Sweets ── Wagashi (Japanese sweets)
Mitarashi Dango
Mitarashi dango — grilled rice dumplings glazed with a sweet soy sauce
Skewered dango with a light char, glazed in a sweet-savory soy sauce. Said to have begun as a shape modeled on the bubbles rising in Shimogamo Shrine's Mitarashi Pond, and once eaten at the shrine's rites for protection from misfortune.
- Origin: Kyoto Kyoto (Sakyo Ward)
- Mochi and dango
- About 370 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Just rice-flour dango glazed with a sauce of soy sauce and sugar thickened with potato starch. The dango itself carries no flavor; the appeal sits entirely in the charred, sweet-savory glaze, and a skewer is said to usually carry five. Whether the surface is charred and how thick the glaze runs varies by shop, and several different lines are said to stand side by side even at Shimogamo Shrine's own gate.
How it's made
Dango kneaded from rice flour are boiled or steamed, skewered, and lightly charred on the surface. A sauce of soy sauce, sugar, and water thickened with potato starch is poured over them, and the skewer is grilled once more for a toasted aroma before serving. Some shops glaze twice for extra sheen, others just once for a lighter finish — the balance of sweet and savory is said to be each shop's own style. Simmering the glaze too long risks scorching it, so judging when to take it off the heat is also said to matter.
Why it took this shape
One account holds that the shape began as an imitation of the bubbles that rose when a purifying scoop of water was drawn from Shimogamo Shrine's Mitarashi Pond. Five dango to a skewer is also said to represent the five parts of the body, and what began as a rite of protection eaten within the shrine grounds is said to have settled into a sweet sold at the tea stalls by its gate. The sight of visitors eating dango bought at the temple gate while strolling is said to remain a familiar scene in Kyoto sightseeing today.
Before you go
- How to use a convenience storeA quick guide to choosing rice balls and hot snacks, buying coffee, paying by cash, IC card, or tap payment, using the eat-in corner, and sorting your trash — the basics for a first visit.
- 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.
- Enjoying a bussanten (regional products fair)A guide to what's sold at a bussanten (regional products fair), how to find one, when it gets crowded, shelf life and taking food home, and how to fit one around a trip.
Dishes in the same style
- Ohagi / BotamochiLightly pounded rice coated in sweet bean paste, offered at the equinox. The speckled look of chunky bean paste is said to have been likened to bush clover blossoms in autumn — hence "ohagi" — and to peonies in spring, giving "botamochi."
- DaifukuOne of the most basic shapes in wagashi: pounded mochi wrapped around sweet bean paste. A thick, saltier mochi called "harabuto-mochi" is said to have been eaten in the Edo period, later shrinking into the handheld "daifuku-mochi" known today.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Kyoto
- Chirimen SanshoChirimen-jako simmered sweet-salty with fresh sansho peppercorns in sake, soy sauce, and mirin — a Kyoto side dish said to have begun as a cook's gift in the mid-Showa era. The peppercorns leave a sharp, fragrant aftertaste.
- Ebiimo to Bodara no TaitanEbi-imo, a striped Kyoto heirloom taro named for its shrimp-like ridges, simmers together with bodara, cod dried in Hokkaido. Gelatin from the dried cod is said to keep the taro from falling apart, while the taro's bitterness softens the cod — a textbook 'deaimon' pairing.
- Fushimi no SakeSake from Fushimi in Kyoto, a district fed by groundwater from the Momoyama plateau. Its water is said to be softer than Nada's, giving a round mouthfeel and gentle, full sweetness that overlaps with the profile recognized under the GI Kyoto geographical indication.
- GanmodokiTofu mixed with vegetables, rolled into balls, and fried. Known in Kyoto as hirousu or hiryōzu, thought to have taken this form through the vegetarian temple-cooking idea of a filling dish made without meat.
- Hamo no YakimonoPike conger, riddled with fine bones, is scored with the skilled honekiri cut and then grilled — teriyaki-glazed or salted — in Kyoto cuisine. Said to have taken root in landlocked Kyoto because the hardy fish could be carried in alive, it is also a festival food for Gion Matsuri, nicknamed the 'hamo festival.'
- Kamonasu DengakuKamonasu, a round Kyoto heirloom eggplant over 10cm across sometimes called the 'queen of eggplants,' is sliced and pan-fried in plenty of oil, then topped with a sweet miso reduced with sake and mirin. It is said to have long been grown on the alluvial fan of Kamigamo.