I have been talking to you about food from various places, or teaching you how to cook food from different places. Today I want to talk about some basic things. There is sourness in dishes all over the world, just like our Chinese food, vinegar. The use of it accounts for a large proportion, so what are used in dishes around the world to create sourness?

Let’s talk about Chinese food first

The sourness of Chinese food is mainly produced by vinegar. The types of Chinese vinegar are very complex. In addition to the four famous vinegars (Shanxi mature vinegar, Zhenjiang balsamic vinegar, Baoning vinegar) In addition to vinegar and Yongchun old vinegar), there are also Tianjin Duliu old vinegar, Lianyungang Banpu Wangshu Youdi vinegar, Sichuan Sanhui rice vinegar, Henan Laobie Yite vinegar, Beijing Wangzhihe Longmen vinegar, Taiwan black vinegar, Henan West vinegar Jia's Cave Handmade Persimmon Vinegar, Zhejiang Huzhou Laohenghe Vinegar, Zhejiang Shaoxing Renchang Sauce Garden Rose Vinegar, Chongqing Jingguan Vinegar, Guangdong Haitian Rose Vinegar, Guangdong Zhujiang Bridge Rose Vinegar, etc. The color of vinegar is divided into black, red, and transparent.

The above vinegars can be divided into northern vinegar and southern vinegar. However, this division is not based on geographical location, but based on brewing methods, such as Zhenjiang Hengshun balsamic vinegar. It is made by solid-state fermentation in a vat. It has a dark color and is suitable for eating dumplings and making seafood. It belongs to the same type of northern vinegar as Shanxi mature vinegar, while southern vinegar uses closed vat liquid fermentation. It is light red and transparent in color and is suitable for cold dishes and seafood. .

Korea

We are all familiar with fruit vinegar. The sourness in Korean cuisine is usually produced by persimmon vinegar in fruit vinegar, which is called gam-sikcho and has an orange color. Available in purple and red, it is fermented from a type of persimmon grown in Korea.

Philippines

Filipinos like to use sugar cane juice to make sour vinegar. However, most of the sugar in this sugar cane juice has been extracted, so the sweetness is very weak and not as good as ordinary vinegar. Sweeter, but quite sour, Filipinos call this vinegar sukang maasim. Of course, if you feel it is not sour enough, you can also choose another kind of vinegar, which is also popular among Filipinos. Coconut vinegar is fermented from coconut juice. It is turbid white in color and the sourness can be described as sharp. You can challenge it if you have the opportunity. Down.

Italy

This kind of wine vinegar in Italy has a very prominent history. In ancient times, only the upper class could afford this kind of vinegar, because this kind of vinegar must be made from Trebbiano white grapes. become.

Israel

Israelis and Arabs use pomegranate vinegar in fruit vinegar for making salads, stews and dips. It has a brown color and a mild taste.

Canada, United Kingdom

Malt vinegar, some people in my country also call it Western vinegar. This ancient vinegar was found in ancient Egyptian vessels more than 5,000 years ago. As the name suggests, the brewing of this vinegar is related to beer, which is also made from malt. The fermented malt vinegar has a lemon aroma, so it is used as a substitute for lemon juice, although people in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada like to use this vinegar. , but Americans have a cold attitude towards this kind of vinegar.

Thailand

Thailand is used here as the representative of Southeast Asia. In Thailand, you can buy some malt vinegar or Japanese rice vinegar, but you must be careful when buying vinegar, because most Thai People use vinegar as a cleaning tool rather than a condiment. The sourness of their dishes is actually made by some green plants without fermentation process. These plants include lime or lime, lime leaves, and lime peel. , lemongrass, tamarind or tamarind, sour bamboo shoots, etc. Of course, for people’s convenience, you can also buy bottled liquid lemon juice.

However, not all Southeast Asian countries use lemon juice. For example, Vietnam uses white vinegar, and fish sauce vinegar is used quite frequently in Vietnamese cuisine.