Have you ever tried dango? I’ve always found the tricoloured Japanese rice flour treat to look fascinating, though I’ve yet to get the chance to eat it.
But if you’ve ever wanted to live out your anime fantasies with a dango skewer of your own, here’s a business in KL that’s got you covered.
One degree of sweetness, every day
Ritianyidu (or 日甜一度) is a home-based confectionery brand that specialises in dango, amongst other treats.
The name Ritianyidu means to “have one degree of sweetness every day”.
“Because the word was too long in English, we decided to use a Mandarin name for the business,” Jing Kwan, the founder, explained to Vulcan Post.
Jing Kwan was previously working as a content designer before veering into this sweet path.
Taking the leap of faith to start a home-based business isn’t easy, though, especially for a first-time entrepreneur.
Jing Kwan admitted that she lacked confidence at first. But sometimes, all it takes is an external voice pushing you onward. But it was thanks to a supportive friend that she decided to make the change.
“I took the first step because of my friend named Chen,” she shared. “We met while working together and we got to know each other about 10 years ago.”
Along with her family’s support, Chen’s encouragement, advice, and cooperation pushed Jing Kwan along.
Thus, in 2022, she kickstarted Ritianyidu.
Inspired by Japanese delights
A self-taught dessert chef, Jing Kwan shared that she really loves the process of making desserts, and loves sharing those desserts with everyone.
Beyond that desire, Jing Kwan shared that she’s received a lot of positive feedback from customers, which continued to push her along this journey.
“They gave me a lot of encouragement and confidence on my desserts so this is the reason that I am expanding my business from part-time to full time,” the founder said.
Jing Kwan’s now running Ritianyidu full-time. The business is currently based out of her home, located in the Petaling Jaya area.
Aside from dango, Jing Kwan also sells dorayaki, daifuku, and warabi mochi. But the star of the show is certainly the tricoloured skewers.
“The reason for choosing dango as our signature is because I think dango is a very cute and colourful dessert that both adults and children will love,” Jing Kwan explained.
With the popularity of Japanese culture in Malaysia, dango is something that quite a lot of people are familiar with, or at least have seen or heard of.
However, Jing Kwan said that Ritianyidu’s version of the dango is somewhat different from the Japanese one.
“I would like to think that what we are creating in Ritianyidu is like a slight twist of the desserts, embedding what I like and what I think Malaysians’ tastes are,” the founder said.
Like Japanese dango, the balls are soft, chewy, sticky, and sweet. But Ritianyidu makes them bite-sized, so dessert lovers can hold the skewer with one hand, while comfortably taking a bite of the dango together with signature toppings.
There are four flavours available, with the most popular one being the honey osmanthus flavour. Other topics include matcha sauce, red bean, as well as kinako (roasted soybean powder) and brown sugar. Prices for two sticks start at RM13.
Ritianyidu’s treats can be ordered through Instagram or WhatsApp. To bring their confections to more people, the brand is also focusing on participating in more bazaars.
“In the future, we hope to have our own shop,” she shared. “We are not sure when that will happen, but we hope to make it a reality.”
Sweet dreams ahead
It hasn’t been too long since Jing Kwan started running Ritianyidu full-time, so it’s still pretty early days for the business.
As such, she can’t really say that the business is successful yet, as she’s still slowly observing the response.
When asked about what advice she would give to others who may want to venture into entrepreneurship, Jing Kwan admitted that there’s not much advice she could give, considering that she’s still learning.
“However, one piece of advice I can say is that if you want to do something, just go for it,” she said. “The process may be tough, but you must persevere. This is something I tell myself too.”
Featured Image Credit: Ritianyidu