Noodles and Rice

Dungo Rice Balls

by Tom on September 25th, 2007

Above you can see Dungo in all its glory.  In this case it is the three balls on a stick that have just been grilled and are ready to eat.  Dungo are a very simple concept and not too much more complex to make at home.

Firstly you must mix fine rice flour (ground raw rice) with ice cold water until you get a firm paste sort of like biscuit dough consistency.  Then you roll it in balls and drop into boiling water.  They are boiled until they float and are then drained and re-shaped if necessary. 

Dungo can be eaten like this with fruit or syrup of some kind.  In our case, our friendly cooks, grilled them over hot coals (as they did for the fish you can see in the background).  They are then drizzled with a sweet syrup and eaten off the stick.

There is something mystical about these dungo balls that I don’t even nearly understand.  My daughter sometimes watches a TV cartoon that revolves around a man whose head is shaped like a dungo ball and he has a big wind up sort of key sticking out of the top of his dungo-head.  When he finds trouble he does a little dance and sings a little song and then throws dungo balls at the angry or evil or fighting people.  The dungo flys straight down their throats and they instantaneously bliss out and the day is saved.  As a result a stream of light comes down from the sky and hits the dungo man’s key and it turns around a complete wind.  As I said, I don’t understand what is going on, but the overall message is clear.  If dungo goes flying down your throat you will end up better off and everything will end up great. 

Is this true?  Find out for yourself and let me know.

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POSTED IN: Desserts : Asian Cuisine, Japanese, Street Food