Newbie Dango Maker

Sariel stands outside of Dan’s Dangos, tail swaying softly before stepping inside and looking around, the bell above the door ringing as she enters.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” She called, her ears slightly twitching when she heard the sound of a really loud hammer coming from a room in the back. 

Following the noise, Sariel ended up in a very spacious backyard where a very tall doll with powder blue ears, dark blue pride horns, and powder blue hair done in a ponytail wearing a very interesting outfit stood, holding a rather large hammer.

Feeling like someone was staring at him, Dan turned around, eyes making contact with Sariel’s. 

“Can I help you?” He asked, repositioning the hammer on his shoulder, holding it comfortably.

Sariel blinks a few times, her cheeks warming up. “U-uhm…” She began, wringing her hands as she tried so hard not to stare at Dan’s chest. 

“I was told… by a friend of mine that you’re offering lessons in dango making? I wasn’t sure if you were open today or not so I came to check so I could ask you to teach me?” She replied, looking at the ground as she tried to explain.

Dan looked Sariel over for a moment then made his way over, reaching out and gently lifting her chin up so she could look at him, waiting a few minutes before stepping back. 

“I’m always offering dango making lessons. Do you have any idea what kind you want to make? I can give you a list if you want.” He says, waving her inside.

Sariel sighed with relief, placing her hand on her chest as she relaxed, shaking her head and trying to compose herself before following Dan inside.

“I was thinking about learning how to make Hanami Dango.” She replied, looking around the store, stopping to stare at the displays filled with all kinds of dango and mochi.

“Hanami Dango huh? Let me just grab everything we need then we’ll get started.” Dan says, having set the hammer against a nearby wall as he makes his way towards the kitchen, grabbing all the utensils and ingredients they would need.

“First pour the tofu, rice flour, and sugar into your bowl and knead it with your hands before separating them into three equal portions. Like this.” Dan explained, showing Sariel had to knead the dough carefully. 

Sariel nodded firmly and followed Dan’s directions, glancing at what he was doing every now and then to make sure she was doing it correctly, separating the dough into three equal portions afterwards.

“Like this?” Sariel asks, focusing on her dough making as her tail flicks from side to side occasionally.

Dan nodded, smiling softly. 

“Yeah, just like that. Now add these two powders into two different portions of dough and mix it in thoroughly. Afterwards, we’ll divide the dough into five pieces then roll them into balls with your palms. Make sure you dust your hands with a bit of the rice powder before you do so the dough doesn’t stick.” He explained while demonstrating.

Sariel nodded and followed along, trying to remember everything Dan had told her to do and in what order, her tail starting to flick and twitch as she stared at the dough in her palms. 

She glanced at the ones Dan made then at her own, it didn’t look anywhere near as perfect as his did. It looked okay but also kind of squished.

Watching the poor girl starting to possibly get frustrated, he stood behind her and gently placed his hands on the back of hers. 

“Here, roll them like this. Relax your hands and don’t press them together too much.” Dan explained, moving her hands in a circular pattern, his back lightly pressed against Sariel’s. “There, like that. You’ve got it.”

Sariel froze for a moment, feeling Dan’s back pressed against hers as he helped her roll the dough, stopping for a moment before following the movements he showed her, sighing softly when he stepped back to watch her, a smile spreading across her face as she started to get it.

When they were done, Dan and Sariel dropped the dango balls into a pot of boiling water and waited. 

“Now that we’ve placed the dango in the water, we wait until it floats to the top. That’s when we’ll know they’re done. Afterwards we’re going to shock them by dropping them into some ice cold water so they can stop cooking.” Dan explained, waiting patiently.

“Wait so, when you take them out of the water the dough’s still cooking? That’s so strange.” Sariel says, staring at the three colored balls of dango, tail swaying behind her. 

“Yeah. I think it’s because of how the rice flour reacts to heat. You can overcook them if you don’t drop them into the ice water.” Dan says, handing Sariel a strainer ladle and scooping up the balls, dunking them into the cold water once they were done.

“Now, take these skewers and place the dango balls on them with green going first, then white, and pink.” Dan instructed.

“Green, white, then pink.” Sariel repeated, sticking her dango on the skewer, waiting a bit before popping one into her mouth, eyes sparkling as her tail swayed happily. 

“These are so yummy!” She exclaimed, wiggling as she popped another into her mouth.

Dan chuckled softly, watching as Sariel enjoyed her dango, reaching out and gently patting her head. 

“You did a pretty good job for a beginner.” He complimented, laughing softly when he saw Sariel blush.

“Well, I had a really good teacher.” Sariel complimented, making Dan chuckle. “Can we make another one?” She asks, tilting her head.

“Sure, which one do you want to try making next?” Dan asked, skewerer the other dango balls.

“Mmm, what about the watermelon one? That one sounds complicated.” Sariel suggested, helping Dan.

“Sure, I needed to make some more anyway.” Dan replied, smiling softly.