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Featured Comment:
“Absolutely love this sauce – and all the extra suggestions too 🙂”
– Suzanne Jenner-Wall
What is Gyoza Dipping Sauce?
Gyoza dipping sauce (餃子のタレ in Japanese) is usually a thin, savory, and tangy sauce served in a small dish with Japanese dumplings. Each restaurant has its own dipping sauce, which varies from spicy or sour to even miso-based.
The most popular and common, however, is probably a mixture of vinegar and soy sauce, and while the ratio is often 50/50, it can be adjusted to personal preference.
There are many kinds of gyoza dipping sauce, varying from restaurant to restaurant and family to family. Specialty restaurants use vinegar and soy sauce as a base, blended with secret flavors and other ingredients to create an original taste.
Also, people in the Kansai region eat gyoza with ponzu (a type of soy sauce/citrus mix), and in Kobe, gyoza is sometimes eaten with miso-base dipping sauce.
How I Developed This Recipe
When I set out to create this gyoza dipping sauce recipe, I had a clear goal: to make a sauce I’d be happy to use every time I eat gyoza. It needed to be simple to prepare, without any overly complicated steps, and most importantly, it had to be delicious enough that I’d want to use it again and again.
I’m pleased to say that I think I achieved just that. This dipping sauce strikes the perfect balance of flavors, enhancing the gyoza without overpowering it.
My wife is a testament to its success – she always requests this particular recipe whenever we have gyoza.
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Rice Vinegar: Rice vinegar is most recommended. Alternatives like apple cider vinegar or white vinegar are also fine.
- Soy Sauce: Kikkoman is a good, budget-friendly option. For more details on choosing soy sauce in Japanese cuisine, refer to our complete soy sauce guide.
- Chili Oil: Adds a bit of spiciness to dipping sauces. Sesame oil-based raayu is recommended.
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper: White pepper is also a great option!
If you want to customize further, here are a few other ingredient ideas you can add or experiment with!
- Dry chili flakes
- Fresh chili
- Grated ginger
- Grated garlic
- Lemon juice
- Sliced green onion
- Sesame seeds
And if you find your sauce is a little too strong, you can dilute it with a little water too. As you experiment with these ingredients, you will definitely find golden ratio to suit your own taste!
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Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsFAQ
It is called gyoza no tare (餃子のタレ) in Japanese.
Yes, you can! In fact, Kansai (Western Japan) people sometimes use ponzu sauce for their first choice! Ponzu is made with soy sauce and citrus juice such as lemons, limes or fruits native to Japan such as yuzu, kabosu or sudachi. If you want to know how to make homemade ponzu at home, check out my ponzu recipe!
I hope you enjoy this Gyoza Dipping Sauce recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
My Gyoza Recipes
Authentic Japanese Gyoza Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp chili oil
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp soy sauce, ½ tsp chili oil and ¼ tsp ground black pepper to a small bowl and mix until combined.
- Serve along side pan-fried gyoza and enjoy!
Suzanne Jenner-Wall
Absolutely love this sauce – and all the extra suggestions too 🙂
Yuto Omura
Thank you for the generous rating! Glad you’re enjoying the recipe! 🙂