Steamed Dumplings with The Best Dipping Sauce (2024)

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Steamed Dumplings with The Best Dipping Sauce

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This is (at least in my opinion) the best dumpling dipping sauce! It’s easily customisable of course so you can adjust everything to suit your taste!!

Steamed Dumplings with The Best Dipping Sauce (4)

One of my favourite ways to enjoy dumplings is by either steaming or boiling these and finishing it off with what I like to call the ultimate sauce – with the perfect balance of savoury, heat, bit of sweetness and acidity.

Steamed Dumplings with The Best Dipping Sauce (5)

Let’s not forget the aromatics that really take it up a notch!

Steamed Dumplings with The Best Dipping Sauce (6)

THE DUMPLING DIPPING SAUCE: WHAT’S IN IT?

soy sauce
water or broth(if boiling dumplings)
doubanjiang (see recipe notes)
chili oil or chili garlic sauce (see homemade recipe here)
sugar
Chinese black vinegar or rice vinegar
sesame oil
sesame seeds
minced garlic
Chopped fresh scallions and coriander

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THE DUMPLINGS

These dumplings I used are filled with a mix of tofu and garlic/Chinese chives. You’re free to use store-bought frozen dumplings and wontons and opt to wither steam or boil them. I highly recommend steaming or boiling because I love the smooth skin that comes from these cooking processes. Do note that you don’t need to thaw your dumplings. Simply cook them directly from frozen!

You can also check out my homemade dumpling recipe here and my homemade wontons recipe here.

OTHER WAYS TO ENJOY THIS SAUCE:

Pour over noodles
Mix with fried tofu so it can soak up all the flavours!
Use as a hotpot dipping sauce

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Check out the full recipe for this below!

OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT LOVE:

Looking for more Vegan Asian recipes?

You can get a copy of my cookbook, Vegan Asian!

If you crave vegan-friendly versions of classic Asian dishes, this cookbook is packed with Southeast and East Asian dishes inspired by those I grew up enjoying at home and those I’ve tried from my travels. From iconic Thai dishes to piping-hot Japanese fare and everything in between, the recipes in this will take your palate on a delicious food trip across Asia, and hopefully keep you coming back for more!

Steamed Dumplings with The Best Dipping Sauce (9)

If you try out this recipe, I’d appreciate if you leave a rating or simply click on the stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ on my recipe card!

Steamed Dumplings with The Best Dumpling Sauce

5 from 42 votes

One of my favourite ways to enjoy dumplings is by either steaming or boiling these and finishing it off with what I like to call the best dumpling sauce – with the perfect balance of savoury, heat, bit of sweetness and acidity. Let’s not forget the aromatics that really take it up a notch!

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Condiments, Dips, Main Course, Sauces

Cuisine Asian, Chinese, East Asian

Servings 2 people

Calories 189 kcal

Ingredients

Dumplings

12 pieces homemade or store-bought dumplings/wontons (see my homemade wontons recipe here and homemade dumpling recipe here)

Sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp water or broth from dumplings (if boiling dumplings)
1 tbsp doubanjiang (see notes)
1/2 tbsp chili oil or chili garlic sauce
2-3 tsp sugar , adjust to desired sweetness
2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar or rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp minced garlic
Chopped fresh scallions and coriander

Instructions

Mix the sauce ingredients together. Feel free to adjust to your taste and desired spice level.
Boil or steam the dumplings from fresh or frozen. If you’re using frozen dumplings, no need to thaw. I simply line my bamboo steamer with parchment paper and steam my dumplings for 12-15 mins.
If boiling, do the same and cook from frozen. Leave your pot of water to boil. Once it boils, carefully dumpling directly from frozen and leave them to cook for around 3-4 minutes or until these float up. Remove from the water.
Save some of the dumpling water if needed.
Use the sauce as a dip or pour it over your bowl of dumplings or wontons. Garnish with more coriander and scallions, if desired. You can finish it with more chili oil or sauce if desired. Enjoy!

WATCH Video

Notes

DOUBANJIANG

Doubanjiang is a Chinese fermented chili bean paste. You can sub this with other chili sauces or even gochujang, which is Korean chili paste.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Please leave a rating or comment and share a photo on Instagram, and tag me @thefoodietakesflight or use #thefoodietakesflight 🙂

YOU CAN PIN THESE IMAGES:

Steamed Dumplings with The Best Dipping Sauce (11)

Steamed Dumplings with The Best Dipping Sauce (12)

This Post Has 40 Comments

Rachael December 10, 2021Reply

We made the dipping sauce last night to go with some store-bought dumplings. It was fantastic! We ended up pouring some over our fried rice because it was THAT good. Thank you for sharing!!!
1. Jeeca December 11, 2021Reply
  Ahh I can imagine this with fried rice! Glad you guys liked it!! ◡̈
Heather February 4, 2022Reply

I just made this to pour over my steamed dumplings and it’s so delicious! It absolutely is the ultimate sauce!
1. Jeeca February 5, 2022Reply
  Thanks so much Heather!
Laura February 6, 2022Reply

I can’t stop eating this!!! So delicious!
Nadia July 12, 2022Reply

Just made this recipe and I loved it! I substituted the doubanjiang with gochujang since I didn’t have any on hand and it was so delicious. I used some frozen Szechuan dumplings I had and it went together perfectly. Can’t wait to try this dipping sauce with wontons!
1. Jeeca July 12, 2022Reply
  Yay, thanks Nadia! happy you liked it ◡̈
Mandy August 14, 2022Reply

