An all-around dipping sauce, or sauce in general, perfect for dumplings, noodles, cold tofu, even as a dressing for cucumber salad, and more! You’ll want to soak or dip everything in this sweet-savory-spicy sauce with all the aromatics and extra heat from chili oil!
Heat neutral oil then pour over garlic and green onion in a heat proof bowl.
Place the rest of the ingredients in the bowl and mix until well incorporated. Feel free to adjust everything depending on your desired taste!
To enjoy the sauce, you can make:
Cold/Steamed silken tofu: simply open a package of silken tofu and place it on a deep plate/bowl. Drain any excess water.You can opt to steam this for a warm version or keep it cold, straight out of the package! Pour the sauce over then top with fried shallots. Serve then enjoy with rice, or noodles.
Dumplings: use this sauce as a dipping sauce for your steamed or pan-friend dumplings or opt to pour the sauce over your dumplings to let them soak up the flavors!
Cucumber salad: smash the cucumber (smashing gives it added texture), and then slice into smaller pieces of your choice. You can place the cucumber on a strainer with a catch basin underneath then sprinkle some salt. Add a pinch of salt and toss to coat the cucumber. Leave to sit for 10-15 minutes to draw out extra water. Remove the cucumber and then transfer to a bowl. Pour over the sauce/dressing and mix well.
Noodles: Cook noodles of your choice. I simply microwaved 2 portions of frozen udon until chewy. You can opt to directly pour the sauce over and mix well or you can also heat up a wok and stir-fry some tofu or vegetables in some oil. Once tender, add the sauce. Add the cooked noodles to coat with the sauce. The sauce will thicken from the sugars and coat the noodles well. Enjoy!
Stir-Fried Tofu: Pan-fry slices of tofu on a pan with oil until golden brown on both sides. Pour the sauce over and allow the sauce to come to a gentle boil. It’ll start to thicken from the sugars and coat the tofu.Another option is to use the sauce for dipping instead of pouring it to mix with the tofu.
Storage Tips and More
You can make this sauce 2-3 days in advance. It keeps well in the fridge! Just mix well and leave to sit at room temperature before using.
For an extra tang, you can add a splash more vinegar!
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Please leave a rating or comment and share a photo on Instagram, and tag me @thefoodietakesflight or use #thefoodietakesflight :)