This highly flavorful dipping sauce can also be doubled as a dressing, or sauce, for salads, vegetables and proteins such as tofu and tempeh.
Steps
1
Starting the Sauce
Ingredients
1⁄4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ponzu
1⁄4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 1⁄2 tsp sweetener (such as sugar, agave, rice syrup)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1⁄2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1 to 2 tsp minced fresh ginger*
1 clove garlic, finely minced*
1/8 to 1/4 cup water, as needed
To start the sauce, place all of the ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn down the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 30 seconds or so, or until the sugar has melted, and then remove from the heat.
*Note: A good tip for the ginger and garlic — use a microplane zester to finely zest the ingredients. Using a piece of frozen ginger works well here. Also note that this sauce is still also very good without the ginger and garlic.
If needed, add a touch of water to balance out the tartness—keeping in mind however that the sauce it supposed to have a good punch to it.
2
Finishing the Sauce
Ingredients
1 green onion, finely minced
To finish the sauce, pour the mixture into a bowl and add the finely minced green onion.
While this sauce is best when first made, it will keep for several days, in an air-tight container, in the refrigerator. Note: If making ahead, it is best to add the green onion just before serving so that it maintains it's vibrant green color.
Serve this sauce with your favorite Dumplings or Potstickers, such as these Plant-Based Sichuan n' Chicken' Dumplings, or use as a sauce for vegetables or rice dishes.
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Hi Lorraine! So Ponzu is very popular in Japanese cuisine - it's a is a citrus-based sauce that tends to be sort of tart - in my opinion. Very tasty - a nice condiment! Thanks for learning with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk
I just found an excellent recipe for making paleo ponzu sauce for putting in this. My husband has to eat paleo because of an auto-immune disease so I am always trying to adapt delicious looking recipes to be paleo friendly. This Asian Dipping Sauce recipe looks amazing and I can't wait to try making it! I'm going to use honey as the sweetener and see how it turns out.
I've always made a severely abbreviated version of this (soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds) for a variety of dipping applications which has worked well in a pinch, but I must try this one... looks great, thank you!
Eric W • Rouxbe Staff •Melania, You are welcome! It is very good to know that you enjoyed them. Eric
Megha J •Tried this tonight. So simple and so yummy. Used it over a diced cucumber tomato salad. So good ! Thank you.
Keeley H •I just found an excellent recipe for making paleo ponzu sauce for putting in this. My husband has to eat paleo because of an auto-immune disease so I am always trying to adapt delicious looking recipes to be paleo friendly. This Asian Dipping Sauce recipe looks amazing and I can't wait to try making it! I'm going to use honey as the sweetener and see how it turns out.
Nathaniel K •I cannot wait to try this recipe. I am always experimenting with Asian dipping sauces and I really like the sounds of this one!
Sandi K •I've always made a severely abbreviated version of this (soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds) for a variety of dipping applications which has worked well in a pinch, but I must try this one... looks great, thank you!