Dumpling Dipping Sauce with Soy Sauce and Vinegar
Mix a quick dumpling dipping sauce with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, green onion, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, and optional chili crisp.
chili crisp: 1 tsp, optional (optional).
garlic: 1 small clove grated, optional (optional).
ginger: 1/2 tsp grated, optional (optional).
sesame seeds: 1 tsp, optional (optional).
Use a bowl wide enough for dipping dumplings. Start with soy sauce and rice vinegar before adding anything else. This simple ratio gives salt and tang first, so the sauce tastes balanced even if you skip the optional aromatics.
Stir in sugar until it dissolves. Taste a drop from the spoon. The sauce should not taste sweet like a glaze; the sugar only softens the sharp edge of vinegar and helps Western supermarket soy sauce feel rounder.
Add grated garlic, grated ginger, and sliced green onion. Grating makes the flavor stronger than chopping, so start small if you are sensitive to raw garlic. Let the aromatics sit in the sauce for a few minutes before judging the taste.
Stir in sesame oil, sesame seeds, and chili crisp if using. Sesame oil is strong, so measure it rather than pouring freely. Keep chili crisp optional when serving children or guests with mixed spice preferences.
Taste with a dumpling or a piece of plain noodle, not by itself, because the sauce is meant to season food. Add more vinegar for brightness, more soy sauce for salt, or a spoon of water if it tastes too intense.
Regular supermarket soy sauce works; low-sodium soy sauce makes the sauce easier to adjust.
Rice vinegar gives the cleanest flavor, but apple cider vinegar works in a practical home version.
Use black vinegar for a deeper Chinese dumpling-house flavor if you have it.
Use chili oil, hot sauce, or no chili at all depending on the table.
Soy sauce: Regular soy sauce, Low-sodium soy sauce, Tamari. Low-sodium soy sauce is useful if you want a sauce that can take more vinegar and aromatics.
Rice vinegar: Rice vinegar, Chinese black vinegar, Apple cider vinegar. Black vinegar tastes deeper and more traditional for many dumpling sauces, but rice vinegar is easier to find.
Chili crisp: Chili oil, Hot sauce, Skip it. Keep chili separate when serving children or guests with different spice preferences.
Start with about 3 parts soy sauce to 2 parts vinegar, then adjust with sesame oil, aromatics, chili, or water.
Yes. Chinese black vinegar gives a deeper flavor and is excellent with pork dumplings.
How long does dumpling dipping sauce keep?
Without fresh garlic or green onion it keeps longer, but with fresh aromatics it is best used the same day.