Delicious and so savory! Highly recommend this sauce!
1. Jeeca August 15, 2022Reply
  Thank you Mandy! ◡̈
Scott August 17, 2022Reply

Just made this twice in the week – absolutely delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
1. Jeeca August 18, 2022Reply
  Thanks so much Scott! Hope you enjoyed your dumplings! ◡̈
  1. Mary W December 24, 2023Reply
    I noticed that you don’t say how long you cook the sauce. I need to know as I want to make it a day ahead of time.
    1. Jeeca December 25, 2023Reply
      Hi Mary, I actually don’t cook the sauce, simply mix it all together. ◡̈
    2. Jeeca December 25, 2023Reply
      So you can make it ahead of time ◡̈
Andrea August 18, 2022Reply

Super good. Loved all the flavors. Also, watched the video showing how to make the dumplings, which was very helpful.
1. Jeeca August 18, 2022Reply
  Thank you Andrea! I hope you enjoyed yours ◡̈ and glad to know the video helped!!
Abby August 29, 2022Reply

I have made this sauce many times and it is KILLER. I have some homemade chicken wontons in the freezer, where the ground chicken in them is raw. Do you still think it would be okay to boil them from frozen? Thanks!
1. Jeeca August 30, 2022Reply
  Hi Abby! Yes the frozen chicken wontons are good to boil straight from frozen. Don’t thaw them since these will sog. You will need to cook them a little longer since the chicken is raw and you’d want to make sure the inside is cooked through. Hope this helps! ◡̈
Anna September 3, 2022Reply

Sooo tasty ! Why restaurants dont have such an awesome seeping sauce… simple and yet so good! Thank u for sharing
See Also
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1. Jeeca September 5, 2022Reply
  Haha I asked myself the same thing sometimes.. so I usually ask for chili oil, black vinegar, and soy sauce to make my own if they don’t have a great sauce 😅
Sonia December 19, 2022Reply

Absolutely delicious <3
1. Jeeca December 20, 2022Reply
  Thanks Sonia! ◡̈
Barbara Van Buren July 18, 2023Reply

Definitely 5 star on the Yum Meter!
1. Jeeca July 21, 2023Reply
  Yay thank you Barbara! ◡̈
Norman October 10, 2023Reply

I don’t normally do the comment thing. However, I just fed my family. My wife isn’t feeling too good and suggested a spicy dish might help her recovery. Nailed it. The sauce went down extremely well. served just as you suggested (but fried parcels). I doubled the amount, and we killed it. Everyone was making suggestions for what else this might work with. I’m in my wife’s good books. If only she felt better.
1. Jeeca October 11, 2023Reply
  Hi Norman, hope your wife feels better soon! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this review. Really appreciate it! ◡̈
Sheryl November 14, 2023Reply

Must try.
John W December 27, 2023Reply

Quick question. When I looked to purchase the doubanjiang, it came up as chili oil and chili garlic oil. Are they interchangeable? Also is rice vinegar and seasoned rice vinegar interchangeable also. I used seasoned rice vinegar and gochujang, and it tasted good still. Thanks, in advance.
1. Jeeca December 30, 2023Reply
  Hi John! Doubanjiang is a fermented chili bean paste so it’s different from chili oil/chili garlic oil. Rice vinegar is plain rice vinegar, while seasoned rice vinegar usually has some sugar and other seasonings to balance out the acidity (this is what’s used for sushi). They can be used interchangeably. Gochujang might be your best bet as a sub for doubanjiang if you can’t find any. Hope this helps ◡̈
Shamsher January 23, 2024Reply
I followed this recipe *exactly* except for sesame oil and it came out extremely sour and salty 🙁
I even used low sodium soy sauce.
1. Jeeca January 23, 2024Reply
  Hi sorry to hear about this! You can adjust this to your taste and run it down with more water as needed.
Jessica February 3, 2024Reply

How long is the sauce good for once made and how should it be stored. I have some left over and don’t want to toss it!
1. Jeeca February 4, 2024Reply
  It should be good in the fridge for 1-2 weeks as long as you keep it in an air-tight container ◡̈
Moroo February 18, 2024Reply
So informative and in detailed article. Appreciate it
Sheila March 6, 2024Reply

Made the sauce and it is super delicious!
Thank you for sharing! ❤️
1. Jeeca March 6, 2024Reply
  Hope you enjoyed it Sheila! Thank you 🙂
Lizzy April 7, 2024Reply

I made this for dinner at my Taiwanese neighbor’s house (he cooked dumplings that his mother made + dumplings from costco). That neighbor gave the sauce a thumbs-up. I altered that I didn’t have separate chili oil to add… just the Sichuan Pixan chili oil… I also used 1/3 the sugar and 1/2 the Sichuan pixan chili oil because my husband is on the wimp-ier side of the spice tolerance scale. But everyone loved it!
1. Jeeca April 8, 2024Reply
  Hey Lizzy! Sounds great. Thanks so much for giving it a try 🙂
Diane May 3, 2024Reply

Love this recipe!!!
1. Jeeca May 3, 2024Reply
  Hi Diane, glad you like it! Thanks for giving it a try 🙂

Hello there!

I’m Jeeca,a food content creator and recipe developer passionate about creating easy yet tasty and flavour-packed vegan recipes. I share a lot of Asian recipes inspired by my travels and those I grew up enjoying.