I bought a couple new vinegar today (the two on the right) so I figure I would have a comparative tasting of the Chinese vinegars in my pantry. The four vinegars are, from left to right, dark sweet rice vinegar from Hong Kong, Chinkiang Vinegar, old aged vinegar from Jiangsu and Baoning vinegar from Sichuan. Chinkiang and Baoning are two of the four great vinegars in China and they certain show their worth here. Their richness, fragrance and complexity are unmatched by the other two. I have always liked the Chinkiang for its richness and sweetness. After this tasting though, I think I prefer the Baoning even more. The Baoning is brighter and less sweet, more fragrant too. The old aged is not bad, just a bit thinner and is probably better for saucing rather than dipping. The dark sweet rice is thin and dominated by the ginger that flavours it. It is a good cooking vinegar, particularly in stews.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Vinegar Tasting
I bought a couple new vinegar today (the two on the right) so I figure I would have a comparative tasting of the Chinese vinegars in my pantry. The four vinegars are, from left to right, dark sweet rice vinegar from Hong Kong, Chinkiang Vinegar, old aged vinegar from Jiangsu and Baoning vinegar from Sichuan. Chinkiang and Baoning are two of the four great vinegars in China and they certain show their worth here. Their richness, fragrance and complexity are unmatched by the other two. I have always liked the Chinkiang for its richness and sweetness. After this tasting though, I think I prefer the Baoning even more. The Baoning is brighter and less sweet, more fragrant too. The old aged is not bad, just a bit thinner and is probably better for saucing rather than dipping. The dark sweet rice is thin and dominated by the ginger that flavours it. It is a good cooking vinegar, particularly in stews.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Interesting but unfortunatly short article. :) You wrote about the "4 great chinese vinegars" amongst them Chinkiang and Baoning. Which are the 2 others?
regards
Daniel
The other two are the "old aged vinegar" from Shanxi (which is in the picture also but I misidentified it as from Jiangsu) and the red rice vinegar from Fujian. The difference between them, as far as I can tell is that the Chinkiang is sweetish with less acidity; the Shanxi is mild and deep, soft acidity and little sugar; the Sichuan is rich and bright, very fragrant; and the Fujian is very sweet and thick. Different styles but supposed put together as the 4 Greats in the last century.
Post a Comment