A Dumpling Dipping Sauce is essential when making and eating Chinese dumplings like siu mai, har gow and fun gwor. This dipping sauce really is the ultimate in simplicity with just 2 ingredients. And it takes less than a minute to make!
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This is the most basic of the possible dipping sauces. There are just 2 ingredients added in equal quantities. The soy provides umami and saltiness. The vinegar provides a sour backnote. It is the perfect balance and foil to whichever dumpling you’re choosing to dip!
Because of the simplicity of the dish, this post is a little shorter than most of my recipe posts!
Make Dumpling 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!
Make an Asian themed feast with Edamame nibbles and a selection of dumplings including Har Gow, Siu Mai and Tofu Crystal Dumplings along with Miso Soup.
For a Christmas twist you could try creating a dumpling selection including my fun but very tasty Turkey Steamed Chinese Dumplings with its very own Cranberry Dumpling Dipping Sauce!
Ingredients for Dumpling Dipping Sauce
Soy Sauce
It is traditional to use dark soy sauce for dipping but light soy sauce is an acceptable alternative. Expect it to be lighter (!) and saltier in flavour.
Vinegar
Rice Wine Vinegar would be the preference. But a white wine or cyder vinegar would be ok as an alternative.
To find out about more of my favourite Asian Ingredients, check out my guide to the Top 16 Asian Ingredients which I always keep stocked in my pantry.
I’ve also suggested a whole bunch of recipes to try once your cupboard is fully stocked!
Be Flexible
There are lots of additional flavours you could add to the dipping sauce. I sometimes add a little ginger paste and sesame oil. Other times I might mix in a little sweet chilli sauce. The options are quite endless but sticking with the basic simple dip is just fine.
Make it Vegetarian or Vegan
This dipping sauce is suitable for both vegetarians and vegans.
Make it Allergy Friendly
This recipe is free from eggs, dairy and nuts.
Gluten Free: The dipping sauce is easily made gluten free by using Tamari Soy Sauce which is naturally gluten free.
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.
Equipment Notes for Dumpling Dipping Sauce
The only item of equipment that I’ve suggested is needed is measuring spoons. But realistically I very rarely measure when making the dip. It is perfectly possible to eyeball the quantities.
The exception is if making larger quantities of the sauce, in which case measuring is probably a good idea as slight variations will become more pronounced.
A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.
Get Ahead
Feel free to make the dip as far ahead in time as you wish. It can be kept in the fridge or cupboard.
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
Dumpling Dipping Sauce Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (Gluten free if required)
- 1 tbsp White Wine/Cyder/Rice Wine Vinegar
Instructions
- Measure 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce into a small dipping bowl.
- Measure 1 tbsp White Wine/Cyder/Rice Wine Vinegar straight into the dish of soy sauce
- You are ready to dip. Yes really, it is that simple!
Siobhan Anderson says
Super easy & tastes great! The perfect dumpling accompaniment
Chloe says
It is isn’t it – sometimes you don’t need to be overly fancy – keep the dip simple and let the dumplings sing!