Dim Sum Dipper
From Simply Ming, by Ming Tsai, and published in Epicurious | October 2003

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Simply Ming by Ming Tsai. It's part of a menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. This is a great dipping sauce for all dim sum — pot stickers, shu mai, spring rolls, scallion pancakes, to name a few — but it's also good with any fried goodie, like chicken fingers. You can and should adjust the heat to suit your palate. Though the dip lasts about a week in a fridge, it's so easily prepared that I recommend you make just as much as you need when you need it.

2 tablespoons sambal*
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil

In a small bowl, combine the sambal, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Mix and use or store.

Serve as a dipping sauce for Ming Tsai's pork pot stickers or other favorite dim sum dish.

*Sambal is a chili based sauce with garlic which is normally used as a condiment, sambal oelek being the most common type. Other sambals add other seasonings. Sambals are popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the southern Philippines and Sri Lanka, as well as in the Netherlands and in Suriname through Javanese influence. It is typically made from a variety of peppers, although chili peppers are the most common. It is sometimes a substitute for fresh chilis. It can be extremely spicy for the uninitiated. Some ready-made sambals are available at exotic food markets or gourmet departments in supermarkets in many countries. Recipe for homemade Sambal.

Makes about 1 cup