Sushi vinegar made from regular vinegar. How to use rice vinegar? Preparing shrimp rolls

Rice vinegar is a healthy product that is used to prepare oriental dishes. This is a mandatory ingredient for rolls and sushi, which cannot be excluded from the recipe, but can be replaced.

Rice vinegar - properties and application features

There are many types of vinegars - wine, apple, rice, balsamic, table. Each has its own characteristics:

1. White wine vinegar is softer than balsamic vinegar and adds an interesting note to salads, sauces, and meats. Its variety is grape vinegar. It has a sweet and sour taste and a light aroma.
2. Apple cider vinegar is recognizable in dishes due to its light sour-fruit taste and delicate aroma.
3. Balsamic vinegar is dark and thick, with a sweet and sour taste. It is suitable for seasoning soups, salads and desserts.
4. Table vinegar cannot be confused with anything, as it has a pungent odor and a burning sour taste. Among other vinegars, it is the most concentrated. This is a synthetic product, however, vinegar is popular due to its low cost and is used in pickling vegetables, fruits, meat, and as a salad dressing.
5. Rice vinegar gives the most delicate flavor. It is used for marinating fish, dressing salads and sauces, for making rolls and sushi.

Rice vinegar has a mild taste and delicate aroma, as well as less acidity compared to other types of vinegar. It is a dietary product and is good for health.

1. Does not damage the gastric mucosa and is not contraindicated for people with diseases of the digestive system.
2. Contains amino acids and microelements, helps remove toxins from the body.
3. Helps normalize metabolism.

Rice vinegar in sushi is not a common ingredient that can be omitted. It performs an important function - it holds rice and seaweed together. If it is not possible to use it when preparing rolls or sushi, there are two options:

• Make your own rice vinegar;
• replace it.

Sushi and rolls are especially loved by gourmets. Many people want to enjoy it without spending money by preparing it with their own hands. Sometimes it is difficult to buy vinegar, which plays the role of dressing in dishes, due to its absence in the store or its high price. It is not recommended to exclude it from the recipe, since the end result is unlikely to please you. But it can be replaced. Apple, wine (white or grape) vinegar, as well as ginger marinade or lemon juice are considered successful replacement options for preparing sushi and rolls. Calculate the amount of dressing and rice in a ratio of 1:5. In general, you can add it to rice to taste.

Ideal Substitutes - Gallery

Apple cider vinegar - a budget substitute for rice Grape vinegar with salt and sugar can be included in roll recipes instead of rice vinegar Lemon juice is an alternative to rice vinegar in oriental dishes

Apple and wine cider vinegar dressing

By making a dressing with apple cider vinegar, you can add a subtle taste and fruity aroma to rice. You will need the following ingredients:

• vinegar - 2 tbsp. l.;
• sugar - 2 tsp;
• salt - 1 tsp;
• hot water - 3 tbsp. l.

Mix apple cider vinegar with sugar and salt in a saucepan. Add hot water and mix the ingredients well until the dressing is smooth.

White wine vinegar is also a great substitute for rice vinegar, as they have similar taste and aroma.

Please note: the recipe uses nori seaweed, not kelp (seaweed)!

List of required products:

• 2.5 tbsp. l. wine vinegar;
• 2.5 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• ½ tsp. salt;
• 1 sheet of nori.

Mix all the ingredients and heat the resulting mixture, add the crumbled nori sheet. Beat the ingredients until smooth. If you prepare the dressing with nori, then you don’t have to add it when cooking rice for sushi and rolls.

Video - preparing seasoning for rice

Lemon juice will soak the rice well into the rolls and add a pleasant sourness to the taste. You will need products:

• lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l.;
• sugar - 1 tsp;
• warm water - 2 tbsp. l.;
• salt - ½ tsp.

Pour in 2 tbsp. l. warm water into lemon juice, add sugar and salt and mix everything thoroughly.

Controversial options: unusual balsamic and regular table

Chefs agree that balsamic vinegar is not suitable for dressing sushi and rolls, since it changes the taste of rice to a bright herbal one. But there is still no consensus on the dining room. His opponents do not recommend such impregnation for rice. Others are more optimistic and believe that with skillful preparation, the replacement is not noticeable. In addition, adding soy sauce will soften the harsh taste and smell. The dressing recipe is simple. Have to take:

• 50 ml table vinegar (6%);
• 20 g sugar;
• 50 ml soy sauce.

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl.

If you can't use another substitute, you can try this recipe. However, in this case you should not hope for exquisite taste and aroma. The main thing is not to overdo it and stick to proportions.

Making rice vinegar at home

If you do not intend to buy rice vinegar and do not want to use substitutes, then prepare it at home. True, you should be patient, since you will have to spend effort and time on cooking.

For preparation you will need the following ingredients:

• round rice - 300 g;
• sugar - 900 g;
• dry yeast - 1/3 tbsp. l.

Preparation procedure:

1. Rinse the rice in cold water and add 1.2 liters of water. Use glassware.
2. Leave the rice in a warm place for 4-5 hours and then refrigerate for 4 days.
3. Strain the rice and add 900 grams of sugar.
4. Infuse the mixture in a water bath for 30 minutes, then cool and pour into a jar.
5. Add yeast, previously diluted in warm water, as indicated in the instructions on the package.
6. Infuse the mixture for a month (do not close the jar with a lid, but use gauze for this).
7. Strain and boil the mixture.

