A great dipping sauce for Chinese dumplings, known as Jao-Tze, needs to be more than just a bowl of soy sauce. Sure, if you’re having sushi-grade raw fish, you may want to keep it simple with a gentle dip of high-quality soy sauce to preserve the subtle flavors of the fish, but sometimes you want more.
If you’re having dumplings, chunks of pork, beef on a skewer, or grilled chicken, a dipping sauce with more flavor is essential.
Inspired by what I call my Bible of Chinese cooking, “The Chinese Cookbook,” by Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee (printed in 1972), I tweaked the recipe to fit my own tastes.
You don’t usually find maple syrup in Asian cooking, but I found that it added just the right amount of sweetness needed, and I prefer it over the more commonly used honey.
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon Chinese chili garlic sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 green onion, finely chopped
I combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
I store it in the fridge in a container with a lid, and give it a good shake right before using, to re-mix the ingredients.
I used this dipping sauce as part of a meal I made with beef skewers (posted recently), stir-fried veggies, dumplings, and lo mein with a peanut-chili sauce.
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