Features of rice vinegar and manufacturing methods, calorie content and nutrients in the composition. Effects on the body, restrictions on use. Culinary uses and interesting about the product.
Rice vinegar is a food product made from fermented (fermented) rice and wine from the same grain in Japan, China and Vietnam. The taste is sweetish, it can be both soft (Japanese version) and more intense (Chinese), the color is transparent, but has different shades - from colorless to reddish, brown, dark gray. Initially, the recipe was developed for dressing sushi, but later the seasoning was introduced into other dishes.
How is rice vinegar made?
The grade of the final product depends on the type of feedstock. Can be used ordinary white rice, sticky during cooking, brown long, polished grain, colonized by yeast, giving a reddish or brown hue.
As an additional component in the preparation of rice vinegar, add barley, sorghum, wheat or rye bran, legumes, more often peas. These components give the seasoning a special flavor. The fermentation process is long - up to 5-8 months.
Types of rice seasoning:
- Black … Most popular in southern China, where it is known as chiklang. The consistency is denser than that of other types of vinegar; bran is added during fermentation. The zest is an earthy smoky aftertaste. Interestingly, a product with the same name is often made from sorghum or millet.
- Red … The raw materials are treated with special fungal yeast cultures (mold Monascus purpureus), which have a red color. There are fruity notes in the final product, the sweetness is more pronounced.
- White … Differs in a high content of acetic acid, it is used for both sushi and vegetable marinades.
It is hardly possible to make rice vinegar on your own, as in Japan, following tradition. Cooking requires special conditions - a stable microclimate. Therefore, individual areas are engaged in production, for example, the village of Fukuyama, which is closed on all sides by hills. The average annual temperature here is 18-19 ° С.
Preparation begins in April. Rice is steamed with boiling water and kept in boilers for 3 days. Then it is loaded into steep high jugs, dug into the ground by 1/5 of the height, then a vinegar uterus of light green color is added. Water from the purest sources is poured in, the neck is closed and left for a long time.
Alcoholic fermentation begins in 3-4 weeks. Sake smells from the half-open jug. Only after 2, 5-3 months, the aroma changes to acetic.
After a month, you can hear the bubbles bursting - alcoholic fermentation is taking place, and the aroma of sake is felt. After 3 months, the smell of the final product appears. Fermentation in different jugs takes place at different speeds, and readiness is determined by the fact that the sourdough floating on the surface sinks.
The quality controllers analyze the condition of the intermediate raw materials every day. They listen to how intensively the bubbles are separated, evaluate the transparency of the liquid, taste the products. The contents of the jugs are stirred daily with a hollow bamboo tube, saturating the liquid with oxygen, adding vinegar or adding additional ingredients.
Microorganisms formed during fermentation break down the starch in the grain and convert it into sugar. Yeast fungi decompose sugar into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. When fermentation ends, the fungal flora dies.
How to make rice vinegar at home:
- Simple recipe … Long white rice, 300 g, washed several times with running water, soaked for 4 hours in cold (1.5 L) and put the pan in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, set the container in a water bath, stir in sugar, 900 g, cook for 20-25 minutes. Cool to body temperature, dissolve 0.3 tbsp. l. fast yeast. Close the lid and leave for 4-7 days until fermentation is complete, in a closet or on a windowsill. Then, very carefully so that the sediment does not rise (preferably with a hose), the liquid is poured into a clean dish, preferably a glass jar. Close the neck with gauze, folded in several layers, and insist 1, 5-2 months. Then it is filtered, poured into bottles, hermetically sealed and put into the refrigerator.
- Classic recipe … The starting material is round rice (400 g). It is washed, allowed to swell, as in the previous recipe, in the refrigerator, pouring 2 liters of water. The water is decanted through a sieve with fine holes, without squeezing the grain, sugar, 600 g is poured into it, and kneaded until it is completely dissolved. The syrup is boiled for 20 minutes in a water bath and poured into a glass jar, where it is cooled to 38 ° C and 1 tbsp. l. yeast. To make rice vinegar at home, put the wort in the pantry, covering the neck with gauze until the bubbles are finished. Then it is poured into a clean jar so as not to disturb the sediment. They insist for a month under the same conditions, decant the liquid into a saucepan. Bring to a boil in a water bath, a few seconds before turning off, stir in 2 proteins from chicken eggs. Cool to room temperature, pour into bottles and refrigerate.
- Rice Wine Recipe … Boiled white rice, 300 g, is transferred to a ceramic pot or glass jar. Pour in rice vinegar, 30 ml, if any, or sake, 60 ml, stir, pour in water, 1 l. Cover the neck with gauze and leave for 3 weeks, stirring occasionally. As soon as fermentation is over, the liquid is filtered through cheesecloth. But first you need to carefully remove the film that has tightened the surface of the intermediate raw material. The vinegar uterus must be saved and used in the future for the preparation of the next batch of the product. The cloudy liquid is cooled, kept for 2-3 hours in a refrigerator and filtered off another 2-3 times. Bottled as in the recipes already described.
If the use of rice vinegar is not limited to making rolls, then it is customary to season it with sugar, salt, sake, grated ginger or sesame. It is also allowed to use several types of raw materials, which are added both from the very beginning and subsequently, during the fermentation process.
Interesting facts about rice vinegar
The appearance of this product dates back to the 2nd century AD. e., and already in the III-V century it spread throughout East Asia, where it was used for cooking the nobility. In Japan, he was called su. Seasoning became available to ordinary people only in the 16th century, and from that time they began to make it on an "industrial" scale.
Rice seasoning can be classified not only by color, but also by country of origin. Japanese - often white, the softest, in the photo the rice vinegar of this country has a slightly yellowish tint. Yeast gives it this color. In Korea, brown seasoning is more often produced; to enhance fermentation, they use sediment left over from making sake. Therefore, the labels often write - mcgeolli-sikcho (that is, wine). In Vietnam, Chinese rice varieties are used as feedstock. They make 2 varieties: with a spicy, sour taste - gim-bong, as well as softer, sweetish - hem.
For cosmetic purposes, it is advisable to use a white seasoning. It is injected into masks and facial lotions to accelerate the regeneration of the epithelium after inflammatory processes. But it can also be used as a toner for oily skin, before applying decorative cosmetics. The ingredients for the composition are mixed in the following proportion: rice vinegar (2 tablespoons), 4-6 drops of tea tree essential oil, distilled water - as much as is required to stop the burning sensation.
If you want to please with homemade Japanese cuisine, and you don't have vinegar at hand, you can replace the traditional rice seasoning in salads with lemon juice diluted with water, with a little sugar. But for sushi, it is better to use a different recipe: 2 tbsp. l. apple cider vinegar, 2 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 3 tbsp. l. boiling water.
But it is still better to purchase an original product, especially for those who have problems with excess weight. Half 1 tsp., Dissolved in a glass of warm water, 3 times a day, half an hour before meals - and after 3 weeks minus 4-6 kg. This method of losing weight is only suitable for healthy people. In case of problems with the gastrointestinal tract, they choose other ways to gain harmony.
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