Home

Ingredients

©2006 Clove Garden

• Vinegars
• Other Souring Agents
• Lemon Juice
• Lime Juice
• Citric Acid
• Green Mango
• Sour Plum
• Sumac
• Tamarind
• Umeboshi Vinegar

Vinegars are made by fermentation from many foods that have a high sugar or starch content. Fruits and other sugar sources go through a double or triple fermentation: from sugar to alcohol (by yeast) then alcohol to acetic acid (by bacteria). Starchy foods go through either malting (barley) or a starch to sugar fermentation (rice), then sugar to alcohol, alcohol to acetic acid. High grade vinegars will then be aged in wooden barrels or pottery jars to mature the flavors.

With the exception of White Distilled Vinegar, vinegars carry a distinctive flavor from the ingredients used, and are affected by the quality of those ingredients, so taste will not be uniform brand to brand.

Many health and healing claims are made for vinegars, particularly apple cider vinegar, but actual medical research seems to be pretty scarce so the evidence is all "hear-say".

Vinegars. like oils, are very important cooking ingredients and a well prepared kitchen stocks Apple Cider, Rice, Balsamic (Industrial), White Distilled and Wine vinegars, with others added according to individual taste and ethnicity of the cuisine.

Apple Cider - Made from fermented apples, this vinegar is quite popular in the U.S. but beware! most of what tries to pass as "Apple Cider Vinegar" in the stores is nothing of the sort - look carefully and you will find it's made from white distilled vinegar with apple juice added - "apple flavored". Even the leading brand, Heinz, is real in quarts and fake in larger containers.

Apple cider vinegar has a large cult following among the health concious, but little actual medical research has been done so the health claims are called "hear-say". In any case, it's not likely to do you any harm, and many say it will help.

Cider vinegar is harsh for some applications so I often cut it 50% with Balsamic (Industrial) for use in salads and for dipping.
Source: Heinz at local groceries (quart size only), other brands available in some locations.

Balsamic, "Industrial" - A cheap imitation of "True Balsamic", commonly made from wine vinegar, concentrated grape must and carmel coloring. "Industrial" has the advantage of being priced to allow actual use in food rather than as an object of worship.

White Balsamic is a version that doesn't even try to look like real balsamic. It's made of white wine vinegar and grape must with no carmel color added and filtering to get rid of any color the grapes had. Cleaner taste than regular Industrials.

"Industrial" balsamic production centers around Modena Italy where the true balsamic is made. Many different formulas are used, so brands vary - just taste them and pick ones you like. Actually, "industrial" is better than "true" for many recipes, and is the most commonly used variety in Modena.
Sources: grocery, specialty and gourmet stores, $3 to $20.

Balsamic, "True"
- Tradizionale Vecchio (12 years) and Tradizionale Extra Vecchio (25 years) are made in Modena Italy from cooked grape must and are aged in a series of barrels made of different woods. Production is certified by a consortium and it comes only in a special shaped bottle shown. A 6-tablespoon (100-ml) bottle of Extra Vecchio 25-year is only a little over $100, but if you want the 50-year, it's gonna cost ya.
Sources: V6 Parma Shop.

"Balsamics" made by more or less traditional methods (usually starting with wine and must rather than just cooked must, but given a good aging in wood barrels) not qualifying for the special bottle are also available, with prices ranging from $15 to over $100 for an 8-oz (250-ml) bottle) These vinegars are often put up in fancy "gourmet" bottles, but never the "one true bottle".

Cane - Made wherever sugar cane is grown. Cane sugar is fermented into rum, and rum into vinegar. Varies greatly by brand. A good source is groceries serving a Philippine community.

Chinese Vinegars
Chinese vinegar comes in three basic varieties, Black, Red and White, all made from rice, but the darker may include other ingredients as well. Quality variations for Chinese products are extreme. Check the ingredient labeling but be aware it is often as wrong as the grammar in the instructions you get with Chinese made products. Best strategy, find a good brand and stick with it.

