Sasa dango

Sasa dango is a Japanese dango variety where the rice cakes filled with red bean paste are wrapped in bamboo leaves. This sweet is traditionally prepared in the prefecture of Niigata. Although it was made for Tango no sekku festival, held on May 5th, nowadays it is available throughout the year due to its great flavors.

The word sasa in the name of this dessert refers to a type of bamboo leaf. The tradition of wrapping rice cakes in bamboo leaves began in the Edo period. In order to prepare sasa dango, glutinous rice is steamed and pounded into a rice cake which is then flavored with mugwort.

Red bean paste is placed inside the rice cake, and it is then wrapped in bamboo leaves. The concoction is steamed, and the steaming process imparts a subtle hint of bamboo flavor to the rice cake. Sasa dango has two subvarieties – onna-dango or female dango, typically filled with anko, and otoko-dango or male dango, which is typically filled with kinpira.