Vinegar is an acidic seasoning containing acetic acid. In terms of varieties, there are rice vinegar, aged vinegar, fragrant vinegar, white vinegar, various juice vinegar, garlic vinegar, ginger vinegar, health vinegar and so on. Because of the different raw materials and manufacturing methods, the finished products have different flavors. But this does not mean that the more sour the vinegar, the better. It is best to decide which vinegar to use according to your own needs.

Mature vinegar, balsamic vinegar, baoning vinegar. Mature vinegar is aged with sorghum as the main raw material. It is characterized by dark purple color, clear vinegar, mellow and not astringent. Baoning vinegar is a combination of bran vinegar and medicinal vinegar. It is dark brown in color, fragrant and slightly sweet, and has a special aromatic flavor. Sweet vinegar is brewed with glutinous rice as the main raw material, which is famous for its fragrance but slightly sweet, sour but not astringent.

In terms of sour taste, mature vinegar is the most sour, baoning acid is the second, fragrant vinegar is the weakest, and other flavors have their own strengths. When cooking hot dishes, mature vinegar and baoning vinegar are often used in dishes with deep colors that need to highlight sour taste, such as hot and sour sea cucumber and vinegar-roasted catfish. Balsamic vinegar is used for dishes with lighter color and no particularly prominent acidity, such as crispy pork slices, onion and crispy crucian carp. As the saying goes: cooking and frying salt is the main thing, and five flavors and vinegar are the first. When mixing cold dishes, the effect of using balsamic vinegar is better than that of using Baoning vinegar and mature vinegar, which not only makes the dishes sour and fragrant, but also does not make the dishes too dark with rose rice vinegar.

Rose rice vinegar is brewed with rice as raw material. Because it was mainly produced in Zhejiang area before, the vinegar liquid was transparent rose red, so it is also called "Zhejiang vinegar" and "red vinegar", which is quite different from mature vinegar. The color of Zhejiang vinegar is light red and transparent, and it is often mixed with white sugar and white vinegar to make pickles, such as rouge and radish. When used to season hot dishes, it is often mixed with wild pepper and hot sauce to make hot and sour juice, which is used to cook white vinegar for sour soup fish and other dishes.

There are two kinds of white vinegar, one is brewed with rice or glutinous rice as raw materials by traditional technology, which is characterized by colorless and transparent, soft sour taste and sweet and sour fragrance; One is a kind of synthetic vinegar synthesized by edible glacial acetic acid, water, salt and a small amount of sugar, which is characterized by colorless and transparent, strong and single sour taste, sharp and pungent taste, and it is best not to use it in cold dishes.