Dipping sauces
The best dipping sauces for me are absolute roaring umami bombs. I want that feeling where my heart wants to drink the sauce, but my brain knows that would be too intense and unpleasant. That brain/heart push and pull is what keeps me going back and dipping.
Miso-Vinegar Dipping Sauce
from Donabe by Naoko Takei Moore & Kyle Connaughton
I’m used to thin soy-based dipping sauces with my dumplings. This is just what I’ve lways been accustomed to. This sauce is thick and sweet, tangy and sticky. It clings even to a wet dumpling and is a huge mouthful of flavour. It lasted in my fridge for about a week but mostly because I ate it all.
Whisk together 1/3 cup red miso, 1 tbsp Saiko or sweet white miso, 2 tbsp sake, 2 tbsp mirin, 2 tbsp raw brown sugar, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1 clove garlic, finely grated, and 1 tsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger in a saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Bring to a gentle simmer and stir constantly with a wooden spatula for 2-3 minutes, or until slightly thickened and shiny.
With Gyoza Nabe from Donabe cookbook
Spicy Miso Sauce
from Tokyo Cult Recipes by Maori Murota
This sauce isn’t so different from the one above. I loved the meal it paired with, pork belly and veggies in a lettuce wrap with this thicc, sticky, spicy sauce on top.
Mix together: 1 tbsp miso, ½ tbsp gochujang, ½ tbsp demerara sugar, ½ tsp soy sauce, ½ tbsp sesame seeds, ½ tsp chopped ginger, ¼ ginger clove, graded, and 1½ cm leek (white part), chopped.
Chili Soy Sauce
from East by Meera Sodha
This is a dipping sauce for wontons and it is like when you close your eyes and imagine a sauce that you’re craving and it materializes in real life. The word that comes to mind with this sauce is gratitude. Salty, spicy, and fragrant with sesame oil.
Place 1 tbsp canola oil, 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil, ⅛ cup soy sauce, 1 clove of crushed garlic, ½ tsp chile flakes, ¾ tbsp white wine vinegar, and 1 chopped green onion in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then immediately take off the heat.
