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Vinegar
醋 mandarin: tsoo; Cantonese: tso
Appears in
Published 1982
I love vinegar, as do most Chinese, who throughout the course of their rich culinary history have made vinegar variously from rice, wheat, peaches, and grapes, flavoring them on occasion with peach blossoms and kumquat leaves. I use many types when I cook, and am always tasting new brands. Unfortunately, as my generous pile of labels and tasting notes attests, there are few high-quality Chinese vinegars currently available in American markets.
Rice Vinegar (白米醋 mandarin: bye-mee-tsoo; Cantonese: bok-my-tso). Called “white rice vinegar” in Chinese, this is a white to golden vinegar with a sharp, clean taste, lighter in character and more full-flavored than a distilled Western white vinegar, and not as sweet as cider vinegar. “Refreshing” and “pleasantly tangy” are two phrases’ which crop up repeatedly in my notes, but seem an inadequate description for the charm of this vinegar.