Description
My Mom’s Homemade Dumpling Sauce is perfect for dipping potstickers, drizzling over wontons, or even tossing with noodles. This easy recipe comes together in only 2 minutes using 5 pantry ingredients to create the just the right balance of umami, tangy, nutty, and spicy.
Just be warned—one taste, and you’ll never buy store-bought again!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2-3 tablespoons shoyu or low-sodium soy sauce (sub tamari for gluten-free)
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon chili crisp or homemade chili oil (see Recipe Notes)
- 1 heaping teaspoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- Mix the dumpling sauce: In a small bowl or jar, combine shoyu (or soy sauce), rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, chili crisp, and sugar. For a punchier sauce, use 2 tablespoons of shoyu; for a more balanced flavor, go with 3 tablespoons. Whisk or shake until well combined.
- Serve immediately as a dipping sauce for dumplings or drizzle over a bowl of dumplings for extra flavor. Try it with my 15-Minute Pan-Fried Dumplings with Bok Choy or Mom’s Homemade Chicken Wontons. Enjoy!
Notes
- Chili oil: Store-bought chili crisp works great in this recipe – my favorites are Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp and Momofuku Chili Crunch – but making homemade chili oil is also really easy (and very delicious!). Here’s my mom’s recipe:
- In a heatproof bowl, combine 2 tablespoons Sichuan chili flakes (or crushed red pepper), 1 scant tablespoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and 6 cloves garlic (finely chopped or grated).
- In a small skillet, heat ¼ cup high-smoke-point oil until hot – test by dipping a wooden chopstick or skewer into the oil; if bubbles form around it, it’s ready.
- Carefully pour the hot oil over the chili mixture; it will sizzle immediately, blooming the aromatics. Let cool, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
- Storage: Store leftover dumpling sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. If the sauce separates as it sits, simply shake or stir before serving.