• Black Vinegar [Brown Rice Vinegar, Chinkiang Vinegar, Chekiang vinegar, Chenkong vinegar, Zhejiang vinegar] is particularly popular in southern China. Brands made in Chinkiang (Zhejiang) province are considered the best. Like Balsamic it is dark and has a deep flavor but the taste is very different. A reasonable substitute can be made from Chinese Red Vinegar with a little sugar added. Black vinegar is often used as a dipping sauce. Gold Plum is often recommended as the best brand of Chinkiang and is made from water, glutinous rice and salt only.
• Red Vinegar [Red Rice Vinegar] has a more subtile flavor than black. It is used as a dipping sauce and in soups, with noodles and in seafood dishes. Pearl River Bridge and Koon Chun are frequently recommeded as top brands.
• White Vinegar [Rice Wine Vinegar] is similar to the Japanese and is used in stir frys, pickles and sweet-and-sour dishes. It is closer to distilled white vinegar than the others but milder and with a more sophisticated flavor. it is available in regulare and "Gourmet Aged" grades at markets serving an East Asia community.

Chinkiang Vinegar - see Chinese Vinegars.

Coconut vinegar is used in India and Southeast Asia. It's mild with a somewhat musty flavor. The best source is groceries serving a Philippine community.

Date vinegar is popular in the Near East.

Flavored Vinegars - These are generally white or red wine vinegar with herbs and spices added to the bottle so their flavors infuse the vinegar. Taragon vinegar is probably the best known. Since the flavor of taragon doesn't survive drying, vinegar is a way to deliver that flavor when fresh taragon isn't available.

Fruit Vinegars - Since vinegar can be made from anything with sufficient sugar, and since it takes on flavors from the ingredients from which it is made, the field is wide open for production of specialty vinegars. Pomegranate, Orange and Rasberry vinegars are typical. Pineapple is nice for salads.

Grape - see Raisin Vinegar.

Ilocos vinegar - [sukang Ilocos]
This famous Philippine vinegar is made in the northern provence of Ilocos out of sugar cane with some samak (Macaranga) leaf added. It is dark and pungent and used as an ingredient in Vigan Longanisa sausage as well as in many other regional recipes, as a dip and for medicinal purposes (disinfectant and on the fohead for fevers). Industrial Balsamic vinegar has been suggested as a substitute when the Ilocos product is not available.

Rice Vinegar - [Rice Wine Vinegar] - In the U.S. this generally means Japanese or Japanese style white rice vinegar of "Industrial" quality. See also Chinese Vinegars for red, black and white versions). Rice vinegar is made by fermenting rice into beer which ferments into vinegar (though it's a single continuous process that doesn't make drinkable sake).

In Japan top grade rice vinegar is made in small batches in clay jars, but that commonly available in the U.S. is, as with Balsamic Vinegar, "industrial" grade. Still pretty good for general use though and has the advantage of being afordable by mortals. Asian groceries may carry "Gourmet" or "Aged" versions made in Taiwan or China that cost about twice as much as the same brand's "regular" - worth the price for some dipping and dressing applications.

White Distilled - made from grain alcohol (cheap vodka), distilled for purity and diluted with water to 5% acetic acid. Purely an industrial product, but a good choice for many uses (in the water for poaching eggs, for instance) because of it's purity. White Distilled Vinegar also finds a wide variety of household cleaning and deodorizing uses.

Wine Vinegar: - As the name implies, these vinegars are made from wine and vary with the quality of the wine used. Once again we have a contrast between traditional (good wine and aged in oak barrels) and industrial production which is reflected in the price. High grade wine vinegars are made in Italy, Spain and in the wine growing regions of California.

Lemon Juice br>

Lime Juice

Citric Acid

Green Mango
A popular souring agent in India, particularly in dry regions where lemons and limes cannot be had. It has the advantage of being dry and easily stored and transported.