Vinegar

Also called 苦酒, 千歲苦酒, 蜜苦酒, 外國苦酒, kujiu, thousand-year vinegar.

vinegars

• Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), ch. 71

thick dark vinegar; Modena density ≥1.240, acidity ≥4.5 %; Reggio density ≥1.200, acidity ≥5 % (WP)

1. Cook must in open vessels over direct fire12–24 h
2. Simultaneous/sequential alcoholic + acetic fermentation
3. Barrel battery (batteria) ageing with annual decanting and toppingat least 12 years

• Wikipedia, Traditional balsamic vinegar (outline only)
• Secondary sources on the Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale DOP rules, incl. the Consorzio (read through search summaries; the official DOP text was not reached)
• Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP disciplinare 2023/2025 (read through a search summary)

Also called aceto di miele.

honey vinegar

1. Ferment diluted mead very slowly
2. Acetify with controlled temperature and aeration

• Wikipedia (it), 'Aceto di miele' (fetched 2026-10-16)

Also called aceto di pere.

fruity, low-acid vinegar

1. Crush and press pears
2. Rest for alcoholic fermentation
3. Acetify under a surface mother
4. Optional: special processing into a dense, dark sweet-sour condiment

• Wikipedia (it), 'Aceto di pere' (fetched 2026-10-16)

Also called 保宁醋, 阆中保宁醋.

Bran-based solid-state vinegar using a herbal 'medicinal qu' (reported ~70 herbs); aged 1–3+ years (typical; verify).

Made like Shanxi aged vinegar (Shanxi laochencu).

• Wikipedia, Vinegar, Baoning named under rice vinegar (outline only)

Also called 大麥酢.

vinegar so strong that 1 cup is diluted with 1 bowl of water to eat

1. Mash body-warm barley with huangyi and water7th of the 7th month (or the 15th with saved 7th-day water)
2. Primary ferment, stirred3 days
3. Add millet3–4 days
4. Ripen and storeedible day 14, ripe day 21; clear liquid drawn off in the 8th month, sealed, keeps years

• Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), ch. 71

Also called 창포초, 菖蒲醋, calamus vinegar.

herb-flavoured rice vinegar

• Lim E.-J., Cha G.-H. 2010, Study on manufacturing of vinegar through literatures of the Joseon Dynasty, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture 25(6):680–707

Also called 사절초, 병정초, 사시급초, 칠초방, four-season vinegar, byeong-jeong day vinegar.

rice vinegars

1. Start on the byeong (丙) day of the cycle and finish on the next jeong (丁) day (byeongjeongcho)

• Lim E.-J., Cha G.-H. 2010, Study on manufacturing of vinegar through literatures of the Joseon Dynasty, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture 25(6):680–707

Also called 神酢, 燒餅酢.

grain vinegar; when new, pouring hot food into it spoils it

1. Mix warm huangzheng and steamed bran with just enough water to soakmade on the 7th of the 7th month; lies 2 nights, pressed on day 3 like wine
2. Ferment the liquid in a large jar30 days

• Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), ch. 71

Also called 秫米神酢.

grain vinegar

1. Soak huangyi, add all cold millet at once, mix to gruel
2. Ferment under cotton30 days

• Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), ch. 71

Also called 秫米酢.

grain vinegar

1. Mix body-warm double-steamed rice with qu, thin to gruel with sour starch water
2. Ferment in a cool north-shaded place7 days

• Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), ch. 71

Also called 大酢, da cu.

grain vinegar

1. Layer huangyi, water, then cold cooked millet; do not stirmade with water drawn on the 7th of the 7th month
2. Ferment open under cotton1 bowl of well water added on day 7 and again on day 21; ripe on day 21

Safety: A gourd ladle is kept in the jar; wet or salty utensils spoil the vinegar.

• Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), ch. 71 作酢法

Also called 대추초 棗醋, 전자손초 傳子孫酢, 매자초 梅子醋, 도초 桃酢, 감초/시초 枾醋, 목통초 木通醋.

fruit vinegars

• Lim E.-J., Cha G.-H. 2010, Study on manufacturing of vinegar through literatures of the Joseon Dynasty, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture 25(6):680–707

Also called 미초 米醋, 소맥초 小麥醋, 대맥초 大麥醋, 추모초 秋麰醋, 대초 大醋, 출미신초 秫米神醋.

grain and other vinegars

• Lim E.-J., Cha G.-H. 2010, Study on manufacturing of vinegar through literatures of the Joseon Dynasty, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture 25(6):680–707

Also called sukang kaong, sukang irok, sukang tubâ, irok palm vinegar, arenga palm vinegar, palm vinegar.

