There are few single food items in this world more perfect than a Chinese dumpling. Chewy, thin dough wrapped around juicy, delicious fillings of endless variety, they’re delicious whether they’re fried, steamed, or boiled, and they’re ideally served with a deliciously contrasting dumpling sauce. I say “ideally” here, because all too often, dumplings don’t get the dumpling sauce they deserve.
A Good Dumpling Sauce Makes All the Difference
I too can be guilty of lazy dumpling sauce habits. I’ve been known to simply splash a plate full of dumplings with a bit of black vinegar, or spoon dollops of chili sauce on top with little thought given to making a full-on dipping sauce.
But I’ve come to realize the error of my ways, because a truly delicious dumpling sauce can make all the difference to your dumpling enjoyment. After crafting this sauce, and happily dunking fried dumplings into it to gobble down with the rest of my family post-photo-shoot on our last blogging day, I realized that the little extra time (literally 5 minutes) it takes to make a good dumpling dipping sauce can take an OK dumpling experience and elevate it to a truly great one.
What Makes a Good Dumpling Sauce
The components of a good dumpling sauce are pretty simple, and it comes down to a balance of different flavors: salty, sweet, spicy, and a little bit of tang, or sourness.
The base of the sauce is soy sauce, which provides the salt factor and needs a little bit of thinning out with hot water. The sweetness comes from a little bit of sugar (the hot water helps dissolve it), while the sourness comes from a dash of rice vinegar.
The spiciness comes from the addition of chili oil––preferably one with lots of chili flakes like our homemade chili oil––as well as garlic.
I really can’t emphasize the importance of the minced garlic enough. Raw garlic is spicy and sharp, and gives the sauce a much-needed lift.
The final ingredients are sesame seeds and a little bit of sesame oil, for a nutty richness that rounds out the whole sauce.
Our love of dumplings at The Woks of Life is no secret.
We’ve posted many dumpling recipes, from our very first “The Only Dumpling Recipe You’ll Ever Need” to subsequent recipes offering very specific variations: vegetable dumplings, chicken and mushroom dumplings, pork and chive dumplings, and more.
We’ve received many requests for a dumpling sauce recipe over the years, and we’re finally delivering!
How to Make the Perfect Dumpling Sauce:
Cook up some Chinese dumplings…
And while those are frying (or boiling, or steaming––get our full instructions on how to cook dumplings all those different ways), make the sauce.
Start by dissolving a teaspoon of sugar into a tablespoon of water. Then add 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon chili oil, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, and ½ teaspoon sesame oil.
Stir to combine:
And serve this sauce with your dumplings!
Dumpling Sauce Recipe: How to Make Dumpling Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon chili oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 tablespoon hot water. Then add soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili oil, minced garlic, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. Stir to combine.
- Serve with freshly cooked dumplings and enjoy!
So excited to make this dumpling sauce. First time here on this blog and wow, it is so beautiful and the photography is STUNNING. Thank you for creating such beautiful content!
You’re very welcome, Lauren! Thank you for your kind words!
Thanks for the relish dumpling sauce!!!
You’re welcome Kasha!
Hello My name is Mumbi from Zambia , what can i substitute the Rice Vinegar , sesame oil as we don’t have where I live
Hi there! You could omit the sesame oil, and try any neutral tasting vinegar (like white vinegar or cane vinegar) in place of the rice vinegar. You may have to adjust the sugar quantity to balance out the sour flavor.
Hi Mumbi, you can replace rice vinegar with a local light vinegar. As for the sesame oil, you can omit it if you really can’t find it.
Tasty! But amount shown seems good for 1 person.
Then cut the recipe in half or adjust accordingly.
Hi Sarah—all depends on how many dumplings you eat! I find this amount is good for a big pan of dumplings to share.
Hi Sarah how long I can keep it in the fridge and I can freeze it? Thank you
Hi Athina, you can keep it in the fridge for many weeks as long as you don’t add the fresh ingredients (garlic) to it, so maybe just add the garlic when you’re getting ready to use it. Freezing it isn’t necessary if you follow this method!
It was easy to prep. Liked the chili flakes added to chili oil
Nice!
I’ve made this recipe three times now, and can say it’s delicious. Pairs perfectly with pork dumplings
Thanks for that compliment, Albert!
I’ve made this recipe many times and it is so so delicious. I have a bottle of Kikkoman Aji-Mirin and I’m wondering if I could sub it in for the sugar and water? Would the flavours still work together?
Thanks :)
you could do that, Veronica, the flavor will be a bit different but mirin is quite sweet, so it should work.
This recipe is great! I didn’t have rice vinegar but substituted apple cider vinegar. It came out great! Then I shaved some fresh ginger (~1 tsp). The recipe is fine as written, but I love ginger so liked this addition.
Thank you, Aurora! Glad to hear you made this recipe your own. :)
Amazing! Made it just as the recipe instructed!
Thanks Vicky!