Ingredients
2⁄3 cup jjoshinko, (Japanese rice flour)
3⁄4 cup shiratamako, (glutinous rice flour or sweet rice flour)
2⁄3 cup warm water, (⅔ cup and remove 2 tsp to be precise)
7 oz dangoko, (Japanese rice dumpling flour)
2⁄3 cup water, (⅔ cup and remove 2 to 4 tsp to be precise)
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
150 ml water, (⅔ cup and remove 2 tsp to be precise)
2 tbsp potato starch, or cornstarch
Preparation
Gather all the ingredients. Joshinko and Shiratamako on the left and Dangoko on the right. The instructions below are the same.
Gather ingredients for the sweet soy glaze. Soak the skewers in water.
Combine Shiratamako and Joshinko in a bowl (or add just Dangoko in a bowl).
Stir in warm water (or cold water for Dangoko) a little bit at a time while mixing with chopsticks.
The flours start to stick together and eventually it becomes clumps. Using hands, combine into one ball.
Knead until the dough becomes smooth. The texture is like squeezing an “earlobe.”
Make the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
Then divide each piece into 2 balls.
Shape into a nice smooth round ball. If the dough is cracking or has some wrinkle, tap a finger in water and apply the small amount of water on the cracked area to smooth it out.
Once the water in the pot is boiling, gently drop in each dumpling into the pot with a continuous motion. Stir the balls occasionally so they don’t stick on the bottom of the pot.
Dumplings will stay on the bottom first but once they are cooked, they will float. Then cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer the dumplings into iced water.
Once the dumplings are cooled, drain well and transfer to a tray.
Skewer 3 pieces into a bamboo skewer. Continue the rest of the balls and set them aside.
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan without turning on the heat.
Potato starch/cornstarch will become lumps once added heat to it, so mix all together first. Then turn on the heat and continue to whisk.
Keep whisking as the mixture can become thick suddenly.
When the sauce becomes thick, remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the sauce to a container or bowl.
Grill over direct heat.
Pour the sweet soy glaze on top and serve immediately.
