Make sasa-dango, a local sweet of Niigata Prefecture(Ochanoma Kyutaro)

Sasa-dango is Niigata Prefecture’s iconic sweet. It contains lots of mugwort collected in around the local satoyama area (borderland between mountains and human habitation), where an unspoilt Japanese landscape remains, and is characterized by a fragrant aroma and dark color. Mugwort rice cake prepared by mixing the ingredients is kneaded until it is soft and is then wrapped around a ball of anko (a sweet red bean paste placed inside dough, etc. to make Japanese confectionery). The dango dumpling is then covered in three bamboo leaves and tied with a long, sedge plant string. You can steam and immediately eat the sasa-dango you have made, or take them with you and steam or boil them at home.