragrance rises, giving way to the plain sweetness of a wheat-flour dumpling filled with bean paste, it is said. This confection of Otoyo Town takes its name from hange, a date on the old calendar marking a break in the farming season, said to fall on July 2. Wheat flour is used instead of glutinous rice, a holdover from times when rice was precious, and because it's wrapped in myoga leaves, it is also known as myoga dango.
How it's made
Wheat flour is mixed with sugar and salt, combined well with hot water, and left to rest for about ten minutes. The dough is wrapped around sweet bean paste, shaped into a dumpling, wrapped in a myoga leaf, and steamed for about fifteen minutes to finish. Mixing the flour and hot water thoroughly is said to matter for the texture, and the myoga leaf is peeled away before eating.
Why it took this shape
On the day of hange, however busy the farm work, it is said to have been customary to take the day off and rest from the season's labor. Farming households in Otoyo are said to have made this dumpling on that day and offered some to the paddy field's guardian spirit as well. Myoga leaves are said to have some preservative effect along with their bright fragrance, which is said to be why the sweet became associated with easing the fatigue of summer farm work, and the custom of eating it the day after Tanabata is also said to remain.
Before you go
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
- Osechi and zoni for the New YearA guide to the meaning behind osechi's tiered boxes, the regional differences in zoni (square vs. round mochi, clear vs. miso broth), and the nanakusa-gayu custom.
- Setsubun: ehomaki and lucky beansA guide to ehomaki, the uncut sushi roll said to be eaten facing a lucky direction on Setsubun, and to mamemaki, the bean-throwing custom with roasted lucky beans.
Dishes in the same style
- Abekawa MochiFresh-pounded rice cake is dusted in soybean flour mixed with sugar. Named for the Abe River, it's said to have been famous among Tokaido travelers as a teahouse specialty and to appear in the travel novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige.
- Iga ManjuSweet bean paste is wrapped in rice flour dough, then coated with dyed sticky rice grains. One account ties the name to the grains' resemblance to a chestnut's spiny husk, and in the western Mikawa region it's said to be offered to Hina dolls at the Doll Festival.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Related lineage
- Zenmai no ItameniZenmai fern, repeatedly boiled and sun-dried until fully cured, is re-hydrated and stir-simmered with fried tofu — a dish from Otoyo Town, known for its zenmai. The repeated drying is said to soften the fern's fiber, and the dish is a regular on sawachi platters.
- Ginburo ZushiGinburo, a kidney bean grown only for home use in a district of Otoyo Town, is simmered sweet and folded into vinegared rice with root vegetables. Regarded as a bean of long life and good fortune, it's traditionally made for festivals and celebratory banquets.
Also from Kochi
- Chate no AemonoChayote, a squash-family vine native to tropical America and known locally as chate, is tossed raw into a light dressing — an autumn home dish in Kochi. A single vine can bear over a hundred fruit, so it's mostly grown for the household or shared with neighbors, and it's especially popular in the mountains where it grows easily.
- Chunichi SobaA local noodle dish from Akaoka, Kochi's Konan City, pairing Chinese noodles with udon stock. Dried baby sardines and shredded kelp are the standard toppings, said to have grown from a shortcut sparing the effort of both udon and ramen kitchens.
- GoishichaA post-fermented tea from Otoyo, Kochi Prefecture, made through two stages of fermentation — an aerobic mold fermentation followed by a lactic acid soak. Named for its square-cut, sun-dried pieces said to resemble go stones, it carries a distinctive sweet-and-sour flavor.
- GuruniDaikon, carrot, taro, and other root vegetables are simmered together in a dashi made from dried baby sardines and soy sauce — a winter side dish. The name is said to come from "guru," Tosa dialect for a group of companions, and the dish was long made in bulk and reheated meal after meal.
- Ha Ninniku no NutaGarlic greens are chopped, ground, and mixed with miso, vinegar, sesame, and sugar — a traditional Kochi condiment said to trace back to a Korean import. It's commonly spooned over raw fish like yellowtail in place of soy sauce, and both its name and the fish it accompanies vary by area.