Dumpling is a popular Chinese dish that comes in various shapes and with different types of fillings. There are so many ways to enjoy dumplings – boiled, steamed, fried, in soups and so on. You know one thing that can elevate your dumpling eating experience to the next level? It’s the dumpling dipping sauce!
There are many types of dumpling sauces, and a wide variety of ingredients to mix and match for variations. Many a times, we are lazy and simply dip dumplings in whatever sauce we already have at our homes – it may be plain soy sauce or vinegar or chilli sauce. But, a really tasty dipping sauce doesn’t really take much time to make. Next time you have your favorite homemade or store-bought Chinese dumplings, take some extra time (5 minutes! Can you even call that ‘extra’?!) and make this easy sauce to dip them in!
A good dumpling sauce is a nice balance of salty, spicy, tangy and slightly sweet flavors. The two best things about a homemade dumpling sauce are that:
- It’s super easy and quick to make. Simply measure the ingredients and mix them together in a bowl. Takes hardly 5 minutes!
- You’re able to adjust the seasonings / ingredients to suit your preferences.
This dipping sauce requires only a handful of ingredients and is super quick to make. It is great with the classic pork dumplings as well as with dumplings that have vegetable, egg, prawn, chicken or other meats fillings.
Ingredients for Chinese Dumpling Sauce
- Soy sauce: This is the main ingredient in this dumpling sauce. Soy sauce gives the saltiness that this sauce needs, but it has to be diluted with a little bit of water. If you want to make a low-salt dumpling sauce, you can use low sodium soy sauce. To make it gluten-free, substitute with gluten-free soy sauce. (Don’t forget to check ingredients to confirm. Not all gluten-free soy sauces are gluten-free as they claim.)
- Rice vinegar: This is what makes the dumpling sauce tangy. Rice vinegar also has a subtle sweetness that compliments its tanginess.
- Garlic: Raw garlic makes this sauce slightly spicy. I like to use a garlic press to add freshly minced garlic to the sauce.
- Toasted Sesame Oil: This is an essential ingredient for Chinese cooking. The nutty flavor and aroma of toasted sesame oil is unmatched, and I simply love adding this to the dumpling sauce. Make sure you use the ‘toasted’ kind and not plain sesame oil. The toasted one is deep brown in color and has a nutty aroma and flavor. Don’t add too much though, it can mask other flavors if you do!
- Sugar: This dumpling sauce calls for a small quantity of sugar to balance out the saltiness and tanginess. When I make this sauce, I usually start with sugar and hot water to make sure the sugar is fully dissolved before I add the rest of the ingredients.
Simple tweaks for variations of the dumpling sauce
- If you want to give your dumpling sauce a spicy kick, add chilli oil. You can add a clear chilli oil or one with lots of chilli flakes. Alternately, you can also serve chilli oil separately like I do, so that each one can mix in as much or as less chilli oil as they wish in their individual sauce dishes.
- You can add finely chopped green onions / scallions to bring a green freshness to the sauce.
- Add freshly minced or julienned ginger for extra sharpness to the sauce. It also adds an interesting texture.
- Substitute rice vinegar with Chinese black vinegar for a deeper and richer flavor.
Can this dumpling sauce be made ahead?
This dumpling sauce can be stored in the fridge for 4 – 5 days. For large batch prep, combine all ingredients except garlic. It can be stored in the fridge for 2 – 3 weeks. Add minced garlic before serving.
Enjoy your dumplings dipped in this easy-peasy sauce!
More Asian Recipes
- Chinese Steamed Pork & Cabbage Dumplings
- Hainanese Chicken Rice
- Lamb Rendang
- Thai Fried Rice (Khao Pad)
- Thai Dipping Sauce (Prik Nam Pla)
Chinese Dumpling Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Hot Water
- 4 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 tsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
- 1 no. Garlic clove, minced
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together sugar and hot water till all of the sugar has dissolved.
- Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil and minced garlic. Stir to combine.
- Serve with dumplings.
Video
Notes
- Storage: This dumpling sauce can be stored in the fridge for 4 – 5 days.
- Large batch prep: Combine all ingredients except garlic. It can be stored in the fridge for 2 – 3 weeks. Add minced garlic before serving.
- Make it gluten-free by using gluten-free soy sauce in place of regular soy sauce.
- Variations: See write-up above the recipe card to read simple tweaks you can make for variations of this dumpling sauce.
Love this recipe and saving it to try soon! Love how you explained the main flavors of a good dipping sauce and it is actually pretty simple to make and will add a ton of flavor to the dumplings!
Thank you! It’s all in the right balance of flavors! 🙂 Can’t get simpler than this, right?
I love dumplings and this dipping sauce pairs perfectly and is so easy to make. Pinning so I don’t forget😉
Thanks a mil! It’s insanely easy! My go-to-dumpling sauce recipe 🙂
Love this simple sauce, it’s delicious and easy to put together. We do dumpling night almost once a week over here, so this is becoming a staple at our house.
Thank you! So happy you love it & that it’s turning out to be a regular at your house just like it is at ours! 🙂
I love dumplings! Thanks for this saucy recipe!
You’re welcome Nancy! Enjoy the sauce!
Can’t have too many dumpling dipping sauces and this is a list of classic Chinese ingredients. Looks delicious!
Thanks! Glad you liked it 🙂