dango 101!
"Well, it shouldn't be too difficult!"
The first words Chanel said when entering Dan's workshop would be her downfall.
The shop is cute as could be, with warm, cozy lighting filling its interior and the ambiance is inviting. Chanel is not a bad cook by any means, but working under the pressure she sets for herself makes her body tense up, and under Dan's watchful eye, she refuses to disappoint. He's demoing a live dango cooking class with Chanel and a few other new buns wanting to know his secrets. If she didn't mess this up, then perhaps he would invite her back for the mochi making lesson.
Buns and imps alike love dango, including Chanel herself, and it would only be natural to learn it in order to impress her crush - er, friends.
Chanel watches carefully as the particular pride bun explains in detail how to form the delicious treat. She takes her time, listening closely for each step as she follows along with the bun's instructions. She studies the ingredients carefully, mentally memorizing the list for next time. Even though she's never made dango before, she's confident she can make it herself after this lesson.
Usually, Chanel is one to brag about her skills in baking and cooking, but here her hands are shaking as she accidentally pours too much glutinous rice powder into the mixture. Chanel quickly looks at the baker, a little embarrassed that she might have gotten something wrong.
“Tell me what you did wrong.”
She clears her throat and does her best to explain her mistake.
“Mm, no, start listing the steps from the beginning,” Dan grunts. Chanel feels like she’s going to faint if she messes up again.
"The first step is to measure your ingredients. You can double the portions for bigger servings if you’d prefer." Chanel pauses for a moment before continuing her explanation. "To begin, you add a cup and a third of rice flour to the bowl, then a cup and a half of glutinous sweet rice powder and sugar to taste.." Chanel takes a deep breath, realizing the bun could be expecting her to mess up in some way.
"Continue." His stare is unrelenting.
Chanel gulps, feeling more nervous as she continues her explanation. Her cheeks flush pink as the baker stares at her intently.
“Hmm…”
Chanel's heart drops as the baker doesn't immediately respond with praise and approval. She's not sure what to make of his noncommittal response. Does he think her mistake isn’t worth saving? Is she incorrect in some awful, demon forsaken way?
“Did you notice something?” he asks.
“Well… I, sir, I don’t know…”
“Think harder.”
With that, he dismisses her, idly looking over other various attempts - some buns further into the process than she is - and making similar comments. She squints as her one brain cell pings back and forth like a screen saver, attempting to discern what to do to fix her early mistake.
Her early mistake.
You can double the portions for bigger servings if you’d prefer.
Feeling proud of herself for coming to this conclusion on her own, she evens out the amount of rice flour and water to adjust. She then adds matcha for colour and taste, meticulously dividing the dough afterwards to roll into balls. Chanel feels powerful after skewering them on a bamboo stick, and immediately hops over to Dan, displaying her freshly made creation.
“Sir! What do you think?” she asks excitedly.
Dan opens his mouth to say something, but gets cut off as a mischievous flying imp snatches the skewer out of Chanel’s hands. He closes his eyes and nods with a hum, leaving Chanel with an extra bag of dango ingredients to take home.
