Vinegar is the most common condiment in our life and is used almost every day, but do you really know vinegar?

Vinegar is a very diverse category, and there are many types of vinegar. Common white vinegar, fruit vinegar, rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar, aged vinegar. What about these vinegars, I believe we are all more familiar with. But said the difference between these kinds of vinegar, as well as the difference between the consumption method and the way of use, I believe that many people can not fully understand.

Among them, white vinegar and fruit vinegar belong to imported products, rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar, aged vinegar belong to traditional vinegar. According to the ancient book "Zhouli", the history of brewing vinegar is at least 3,000 years, " vinegar" Chinese ancient name "vinegar", "acyl", "bitter wine " and so on. In Japan, vinegar is still referred to as "酢" (酢), for example, the most common type of sushi vinegar is written as "壽司 酢".

Let's start with the first one: white vinegar

There are two kinds of white vinegar commonly found in the market, one is the white vinegar made by fast brewing with alcohol, and the other is the white vinegar made by blending with acetic acid. Because of the speed of manufacture are very fast, thus white vinegar in general, the price is very cheap. White vinegar is usually mildly acidic and has little of the flavor that other vinegars contain.

You can pick it up, as I did, and read the product description. Look mainly at these three locations. The ingredients are stated above: water, rice, edible alcohol, sugar, edible salt. Please pay attention to the product standard number, here is written GB/T 18187. This standard indicates that it is brewing vinegar, although it is brewed by rapid fermentation of alcohol, but at least it is not directly blended.

If you see SB/T 10337, it means it is blended vinegar. The product category, Liquid Fermented Vinegar, is a detailed description of the product standard number above.

When cooking with white vinegar, it is mainly used to stir fry those foods that need to keep the original color, such as hot and sour lotus root slices, smooth stir fry lotus root slices and so on.

The current trend is that white vinegar is more often, used as a cleaning product, such as removing limescale, deodorizing cutting boards, washing the face and soaking the feet. Many cooking functions are gradually replaced by fruit vinegar and rice vinegar.

The second kind of vinegar: fruit vinegar

Fruit vinegar, also known as fruit juice vinegar, is a variety of fruits as the main raw material made of brewing vinegar. Usually we see all kinds of apple vinegar, grape vinegar, coconut vinegar, orange vinegar and so on in the supermarket belong to fruit vinegar.

However, like white vinegar, it is also divided into brewed fruit vinegar and blended fruit vinegar.

Here are the product parameters of an orange vinegar, for example. As you can see from the parameters, this is a brewing vinegar. In our daily cooking, the western food with fruit vinegar will be more, the real European salad is to fruit vinegar cold dressing, and then directly eat raw.

We Chinese food in the last decade also gradually accept and use fruit vinegar to do some cold dishes, which will add a different flavor. Some of the higher quality fruit vinegars can be diluted and consumed directly, or enjoyed with fruit juices, which can also be very tasty.

The third type of vinegar: rice vinegar

Although the definition of rice vinegar is still controversial, but according to the general recognition of our people's daily life. What we often call rice vinegar is vinegar made from rice.

Let's pick up the rice vinegar and take a look at the product description sheet as well. The column of ingredients, states: water, rice, sugar. Total acid is more than 9%, in general, the higher the acidity the better the vinegar. Product implementation standard number: GB/T 18187. back note: liquid fermentation.

The color of rice vinegar is generally pale yellow or pure white, in our daily use, rice vinegar is mainly used for pickling, cold, point dipping, occasional cooking stir-fry. It can also be used as a cleaning product, and the overall usage is similar to white vinegar. It is an upgraded version of white vinegar. Because rice vinegar is brewed, it can also be diluted and enjoyed with honey and fruit juices, and the flavor is quite good.

The fourth type of vinegar: balsamic vinegar

Balsamic vinegar is a vinegar brewed with glutinous rice as the main ingredient.

In our country, balsamic vinegar is equivalent to Zhenjiang balsamic vinegar. Let's pick up the vinegar and look at its product description sheet. In the column of ingredients, it is stated: water, glutinous rice, wheat bran, rice, edible salt, and Daqu. The total acid is 6.5%. Product implementation standard number: GB/T18623 solid state fermentation.

We can see two differences: one is the standard number, and the other is solid state fermentation. The former is the exclusive standard number of balsamic vinegar made in Zhenjiang, and the latter is the standard of high-quality brewing vinegar.

Generally speaking, solid fermented vinegar is definitely better than liquid fermented vinegar.

Although the history of balsamic vinegar is not very long, it was created in 1840, became famous in China and abroad, and began to be exported in small quantities in 1909.

Balsamic vinegar has five characteristics of "color, aroma, acidity, mellowness and richness". Its color is bright, acidity is soft, vinegar aroma is strong, flavor is pure, taste is moderate, aroma and sweet, color is strong and taste is fresh, and its quality is unchanged for a long time, and it is more fragrant and mellow. Compared with Shanxi vinegar, Zhenjiang balsamic vinegar's biggest feature is slightly sweet, and the flavor is especially prominent when it is cold.

In our daily use, balsamic vinegar is a versatile vinegar. It is especially suitable for cold dipping, but also suitable for stir-frying and braising. In short, a bottle of balsamic vinegar at home is definitely a must.

The fifth kind of vinegar: aged vinegar

Aged vinegar is a pure natural grain vinegar with sorghum as the main raw material and big currant as the fermentation agent. The process of aged vinegar is the same as general vinegar. The biggest difference of aged vinegar is that it has gone through the aging process, such as the traditional "summer sunshine, winter ice" process. Its vinegar contains less water, thick color, fragrant taste, quality is not as good as other vinegars, and can be stored for a long time, so it is called aged vinegar.

Old aged vinegar is the vinegar brewed longer than aged vinegar, the acidity is above 6.

Let's take a look at the product parameters, if there is GB/T19777 is the authentic old vinegar from Shanxi, which is a local protective standard.

In general, Chen vinegar cooking is the main, cold as a supplement, burning vegetables to fishy is a good hand, especially when burning fish, more mellow flavor.

There are many famous vinegars in China, among which Shanxi old vinegar, Zhenjiang balsamic vinegar, Bao'ning vinegar, Yongchun old vinegar is famous all over the world, known as the "four famous vinegars of China".

If you still don't understand, you can watch the following video