KITCHEN PRACTICE 2 — Full Mitarashi Dango, Compared to Plain
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TASK
Make the mitarashi sauce and grill a batch of dango to go with it.
Compare against the plain boiled dango from Kitchen Practice 1 and
note what grilling specifically adds.

WALKTHROUGH

Step 1 — Boil and cool a fresh batch of dango.
Same method as Kitchen Practice 1.

Step 2 — Skewer and grill.
Thread three or four dango per skewer if you have them, and grill or
pan-toast over medium heat, turning until you get real colour and a
little char in places.

Step 3 — Make the mitarashi sauce.
Combine soy sauce, sugar, a little mirin, and water, and simmer. Stir
in a potato starch (or cornstarch) slurry and continue simmering until
it coats the back of a spoon.

Step 4 — Glaze and serve.
Brush or spoon the warm sauce generously over the grilled dango.

Step 5 — Taste against the plain version.
Compare this against your memory (or a saved piece) of the plain
boiled dango from Kitchen Practice 1. Note specifically:
  - The toasted aroma and slight char flavour the grilling adds, which
    the sauce alone wouldn't provide
  - The textural contrast between the slightly firmer, charred surface
    and the soft interior
  - How the glaze's sweetness and saltiness plays against the plain
    dough's own mild flavour

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WHY THIS MATTERS
Grilling and glazing are two separate contributions, not one combined
step - isolating what grilling alone adds (aroma, texture, a little
char) from what the sauce alone adds (sweetness, saltiness, shine)
gives a genuine understanding of why mitarashi dango is built the way
it is, rather than treating it as one inseparable recipe.