Rice Wine, Rice Wine Vinegar, Rice Vinegar: What’s the Difference?
Rice wine, rice wine vinegar, rice vinegar, seasoned rice vinegar: say you fast three times. While these products sound very similar, they cannot all be used interchangeably, and there are some important differences to keep in mind.
Let’s talk about the similarities first: Rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar are one and the same. All rice vinegar is obtained by fermenting sugars from rice into alcohol, such as wine, followed by fermenting the wine to acetic acid. So if your recipe uses rice wine vinegar and you purchased rice vinegar (or vice versa), rest assured that the only difference is the wording on the label. Rice wine vinegar is a fairly mild, slightly sweet vinegar that pairs well with salad dressings and dipping sauces to help add flavor . In an Asian grocery store, you will often find varieties made with different types of rice, such as brown rice, black glutinous rice, and red yeast rice, which have different flavor characteristics.
Besides sugar and salt, rice wine vinegar is also often used to flavor sushi rice. This is why there is also something called flavored rice vinegar , which is simply rice vinegar flavored with extra sugar and salt. If you’re rolling your own sushi , it skips the seasoning step, and you can apply seasoned rice vinegar to anything you’d use regular rice vinegar in. But seasoned rice vinegar isn’t really needed; if you cook to taste, it’s best to add plain rice vinegar to balance.
Like rice vinegar, rice wine is also made from fermented rice, but it is made by fermenting parboiled glutinous rice instead of the rice or sake sediment that is used to make rice vinegar. There are dozens of different rice wines from all over Asia. Some of them are: Shaoxing, a caramel-colored Chinese rice wine used for savory dishes such as drunken chicken; Mirin, a sweet Japanese rice wine used as a glaze for seafood and in teriyaki sauce; and of course sake, the most famous rice wine made with ground rice, water and koji mushroom. Sake makes a great addition to soy-based marinade and also serves as a good steamer or broth for seafood dishes. Let’s be honest, though: it’s best when you save it for drinking.