Here is the seasonal sweet I made with some Japanese traditional ingredients. It's pumpkin shiratama dango!

Shiratama dango (白玉団子) is a type of chewy mochi sweet made from shiratamako (白玉粉) or shiratama flour, and usually served with syrup such as kuromitsu and/or sweet toppings such as anko (sweet azuki bean paste), kinako (roasted soy powder), or kurogoma(black sesame) , etc.

shiratama dango with kinako and anko

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Read more about shiratama flour from here.

What's shiratama flour and how is it used?

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For this recipe, pumpkin shiratama dango is served with this Kurogoma (Black sesame) Latte which contains black sesame powder, roasted soy powder and sugar.

The toasted flavor of black sesame and roasted soy powder goes well with the dango. You can serve by sprinkling the powder over the dango or making a sauce by adding water as below. Does the black color give you the Halloween feeling?

I decorated the pumpkin shiratama dango in jack-o-lantern style. Can you tell what I used for it?

It's yakinori (toasted seaweed sheet)! I cut shapes with kitchen scissors.

yakinori (toasted seaweed sheet)

Yakinori is commonly used for wrapping sushi and onigiri, and also used for mochi.

Other toppings and decorating options

Using cocoa or hot chocolate as a topping will be nice. Make it thicker than usual and let the dango float on it. Vanilla ice cream is lovely for a topping, too

For the jack-o-lantern decoration, you can use a cake decorating pen or an icing pen instead of cutting yakinori, or maybe you can find something nicer to do.

Pumpkin Shiratama Dango RECIPE

Ingredients

For mochi balls (24 balls)

peeled and seeded kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin) or butternut squash 100g
shiratama flour 100g
water 80ml - (to the proper texture)

For topping and decorating

black sesame powder for sprinkling, or black sesame sauce (add the same amount of water to black sesame powder )
yakinori seaweed sheet 1 sheet for decorating

Instructions

Make pumpkin puree: Cut pumpkin into cubes. (To microwave) Put the cubes in a bowl covering in a cling film, and heat at 600W for 4-5 mins. (To steam) Put the cubes in a steamer or colander set over a pan of simmering water and cook for 10-12 mins. Test with the point of a knife that it's soft enough to mash. Take it out, mash them or put them into a blender.
Place the pumpkin puree, shiratama flour and a half of the water in a bowl, and mix them using your hand. Gradually add the water and knead until the dough becomes soft and elastic.
Make 2cm-sized-balls using both hands.
Add the balls to boiling water. On medium heat, boil them until they float to the top, and then boil them for 1-2 minutes more.
Take them out and put them into ice water to cool completely.
Cut seaweed sheet to the Jack-O-Lantern shapes with kitchen scissors and put them on the balls. Serve them with powder or sauce of your choice.