A small round dish in speckled ceramic, three and a half inches across and less than an inch deep, made for the soy sauce, vinegar or dip that belongs beside the plate rather than on it. Set one at each place and everybody gets their own.
No bottle passed hand to hand down the table. No sauce running into the rice. Just a little dish of it, right where you reach.
Some things belong next to the plate, not on it
Sauce poured straight onto a plate goes wherever the plate tips, so the dumplings sit in it, the rice soaks it up and the last few bites taste of nothing else. A shared bowl in the middle of the table fixes that and brings its own problem, because now everyone is leaning across for it.
A dish this size puts the sauce where each person can dip as much or as little as they like. Keeping it shallow is deliberate. A small pour covers the bottom, so you are not filling a whole bowl just to have something to dip into. It works the same way for a pinch of salt, a spoon of chili crisp, pickled ginger with sushi or the dressing that goes with a hot pot.
A speckled glaze, edged in brown
The shape is simple and quite flat. A wide, level floor meets straight low sides, and a small foot ring underneath lifts it just clear of the table. Every one is flecked with darker speckles through the glaze, a little more densely on some colors than others, so no two look exactly alike.
The rim and the edge of the foot ring are a warm brown. That thin line frames each color and gives it a rustic, earthy look. Because the sides are straight and the tops are flat, they also stack neatly on top of one another when they go back in the cupboard.
They are sold one at a time, so you can buy a full set in one color or mix green, brown, white and yellow down the same table. Either way, the sauce ends up exactly where it should be.
Specifications
Type: Sauce and dipping dish
Material: Ceramic
Glaze: Speckled, with a brown rim and a brown edge to the foot ring
Shape: Round and shallow, with a flat floor, straight low sides and a foot ring
Colors: Green, Brown, White, Yellow, Gray
Dimensions: 3.5 x 0.8 in (9 x 2 cm), diameter by height
Foot ring: 2 in (5 cm) across
Use: Soy sauce, vinegar, dips, condiments and spices