Rina and Dango Training
Rina has had many clients come into her shop for a massage and a relaxing time. Her shop offers many amenities, yet Rina wanted another skill under her belt. Since she was used to massaging other buns, she thought she would try her hand at something with dough. However, instead of learning from a baker, she got a tip from one of her customers about this place that sells mochi. Rina has a really bad sweet tooth and would always take a bribe in snacks. So when she heard this mochi master was giving lessons on how to make dango, she wanted to sign up immediately.
After looking up the address and available times for the lesson, Rina was finally in front of Dan's Dango shop. She had heard rumors about Dan's confections and his normal behavior to his students. All of this did not steer her away. If anything, her ambition to make sweets herself was very compelling. As a thrifty woman who makes her own soaps and puts snack making at the top of her respect list, this could be a dream come true. It was soon going to be what they would call summer in Burrowgatory and she was looking forward to some nice snacks that could cool her down. This was the time and she was not going to miss her chance. She went through schooling and practice to become a masseuse. If she could withstand years of schooling, then learning to make the tastiest dango would be worth the challenge.
Gazing upon the shop she could tell it had a traditional asian aesthetic and she was thrilled to see all the different types of sweets. Not only did they have many different flavors, but there was also many different colors!!! Looking at the back of the shop you could see what appears to be a blue and red bun who wasn't entirely pleased. Rina could tell this was Dan based on the pictures of his ad. Dan looked at her and nudges his head towards the back. Rina thought this was a hint saying she should head that way.
Behind the shop was an amazing kitchen filled with multiple appliances and ingredients. Dan motioned towards the counter. On top was rice flour, powdered sugar, matcha powder and food coloring.
Once Rina was in place, Dan began to soak skewers in a pot filled with water. He then pointed to a pot that already had some skewers soaked. After, he started pouring the rice flour into a bowl. Once he was done, he then went to the sink and poured hot water into a cup. Dan looked at up at Rina and handed her the flour bowl and a spoon. He put his hand up as if to say don't do anything yet and poured the hot water into the flour bowl. Not a second after, he nudged the spoon in her hand and said "Mix". Rina then began to mix the flour and would mix faster or slower depending on what Dan said. As soon as the dough was perfect, Dan showed her how to mold the dough and divided it into three pieces. After the dough was seperated, he placed a drop of pink food coloring into the first bowl. He then followed by adding matcha powder to the second bowl and left the third bowl alone. Now that the 3 bowls had their color, Dan started showing her how to roll the dough into balls. Each ball was weighed to make sure they were similar. Once all the balls were made, Dan proceeded to cook the white onces in boiling water. Once fully cooked, Dan placed the dango into a bowl of ice water. Dan then motions to Rina to do the same with the pink dango by handing her the second bowl. Rina then began to cook and cool the second and third bowl of dango while following Dan's instructions. All thats left was to skewer the dango and then they were done. Rina placed the green dangos on first, followed by the white and then pink.
The dango was placed neatly on a plate and Dan handed a dango to Rina. Curious to try their recent concoction, Rina takes a bite. The flavor was heavenly. Rina squeals in delight. If she was just following a recipe, Rina wasn't sure the results would have ended the same. Seemingly appeased with their work, Dan places the dango in a tupperware bin and gives it to Rina. A tear falls from her cheek and she gives Dan a huge smile. Dan then walks towards the right of the sink and grabs a book.
"This is for you. Keep practicing and you may get good at it". He then places the book on top of the container and leads her towards the front.
Rina bows farewell to her new sensei and leaves shedding tears of happiness. One day she will be able to bring back yummy dango to show him how far she has improved, but today was not that day. No, today was the start of something new and it made Rina smile from the bottom of her heart.