Kaong palm vinegar is made from the sap of the sugar palm (Arenga pinnata), tapped from the cut flower stalk. Wild yeasts turn the sap into palm toddy (tubâ) and acetic bacteria then turn the toddy into vinegar in earthen jars. Philippine food rules class it as a natural vinegar, which needs less acid than vinegar made from wine or alcohol.

1. Prepare the flower stalkMonths while the flowers develop, with the stalk shaken daily (Wikipedia)
2. Cut the stalk and collect the sap
3. Ferment to palm toddy
4. Acetic fermentation21–28 days
5. Modern: pasteurise and age2 months – 3 years

Safety: No safety limits specific to kaong vinegar were found. The minimum acidity in the 2024 Philippine draft standard is a quality rule; the draft also requires the code of hygienic practice and bars vinegar eels and heavy sediment.

• Food and Drug Administration Philippines 2024, Draft Administrative Order, Standard for vinegar and code of practice for its manufacture (to repeal AO 134 s. 1970)
• Fabilitante J.R. 1970, Sugar palm (kaong) exudate as a substrate for vinegar production, BS Biology thesis, University of the Philippines Los Baños (abstract)
• Wikipedia (en), 'Kaong palm vinegar' (fetched raw 2026-10-16)

Also called 米酢, 赤酢, 粕酢.

Komezu: rice → sake-like mash → acetified (static or submerged), ~4–5 % acidity (WP). Akazu/kasuzu: aged sake lees (kasu) dissolved, acetified and aged (up to ~20 years historically), red-brown; Edo-mae sushi vinegar; Nakano Matazaemon (Mizkan) pioneered lees vinegar in late Tokugawa period (WP Vinegar/Rice vinegar).

Made like Orléans method (slow surface vinegar).

• Wikipedia, Vinegar (outline only)
• Wikipedia, Rice vinegar (outline only)

Also called 黒酢, 壺造り黒酢, アマン.

Amber-brown rice vinegar. The GI requires acidity of at least 4.2 %, colour at least 0.30, total nitrogen at least 0.12 %, formol nitrogen at least half of total nitrogen and direct reducing sugar at most 0.30 %.

1. Grow yellow koji on polished rice3–4 days
2. Charge the jar: koji, steamed rice and water, with dried koji sprinkled on top
3. Saccharify and ferment to alcohol under a koji lid30 days – 2 months
4. Acetic fermentation, topped up to the neckat least 6 months
5. Age in the jar6 months – 3 years
6. Press, filter, adjust acidity and pasteurise

• Wikipedia (ja), 黒酢 (outline only)
• Japan GI register No. 7, Kagoshima no Tsubozukuri Kurozu
• Wikipedia (ja), 福山酢, citing Matsunaga 2017, J. Jpn. Soc. Food Eng. 64(7):385–388 (doi:10.3136/nskkk.64.385) and the MAFF GI register No. 7

Also called 糟糠酢, 酒糟酢, 糟酢, solid-state lees vinegar.

quick lees vinegar; spent lees fed to pigs

1. Pack lees and bran around a central wicker well (蓃)
2. Recirculate3 days
3. Leach

• Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), ch. 71

Also called 막걸리식초, 현미식초.

Makgeolli left exposed for a couple of months turns to vinegar (WP Makgeolli); brown-rice (hyeonmi) vinegar made with nuruk (WP Rice vinegar).

Made like Makgeolli (takju, nongju).

• Wikipedia, Makgeolli (outline only)
• Wikipedia, Rice vinegar (outline only)

Also called 粟米酢.

grain vinegar

1. Water, then millet poured in, then a heap of qu on top; no stirring or moving
2. Ferment under cotton21 days

Safety: Moving the jar before ripeness usually ruins it.

• Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), ch. 71

Also called 무국초방, 無麴醋方, no-starter vinegar.

rice vinegar

1. Soak rice 3 days, steam well, put in a jar
2. Wait for mould7 days
3. Add boiled water and ripen

Safety: Spontaneous mould: aflatoxin risk if Aspergillus flavus dominates (typical).

• Lim E.-J., Cha G.-H. 2010, Study on manufacturing of vinegar through literatures of the Joseon Dynasty, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture 25(6):680–707

Made like Orléans method (slow surface vinegar).

• Wikipedia, Vinegar (outline only)
• Wikipedia, Rice vinegar (outline only)

toddy palm vinegar

1. Alcoholic fermentation of fresh toddy3 days
2. Acetic fermentation28–42 days

• Nyein Nyein Khaing 2020, Preparation and characterization of toddy palm wine and vinegar, University of Mandalay Research Journal 11:213–219

Schüzenbach (Baden, 1823): alcohol trickles over beechwood shavings colonised by AAB with counter-current air; months → 1–2 weeks (WP).

Made like Orléans method (slow surface vinegar).

• Wikipedia, Vinegar (outline only)

Also called 삼황초, 황삼초방.

rice vinegar

1. Make during the three dog days (삼복) from old rice

• Lim E.-J., Cha G.-H. 2010, Study on manufacturing of vinegar through literatures of the Joseon Dynasty, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture 25(6):680–707

Also called 山西老陈醋.

black-brown, mellow, sour-sweet-smoky vinegar

1. Steam crushed sorghum and mix in crushed daqu
2. Saccharification + alcoholic fermentation (liquid/semi-solid)13–15 days
3. Solid-state acetic fermentation with bran and husk, seeded with active grains (huopei)7–9 days · 40–45 °C
4. Smoke the grains (xunpei)4–6 days · 70–100 °C
5. Leach (linCu) with water
6. Age outdoors in jars 'summer sun-baking, winter ice-removal' (xia fu shai, dong lao bing)at least 18 months

• Wikipedia (zh), 山西老陈醋 (outline only)
• Fan J. et al. 2011, Nutritional composition and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of five Chinese vinegars, JARQ 45(4):445–456
• Wang J. et al. 2024, Identification of aroma active compounds in Shanxi aged vinegar and tracing the source in the entire production process, Food Chemistry: X 24:101918

20th c.: AAB suspended in stirred, intensely aerated liquid (e.g. Frings acetator, typical); 1–2 days per cycle (WP); high-strength spirit vinegar ~10–15 % (typical). Basis of most industrial white, cider and malt vinegar.

Made like Orléans method (slow surface vinegar).

• Wikipedia, Vinegar (outline only)

dark sugarcane vinegar

1. Boil cane juice with samak in vats
2. Ferment to basi wine in burnay (earthenware) jarsmonths (typical)
3. Acetify in open burnay jarsmonths (typical)

• Wikipedia, Vinegar, cane vinegar Ilocos; palm vinegars (outline only)

Also called vinagre montubio, vinagre de guineo, vinagre criollo.

vinegar for ají, salsas criollas, salads and Montubio festival food

1. Ripen the bunchabout a week, until yellow
2. Peel; seal in a covered container4–5 days
3. Sieve into another vessel (and keep acetifying)

• Wikipedia (es), 'Vinagre criollo' (fetched 2026-10-16)

Acetified then aged in American oak in a solera–criadera system; Reserva ≥2 years, Gran Reserva ≥10 years; PX / Moscatel sweet versions (typical; verify against PDO pliego).

Made like Orléans method (slow surface vinegar).

• Wikipedia, Vinegar, sherry vinegar, Jerez (outline only)

Also called 迴酒酢, 動酒酢, mother-of-vinegar surface vinegar.

wine vinegar made by the surface (Orleans-type) method

1. Dilute spoiled spring wine 1:3 with water; set in the sun (動酒酢法)7 days
2. Leave undisturbedseveral tens of days, until the coat sinks

• Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), ch. 71

Also called 永春老醋, 红曲米醋.

Liquid-state surface fermentation in jars with red qu; aged years; red-brown colour (typical; verify).

Made like Zhenjiang (Chinkiang) aromatic vinegar.

• Wikipedia, Red yeast rice, red rice vinegar (outline only)