This quick homemade dipping sauce has hints of garlic, ginger, and red chili pepper. It’s perfect for Chinese and Japanese dumplings.

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This recipe came about when I had a variety of frozen dumplings and no sauce. This sauce is good with all kinds of dumplings, including steamed and pan-fried dumplings. Although this recipe is categorized as Chinese and Japanese, don’t claim it to be authentic. It has flavors that I like, and I’ve used it for dipping both Chinese and Japanese dumplings. This recipe for Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers) by Just One Cookbook explains some of the the differences between the two.

Now that I’m getting the hang of my Instant Pot, pressure cooking is one of my favorite ways to make frozen dumplings. I use this Instant Pot Frozen Dumplings method from Everyday Family Cooking. They’re ready in under 10 minutes (including time for the Instant Pot to come to pressure) and cook perfectly every time.

A note on the spice: If you don’t like spicy foods, you can reduce or leave out the red pepper flakes. If you plan to store this in the refrigerator at all, it will get spicier over time. It was mild when I ate it right away, but definitely a bit hotter than medium when I had more the next day.