There are many kinds of vinegar, and so are many kinds of vinegar. Common ones are white vinegar, fruit vinegar, rice vinegar, fragrant vinegar and aged vinegar. How about these vinegars? I believe everyone is familiar with it. However, I believe that many people do not fully understand the differences between these kinds of vinegar, as well as the differences in eating and using methods.
Among them, white vinegar and fruit vinegar belong to foreign products, while rice vinegar, fragrant vinegar and aged vinegar belong to traditional vinegar. According to the ancient book Zhou Li, the history of brewing vinegar is at least 3000 years. In China, "vinegar" was called "vinegar", "acyl" and "bitter wine" in ancient times. Japan still calls it vinegar by "chopping". For example, the most common sushi vinegar is written as "sushi chopping".
Let's talk about the first one: white vinegar.
There are two kinds of common white vinegar in the market, one is white vinegar brewed quickly with alcohol, and the other is white vinegar blended with acetic acid. White vinegar is generally cheap because of its fast manufacturing speed. The sour taste of white vinegar is usually light, and there is almost no fragrance contained in other vinegar.
You can pick it up and read the product description like me. Mainly look at these three positions. The ingredients are as follows: water, rice, edible alcohol, sugar and edible salt. Please pay attention to the product standard number. It says GB/T 18 187 here. This standard indicates that vinegar is brewed. Although it is brewed by rapid fermentation of alcohol, at least it is not directly blended.
If you see SB/T 10337, it means blending vinegar. The product category, liquid fermented vinegar, is a detailed description of the product standard number above.
When cooking white vinegar, it is mainly to stir-fry foods that need to maintain their original color, such as hot and sour lotus root slices and fried lotus root slices.
The current trend is that white vinegar is more used as cleaning products, such as removing dirt, removing the smell of chopping boards, washing your face and soaking your feet. Many cooking functions are gradually replaced by fruit vinegar and rice vinegar.
The second kind of vinegar: fruit vinegar
Fruit vinegar, also called fruit juice vinegar, is vinegar brewed with various fruits as the main raw materials. All kinds of apple vinegar, grape vinegar, coconut vinegar and orange vinegar that we usually see in supermarkets belong to fruit vinegar.
However, like white vinegar, it is also divided into brewing fruit vinegar and blending fruit vinegar.
The following are the product parameters of an orange vinegar. Let's take this for example. According to the parameters, this is a kind of brewing vinegar. In our daily cooking, fruit vinegar is often used in western food. The real European salad is mainly made of fruit vinegar and then eaten raw.
In recent ten years, Chinese food has gradually accepted and used fruit vinegar to make some cold dishes, which will add a different flavor. Some high-quality fruit vinegar can be diluted and drunk directly, or enjoyed with fruit juice, which will be very delicious.
The third kind of vinegar: rice vinegar
Although the definition of rice vinegar is still controversial, it is generally recognized in our daily life. The rice vinegar we often say is the vinegar made of rice.
We picked up the rice vinegar and read the product description table. In the column of ingredients, it is marked: water, rice and sugar. Total acid is more than 9%. Generally speaking, the higher the acidity, the better the vinegar. Product implementation standard number: GB/T 18 187. Remarks: Liquid fermentation.
The color of rice vinegar is generally light yellow or pure white. In our daily use, rice vinegar is mainly used for pickling, cold salad, dipping, and occasionally cooking. It can also be used as cleaning products, and its general usage is similar to that of white vinegar. Equivalent to an upgraded version of white vinegar. Because rice vinegar is brewed, it can also be diluted with honey and fruit juice, and it tastes quite good.
The fourth kind of vinegar: balsamic vinegar
Aromatic vinegar is vinegar brewed with glutinous rice as the main raw material.
In China, balsamic vinegar is equivalent to Zhenjiang balsamic vinegar. We picked up the vinegar and looked at its product description table. In the column of ingredients, it is marked: water, glutinous rice, wheat bran, rice, edible salt and Daqu. The total acid is 6.5%. Product implementation standard number: GB/T 18623 Solid state fermentation.
You can see two differences: one is standard number, and the other is solid state fermentation. The former is the exclusive standard number of Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar, and the latter is the standard of high-quality brewing vinegar.
Generally speaking, solid-state fermented vinegar is definitely better than liquid-state fermented vinegar.
Although the history of balsamic vinegar is not very long, it was founded in 1840, which enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad, and a small number of exports began in 1909.
Aromatic vinegar is colored, fragrant, sour, mellow and strong. Its color is clear, its acidity is soft, its vinegar taste is rich, its flavor is pure, its taste is soft, its fragrance is slightly sweet, its color is strong and its taste is fresh, its quality remains unchanged for a long time, and it is more mellow. Compared with Shanxi vinegar, Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar is slightly sweet, and its flavor is particularly prominent when it is cold.
In our daily use, balsamic vinegar is a kind of multi-purpose vinegar. Especially suitable for cold soaking, hot frying and braising. In short, there must be a bottle of balsamic vinegar at home.
The fifth kind of vinegar: aged vinegar
Mature vinegar is a pure natural grain vinegar with sorghum as the main raw material and Daqu as the starter. Old vinegar, the process is the same as ordinary vinegar. The biggest difference of mature vinegar is that it has gone through an aging process, such as the traditional "dry in summer and frozen in winter" process. Its vinegar has less water content, rich color, mellow and soft taste, inferior quality to other vinegars, and can be preserved for a long time, so it is named mature vinegar.
Mature vinegar is a kind of vinegar with a longer brewing time than mature vinegar, and its acidity is above 6.
Let's look at the product parameters. If GB/T 19777 appears, it is the authentic mature vinegar produced in Shanxi, which is the local protection standard.
Generally speaking, it is a good cook to use aged vinegar as the main ingredient, supplemented by cold salad, and to boil off the fishy smell, especially when cooking fish, which tastes mellow.
There are many famous vinegars in China, among which Shanxi Mature Vinegar, Zhenjiang Aromatic Vinegar, Baoning Vinegar and Yongchun Mature Vinegar are famous all over the world, and they are also called "the four famous vinegars in China".
If you don't know, you can watch the video below.