Kibi dango (黍団子, きびだんご, "millet dumpling") is Japanese dumpling made from the meal or flour of the kibi (proso millet) grain.[1][2] The treat was used by folktale-hero Momotarō (the Peach Boy) to recruit his three beastly retainers (the dog, the monkey and the pheasant), in the commonly known version of the tale.[3]
In modern times, this millet dumpling has been confused with the identically-sounding confection Kibi dango[4] named after Kibi Province (now Okayama Prefecture), even though the latter hardly uses any millet at all.[5] The confectioners continue to market their product by association with the hero Momotarō,[4] and more widely, Okayama residents have engaged in a concerted effort to claim the hero as native to their province.[6] In this context, the millet dumpling's historical association with the Kibi Province has undergone close scrutiny. In particular, Kibitsu Shrine of the region has had ongoing association with serving food by the name kibi dango.
Conventionally, kibi dango or kibi mochi uses the sticky variety proso millet known as mochi kibi, rather than the regular (amylose-rich) millet used for creating sweets.[7]
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