This Cranberry Dumpling Dipping Sauce is a cheeky festive twist on a basic soy and vinegar condiment for dumplings. Whilst it is ideal to serve with turkey steamed dumplings, the sweet and sour flavour makes a great twist for any homemade or shop bought dumpling.
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When I decided to perfect my Steamed Turkey Dumpling recipe I knew I had to create a cheeky festive spin on a basic Dipping Sauce to go with it. After an unexpected amount of experimentation, I settled on this sweet and sour dip with cranberry sauce, light soy and a hint of ginger.
It takes about 2 minutes to put together and is a really fun way of using up some of the cranberry sauce left over from Christmas. I love to make these dumplings and sauce for something different but still “on theme” on Boxing Day.
Make Festive Dipping Sauce into a Feast
I truly believe that you can make any dish into a proper feast! Whether thats a feast for one after work on a Tuesday, a casual feast for four on a Friday evening or a feast for 12 for a special occasion!
Although I created this sauce to specifically be served with my Steamed Turkey Dumplings, it also goes great with all of my dumpling recipes:
- Fun Guo – Pork dumplings with crystal skin
- Har Gow – Prawn/shrimp dumplings with crystal skin
- Tofu Crystal Dumplings – Vegan dumplings with crystal skin
- Siu Mai – Pork dumpling with wonton wrappers
- Tofu Siu Mai – Vegetarian alternative to pork siu mai with wonton wrappers
Don’t forget to head over to my Feast Collection pages to find all of my tips and tricks to help you host a fun and stress-free feast. Plus remember to check out my recipe index to create your own awesome Feast!
Ingredients for Cranberry Soy Dipping Sauce
Cranberry Sauce
It doesn’t matter whether you use store bought or a homemade version but you do want to look for a smooth sauce or jelly rather than a “whole” or chunky version. It is very hard to dip into whole cranberries.
There is nothing to stop you from mashing down or picking some of the bigger chunks out of a chunkier sauce.
Light Soy Sauce
Most dipping sauces use dark soy sauce which is stronger and thicker with less salt than the light variety. But I found that the dark soy really overpowered the cranberry flavour, even in surprisingly small quantities. So I really do beg you to pick up some light soy.
You can sub dark but be prepared to use a little less and for the cranberry flavour to be a little more muted.
Rice Wine Vinegar
This is easy to find in all supermarkets and Asian grocers. You could substitute a white wine or cyder vinegar if you need to. Please do not use malt under any circumstances!
Be Flexible
Experiment away! Chilli would be a great addition, either using chilli oil or chilli flakes.
Make Cranberry Dumpling Dipping Sauce Vegetarian or Vegan
This cranberry dipping sauce is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Although please double check your cranberry sauce for rogue ingredients.
Make it Allergy Friendly
This recipe is free from egg, dairy and nuts.
Gluten Free: Soy sauce generally includes wheat in the fermenting process. There are lots of gluten free alternatives available. Tamari soy is naturally gluten free and is a tasty option.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Get Ahead
The sauce will keep in a jar in the fridge for weeks. So go bonkers!
Cranberry Soy Sauce Tips
You don’t want to swamp your dumplings. A little of this dip goes a surprisingly long way. So please don’t be alarmed at the relatively small quantities in the recipe.
Go easy on heating the sauce. You want to melt and loosen it up a little but not boil it. You don’t want to end up with soy jam!
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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More Dim Sum Recipes
The Recipe
Cranberry Dumpling Dipping Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Cranberry Sauce - smooth or jelly
- 1 tsp Light Soy Sauce (Gluten free if required)
- ¼ tsp Ginger Paste
- ½ tsp Rice Wine Vinegar
Instructions
- Measure roughly 2 tbsp Cranberry Sauce into a small mixing bowl.
- Warm it for 30 seconds or so in the microwave so that it just melts and becomes a little more liquid. Alternatively use a small pan on the hob.
- Add 1 tsp Light Soy Sauce, ¼ tsp Ginger Paste and ½ tsp Rice Wine Vinegar to the cranberry.
- Mix the ingredients together until fully combined. Decant into small dipping bowls and serve.
Jacqui – Recipes Made Easy:Only Crumbs Remain says
what a fab idea. I nearly always have some cranberries in the freezer so I can see me making this any time of the year.
Chloe says
OOoh fresh cranberries would be fab!
Midge @ Peachicks' Bakery says
YUM!!!! New Year’s Eve here at Peachick HQ is pot sticker dumpling day, we spend all day making them and then sit down with a good film to eat a huge chinese feast. This sauce will be a perfect addition – we found a great a no-soy soy sauce made from seaweed which will make it peachick safe Yay!
Chloe says
Oh thats such a nice tradition!
Magdalena says
Looks delicious and I like the combination of ginger and cranberry. I bet that would work for the traditional cranberry sauce too – I’ll have to try that!
Chloe says
Oooh yes I think you might be right, what a good idea!
Cat says
What a great idea! This sounds absolutely delicious! I could dunk all sorts of dumplings and gyozas in this!
Chloe says
I strongly suspect you’d dunk Rien in it the way you go at dumplings!!!!
Janice Pattie says
Oh now this is very good, I don’t think I’d be stopping at dipping dumplings, everything is getting dipped in this sauce!
Chloe says
Ah yeh, you make a very good point!