Ingredients (makes about 4 pieces)
100 g potato starch
100 cc water
200 cc boiling water (if available, replace 2 tbsp with broth from the simmered beans)
80 g sweet boiled beans or amanatto / candied beans
3 tbsp cane sugar (or white sugar)
1/4 tsp salt
< Sweet boiled beans (a quantity that is easy to make) >
100 g kintokimame or common beans
1,000 cc water
80g cane sugar (approx.)
How to make
< If making your own sweet boiled beans >
1. Soak the beans in a generous amount of water (not in recipe) for about 24 hours.
2. Place the strained beans and 1,000 cc clean water in a pot and turn the heat on. Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour over low to medium heat, keeping the water surface bubbling.
3. Add the sugar. If the beans start to appear above the water surface, add water and continue simmering until the beans are tender, then allow to cool. If there is a lot of broth left, simmer the broth only until it is reduced to half the quantity.
< Making the denpun dango >
1. Place the potato starch and 100 cc water in a bowl, and stir with a wooden spatula to remove the lumps.
2. Place the cane sugar and 200 cc water—if available, replace 2 tbsp with broth from the simmered beans—in a pot and allow to melt.
3. Pour freshly boiling water in one go into (1) and mix while hot. This will require some strength as the dough will become thick and sticky. When the dough is thoroughly mixed, stir in the sweet boiled beans.
4. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat, pour in a ladleful of the dough for each dumpling, and reduce the heat to low. Cook until parts of the dough are translucent, gently flip with a spatula, and cook until completely translucent. Serve with a trickle of honey if desired.
Denpun dango is a translucent dumpling made with potato starch and sweet beans. I was served the treat by the moms on a dairy farm in Nayoro City, Hokkaido. First came the amazing texture—super-chewy!—and then the gentle flavor.
From the potatoes used to make the potato starch to the kintokimame beans, all of the ingredients used by the locals are grown in Hokkaido. Mix the potato starch with boiling water, stir in the candied beans, and cook the dough in a skillet. The treat is enjoyed as a satisfying snack by the residents of Nayoro and other areas of Hokkaido. In some areas, it’s called batabata-yaki.
When making the dish at home, the trick is to pour freshly boiling water into the potato starch in one go. Mixing will require some strength as the dough will become thick and sticky, but it’s also what will create the translucent finish and chewy texture of the cooked dumpling. This time, I made the sweet boiled beans from scratch, but it’s far easier to use ready-made amanatto candied beans. Serve the dumplings freshly cooked and warm, and enjoy the super-chewy texture!
minokamo | Cookery expert / Photographer
Gifu Prefecture native minokamo’s culinary adventures were inspired by her fond childhood memories of cooking with her grandmother. She researches, writes about, and arranges regional dishes that capture, through their preparation and presentation, sensory enjoyments inspired by local climate, history, and lifestyles. Ryori tabi kara tadaima(Back from a Cooking Journey; Fudosha), published in September 2020, is a collection of recipes from minokamo’s visits to homes up and down Japan.
