Japanese Dumpling Sauce

Japanese Dumpling Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Mirin, or 1/2 Tablespoon White Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder, or 1 smallish Clove of Garlic, very finely minced
• 2 Teaspoons Cider or White or Rice Vinegar

*Sometimes I also add a teaspoon of oyster sauce if I happen to have it. It's not needed, and some people do not like.

Garnish with sesame seeds and or finely sliced green onion

Instructions:

1. Mix everything together in a small dish, and serve
2.  Will keep for a few days if covered and stored in a fridge. The garlic taste may become stronger as it ages if you used a clove of garlic, just a heads up.

Enjoy!

Notes:

So I don't think this has been mentioned before, but my fiance spent over a year in Korea and other Asian countries, teaching English and just generally enjoying another culture.  This is why he has such a passion for all Asian food. Myself on the other hand, had spent my entire life thinking there was only chicken balls and fried rice to enjoy in the Asian scene.  So very slowly I am letting some Asian cuisine creep into my plans for meals every once and a while.  One thing that was pretty easy to get into were dumplings.  Growing up with a pretty Irish-Scottish-Canadian family, dumplings had never once in any way been on my menu. No dumplings, no perogies, no doughboys with soup, nothing like that. I must say that I was missing out. What good is it to be able to make perfect biscuits all the time anyways? I want variety in my options!

So let us return to dumplings, they are a pretty easy thing to make, but it can be a tedious process, so I'm saving that for later. Which is alright because at a lot of grocery stores there are frozen or even fresh dumplings options that are a good sub on a night you want a quick snack.  Making a nice sauce to go with the dumplings is an easy way to at least start adding some home made goodness.