What Is Chinese rice vinegar and How Can I Use It?
Wondering what to do with Chinese rice vinegar? This guide covers how to pick it, cook it, store it, and swap it, plus 9 recipes to put it to work.
Key Points
- Rice vinegar in the Chinese style: sharper and less sweet than the Japanese kind.
- The clean, acidic edge pushes back against sugar and soy in sweet-and-sour dishes.
- Add it near the end of cooking so the aroma does not cook off.
- Black Chinkiang rice vinegar is a separate, dark, malty vinegar for dipping, not this.
What is Chinese rice vinegar?
Chinese rice vinegar is rice vinegar brewed in the Chinese style, and it tends to run sharper and less sweet than the gentle Japanese kind.
The clear white version is the everyday one: bright, clean and acidic, with little of the rounded sweetness you get in a Japanese bottle meant for sushi. That extra edge is what you want where the vinegar has to push back against sugar and soy.
It is the acid in dishes like Jean's Sweet & Sour Pork, Sweet-And-Sour Chicken and Sweet-And-Sour Sauce, and it sharpens dressings for cold plates such as Chinese Veggie Salad with Soy Dressing and Asian Coleslaw.
Add it toward the end so the aroma does not cook off. If you only have Japanese or plain white rice vinegar, use it and hold back slightly on any sugar to recover the sharper bite. For the broader rundown, see the main rice vinegar page.
One caution: black Chinese rice vinegar, the aged Chinkiang style, is a different bottle entirely. It is dark, malty and closer to a mild balsamic, used for dipping rather than seasoning.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 中国米醋
- British (UK) term
- Chinese rice vinegar
- en français
- Chinoise vinaigre de riz
- en español
- Vinagre de arroz chino
Recipes using Chinese rice vinegar
There are 9 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Asian Coleslaw
Looking for a coleslaw recipe that's different and refreshing. Why not try this Asian twist on the classic dish. With its crispy Napa cabbage, Chinese icicle radish, and a touch of sesame seeds, it's a perfect blend of flavors and textures that will make your taste buds sing.
Chinese Veggie Salad with Soy Dressing
This light yet tasty Chinese veggie salad is made with bean sprouts, lotus root, carrot, cucumber, black mushrooms, and tofu sheet, then tossed with a soy-rice vinegar-sesame oil dressing. A refreshing side dish that goes well with most of the main dishes, or just serve it with some steamed rice to complete a delicious meal.
Stir Fry Ginger Chicken
Delicious stir-fry chicken with varieties of vegetables. Serve over a bed of rice to make a complete meal.
Chinese Chicken Salad
Chinese chicken salad with shredded roast chicken, bean sprouts, cucumber, and carrots in a sesame-tahini dressing with soy sauce, garlic, and rice wine. Crisp, nutty, and satisfying.
Mustard Chicken Stir-Fry
Mustard chicken stir-fry: chicken marinated in a tangy Dijon, soy, ginger and garlic blend that doubles as a glossy pan sauce, stir-fried with snow peas, red pepper and green onion. A fast, East-meets-West weeknight dinner.
Jean's Sweet & Sour Pork
Sweet and sour pork the proper way: marinated pork cubes battered and deep-fried crisp, then tossed in a homemade sweet-sour sauce with peppers, carrots and lychees. Crunchy, glossy and far better than takeout.
Sweet-And-Sour Sauce
Sweet-and-sour sauce made with ginger marmalade, orange marmalade, fresh ginger, and Chinese rice vinegar. A no-cook dipping sauce ready in 10 minutes for wontons and fried appetizers.
Shredded Chicken with Sesame Seeds
Velveted shredded chicken tossed with toasted sesame seeds, dark soy, rice wine, and Sichuan peppercorns. A classic Chinese stir-fry with silky texture in every bite.
Sweet-And-Sour Chicken
Crispy battered chicken deep-fried and tossed with bell peppers, carrots, and lychees in a homemade sweet-and-sour sauce. The real-deal Chinese restaurant version, made from scratch.
