Easy Korean Dumpling Sauce Recipe (Yangnyeom Jang)

small wooden bowl filled with Korean Dumpling Sauce (Yangnyeom Jang) next to steamer basket filled with dumplings

4.80 from 5 votes

Easy Korean Dumpling Sauce Recipe (Yangnyeom Jang)

An easy and essential Korean Dumpling Sauce: Yangnyeom Jang! Flecked with sesame seeds, Gochukaru, and green onions -- use as a dip with everything. Fantastic with dumplings, savory pancakes, and pan-fried jeon. Or drizzle over rice, noodles, and on top of everything else!

Prep Time10

Cook Time0

Course: condiment

Cuisine: Korean

Keyword: Dipping Sauce, Dumpling Sauce, Pancake Sauce, Yangnyeom Jang

Servings: cup

Calories: 299kcal

Author: The Subversive Table | Lis Lam

Ingredients

3 Tbsp Soy Sauce (not low-sodium soy sauce)
3 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp Rice or apple vinegar (white distilled vinegar also works)
1 Tbsp sugar (can be subbed with maple syrup or honey)
1 Tbsp Gochukaru
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (about 1/4 cup) green onions, minced
1 chili pepper, minced (fresno, jalapeno, finger peppers all work well)
1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

In a medium bowl, add all the ingredients. Mix with a spoon, making sure the sugar is dissolved.
Transfer some of the sauce to a small bowl. Serve with dumplings, savory pancakes, rice, or food of choice.
Store leftovers, tightly sealed, in the fridge. Preferably in the coldest part of the fridge.

Video

Notes

*Yangnyeom Jang stays good for about 1-2 weeks in the fridge. Be careful of cross-contamination and use a fresh spoon every time.

Additional Tips:

- Adjust the spice to your liking. My recipe is not too spicy so the kids can eat it. But make it spicier if you prefer. Or less spicy. (Adjust the amount of Gochukaru and minced chili peppers.)

- Do not use low-sodium soy sauce. I'm not a fan of low-sodium soy sauce. It tastes flat and lacks depth and flavor. If that's all you have, look for take-out soy sauce packets in your junk drawer. One packet of soy sauce is usually 1 Tbsp/15ml.

- Mince garlic and green onion finely. Mince green onion as finely as possible. For the garlic, I use a Microplane.

Variations:

Add chili oil. A spoonful of spicy Chinese chili oil adds a different flavor dimension that's spicy with a mouth-tingling kick of Sichuan spice and heat.
Make it more tangy. Some people like this sauce very tangy! The proportion is key. My vinegar to soy sauce ratio is 1 to 3 (1 part vinegar, 3 parts soy sauce). But a very common proportion is 1:2, or 1 part vinegar, and 2 parts soy sauce.
Make it sweeter. Double the amount of sugar. The result will be sweeter but not overly so.
Add fish sauce. Swap half the soy sauce with fish sauce for a sharp umami flavor.

Nutrition