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Whenever my family and I crave tempura, I know tempura sauce is next on the list! It’s made with 4 ingredients and doubles as an easy marinade.
Elevate Asian fakeout with this quick tempura sauce recipe.
My family and I love going out for Japanese food, especially for the tempura. To be honest, it’s 99% of the reason we go. But the sauce is just as important. Once I started making chicken tempura, having the perfect sauce to pair became my mission.
This sauce is known for being sweet, salty, and umami-forward, and surprisingly, you only need 4 ingredients to accomplish those flavors. The best part? It doubles as a marinade or for dipping air fryer potstickers or harumaki!
If you love a good Asian sauce, try my bulgogi sauce, katsu sauce, or eel sauce next.
Key ingredients
- Dashi stock. Dashi is a Japanese soup stock that forms the base of many Japanese soups, including miso and udon soups. I can find it at my regular grocery store and Asian market. I prefer the convenience of dashi powder, but you can also use liquid stock.
- Mirin. My preferred sweet rice wine for Japanese recipes. It adds an extra layer of umami flavor.
- Rice wine. Another cooking wine used in Asian cooking that has a more sour taste. If you can’t find this, use dry sherry or vermouth. If you aren’t a fan of alcohol, I find a mix of chicken broth and a 1/4 teaspoon of vinegar to be a good replacement.
- Soy sauce. For savoriness. Use low-sodium soy sauce for low salt sauce.
How to make tempura dipping sauce
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Hydrate the stock powder. Whisk together the stock powder and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
Simmer. Add the mirin, rice wine, and soy sauce. Simmer until warm.
Cool. Let the sauce cool before using and storing.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Can’t find dashi? Use chicken stock or fish broth instead. The flavor won’t be exactly the same, but you can always adjust the other ingredients to compensate.
- If you’re using pre-made dashi stock, use ¾ cups.
- Add a touch of sugar. While optional, I find a tiny bit of sugar helps to balance out the saltiness.
More Japanese-inspired recipes
Tempura Sauce (Tentsuyu)
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon dashi powder * See notes
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 3/4 tablespoons mirin
- 1 3/4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Instructions
- Add the dashi stock powder and water in a small saucepan, whisk it together, and place it over medium heat.
- Once it simmers, add the mirin, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce. Let everything simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published July 2022, updated and republished December 2024
Once I was in Japanese restaurant and ate tempura sauce. It was amazing and I was curious how to make it!