As an important condiment, vinegar can enhance the umami, sweetness, and aroma of dishes. There are more than 50 types of vinegar on the market, such as rice vinegar, fruit vinegar, and aged vinegar. Different vinegars have different uses. Let's take a look at the reporter's investigation., Chef's Review
Reviewer: Chef Wei from Kangwang Road Congee City. Vinegar is brewed by fermenting raw materials such as grain, sugar, and alcohol with acetic acid bacteria. Its acetic acid content is about 3% to 5%, making it an indispensable and excellent seasoning in our lives. Good-quality vinegar is slightly sweet and fragrant. When mixing various cold and hot dishes, as long as the amount is appropriate and the technique is skillful, you can cook or make delicious dishes with excellent color, aroma, and taste.
Vinegar is not only an essential condiment in every household but also has some clever uses. For those with insomnia, pour a glass of cold water before bed, add a tablespoon of vinegar, and drinking it can help you fall asleep. For those with constipation, drinking a cup of vinegar water (a few drops of vinegar in water) daily can help promote smooth bowel movements.
The Great Jiangzhu Vinegar, the Delight of Dim Sum
Cantonese dim sum comes in a great variety, but good taste also离不开 vinegar. During an interview, the reporter learned that for dim sum like dumplings and noodles, "Great Jiangzhu Vinegar" from Zhimei Zhai is often chosen. Its ingredients include water, glutinous rice, liquor, sodium benzoate, and aspartame (contains phenylalanine). It has a strong glutinous rice aroma and is suitable for mixing various hot and cold dishes. A small amount is enough to bring out the freshness of the ingredients.
Best dishes: For dipping with dumplings, noodles, or dim sum snacks. White Vinegar is a Master at Removing Fishiness
The main function of white vinegar is to remove the fishy smell. Adding a small amount of vinegar when cooking fish can eliminate the fishy odor. Vinegar made from glutinous rice, liquor, and bean paste is slightly sweet and has a tenderizing effect. Adding a small amount of vinegar when stewing meat, cooking beef, or making dishes with kelp and potatoes can make them cook faster and become tender. When making sweet and sour dishes like sweet and sour pork ribs, adding vinegar not only dissolves calcium, phosphorus, iron, and other minerals from the bones into the soup for absorption, but also protects vitamins in the food from being destroyed, improving their utilization rate, and making the dish moderately sweet and sour.
When marinating meat, adding a little white vinegar can prevent the meat from losing moisture, avoiding it from becoming dry and tough. During the marinating process, the vinegar penetrates the meat, tenderizing it. This makes the marinated meat soft and delicious after cooking.
Best dishes: Sweet and sour roasted duck, sweet and sour pork ribs, sweet and sour steak, and other sweet and sour meat dishes.
White Rice Vinegar has Wonderful Uses
White rice vinegar, produced from Fangcun in Guangzhou, is mainly made from water and liquor. Vinegar contains more than 20 amino acids and 16 organic acids, which can promote sugar metabolism, eliminate fatigue, lower cholesterol, and prevent arteriosclerosis. It is rarely used in Cantonese cuisine but is most commonly used in other regional cuisines. Due to its liquor content, it is perfect for making stir-fried hot and sour shredded potatoes.
It should be noted that a slight sediment does not affect its quality. According to a chef, if a dish is too spicy during cooking, adding a small amount of vinegar will reduce the spiciness. Adding a little vinegar when frying eggplants can prevent the fried eggplant from turning black.
Best dishes: Stir-fried shredded potatoes, stir-fried sweet and sour cabbage, and other small vegetable stir-fries.
Aged Vinegar is a Clever Choice for Cooking Seafood
Aged vinegar, being an acidic substance, can slow down the spoilage of alkaline foods such as meat. In summer, soak a cloth in vinegar and use it to wrap seafood, then store it in a cool, ventilated place to keep the meat fresh for a long time. Adding a little aged vinegar when soaking raw fish can slow down the fish's spoilage. As a condiment that enriches the color, aroma, and flavor of food, when cooking seafood dishes like fresh squid and shrimp, adding 5-6 drops of aged vinegar can make the seafood flavor more fragrant and refreshing.
Best dishes: Seafood products. White Wine Vinegar for Dressing Salads
It is suitable for making white sauces (such as mayonnaise with egg yolk and butter), all fresh vegetable salads like cabbage salad, lettuce salad, and carrot salad, and for making salads with pickled fish or pickled meat. The storage method is a bit particular; it must be stored in a ventilated and light-proof place to prevent spoilage.
High-quality white wine vinegar is generally made from grape juice, fructose, and potassium sorbate. It has a fragrant wine aroma, is sugar-free (suitable for diabetics or those on a diet), and is naturally made. It is said that adding a small amount of vinegar when cooking sweet congee can make the congee sweeter.
Best dishes: Cabbage salad, lettuce salad, carrot salad, and other salad foods. Huairen Aged Vinegar, the Perfect Partner for Cold Dishes
Shanxi vinegar is a truly famous brand. It is understood that "Huairen Aged Vinegar" has become the star flavor for cold dishes on Cantonese dining tables today. It is made from water, sorghum, wheat bran, peas, and sodium benzoate, and has a fresh and clean aroma. Adding a little vinegar when stir-frying green vegetables can promote the dissolution of calcium, phosphorus, iron, and other components, reduce the loss of various vitamins, and make the dish crispy, tender, and delicious, which is beneficial for consumption and absorption.
In the hot summer when appetite is reduced, using vinegar to make cold dishes not only makes them delicious and stimulates the appetite but also has a good bactericidal effect, helping to prevent intestinal diseases.
Best dishes: Cold dishes like cold cucumber with aged vinegar and aged vinegar peanuts.
Vinegar Knowledge: Clever Household Uses for Vinegar
1. For motion sickness when traveling, drinking water with a little vinegar can refresh the mind and alleviate the symptoms of motion sickness.
2. For insomnia, pour a tablespoon of vinegar into cold water, stir it well, and drink it to fall asleep quickly. If you add an equal amount of honey, the effect is even better.
3. In case of fainting, soak a handkerchief in vinegar and hold it over the faint person's nose to stimulate them to wake up.
4. For newly purchased porcelain tableware, teaware, or drinkware, boil it in 10% vinegar water for two to three hours before use. This can remove the trace amount of aluminum from the new porcelain and avoid the harm of aluminum poisoning.
5. When cooking aquatic products like crabs, shrimp, and jellyfish, soak them in 1% vinegar solution for an hour first to prevent food poisoning caused by halophilic bacteria.
6. Boiled peanuts or soybeans in vinegar are a great dish for patients with hyperlipidemia, obesity, hypertension, and coronary heart disease, as it has the effect of lowering fat and blood pressure.
7. If you feel bloated and full after a feast, you can drink 50 ml of vinegar diluted with water to 100 ml to increase stomach acid and promote digestion.
8. For those who have had too much alcohol and feel drunk, they can take 100 to 200 ml of 50% vinegar to detoxify alcohol and nourish the liver and kidneys.
9. For tableware after a meal, boiling it in 1% vinegar solution for disinfection can prevent infectious diseases such as viral hepatitis and dysentery.