The volume will be sufficient for several applications.

Rice vinegar is also used for marinating seafood and fish. It is better suited for such products, as it does not drown out their natural aroma and taste, but only adds a slight sourness.

Options for marinating meat, fish, ginger

When pickling ginger, rice vinegar is traditionally used; it can be replaced with apple or grape vinegar, diluted to 4% concentration. Store-bought ones have a concentration of 9%. To obtain a solution of 4% concentration, you need to dilute them with boiled water: 1 part vinegar to 1.5 parts water.

A substitute for marinating seafood or meat is soaking it in lemon juice, pre-mixed with sugar dissolved in boiled water:

• lemon juice - 4 tbsp. spoons;
• boiled water - 4 tbsp. spoons;
• sugar - 2 teaspoons.

Before marinating, seafood is thawed and boiled for 2-3 minutes in salted water:

• prepare a marinade of lemon, sugar and water using the proportions described above;
• Place cooled seafood in a small container;
• add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vegetable oil (for 2 tsp lemon marinade), add spices if desired;
• mix with your hand, distributing the ingredients evenly and close the container with a lid;
• leave for 10–12 hours in a cool, dark place.

Video recipe - pickled ginger

Don’t give up on preparing and trying delicious and healthy dishes just because unfamiliar food names scare you. Make sushi and rolls at home without significant costs by replacing rice vinegar with apple or wine vinegar, as well as lemon juice. If you intend to achieve a taste close to the original, make your own rice vinegar.

Asian sou or rice vinegar is gradually conquering the Russian market, because it is customary to add it to rice for making sushi.

This popular additive, in addition to its rich taste, has healing and tonic properties, which makes it almost universal in use.

Rice vinegar contains vital amino acids such as lysine, isoleucine, alginine, histidine, leucine, valine, phenylalanine. In addition, due to the presence of various vitamins and minerals, especially calcium, iron, magnesium and phosphorus, consuming this seasoning helps improve health and immunity.

There are several types of this seasoning, each of which has its own advantages, both when used in cooking and for use for medical and cosmetic purposes.

The name of each variety corresponds to the color scheme: red, brown, white, black rice vinegar.

NOTE! The product that is presented on store shelves is most often a white variety of the product, with the addition of various additives in the form of salt, sugar and other taste-enhancing components. It can be used as a salad dressing or sauce.

The brown type of spice has an antiseptic effect.

Black challenges cholesterol and lowers blood pressure. Along with it, white regulates sugar levels in the body and takes care of the functioning of the liver.

The red variety of the seasoning effectively removes toxins and supports the immune system.

The undeniable advantage of rice vinegar is the ability to use it without harm to people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. This is a unique type of vinegar that is gentle on the digestive system.

Asian sou is used not only for the treatment and prevention of diseases. It can become an integral part of the diet. Women who want to lose weight especially appreciate the effectiveness of the product - after all, it is low-calorie and, moreover, makes the taste of any dietary dish brighter and more pleasant.

The beauty industry has also managed to appreciate the benefits of rice vinegar. To maintain feminine beauty, it is added to mattifying lotions, cleansing tonics, and body care products.

Additional Information! The calorie content of rice vinegar is only 18 Kcal. Nutritional value: 0 g protein, 0 g fat and 0.04 g carbohydrates per 100 g.

Homemade recipe

• 300 g rice
• 1.2 liters of water
• sugar (proportion shown below)
• dry yeast (proportion shown below)

Important! The taste of the seasoning depends on the type of rice and its qualities - unsteamed grain will produce a more cloudy and viscous solution.

Preparation:

Rinse the rice well and cover with water for 4 hours, then place in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours.

PLEASE ATTENTION! During the entire preparation of rice vinegar, you must use glass or ceramic dishes, mix the solution with wooden spoons (spatulas, sticks).

Strain through cheesecloth folded in several layers, add sugar at the rate of: 1 cup of rice water – ¾ cup of sugar. Stir well until completely dissolved.

Bring to a boil in a water bath and cook for 20 minutes. Then cool and pour the solution into a glass jar, add dry yeast at the rate of ¼ tablespoon per 4 cups of rice water.

Leave the mixture at room temperature to ferment for 4 to 7 days until it stops foaming and bubbles stop appearing.

Important! If the solution foams poorly and doesn’t “ferment” much, move the container to a warmer place!

Then pour the rice water into a clean jar, cover with gauze, and tie the neck. Leave to “ripen” in a dark place at room temperature for 30 – 45 days (depending on the desired taste).

Strain the resulting vinegar again, boil, cool and pour into glass containers. Well-sealed rice vinegar can be stored for quite a long time.

PLEASE NOTE! Rice vinegar prepared at home is somewhat cloudy. It can be clarified by adding egg white at the last boil and straining again.

Homemade rice vinegar, despite the rather lengthy preparation process and not entirely ideal appearance, retains its uniqueness and benefits and is not inferior in this regard to the store-bought version and its analogues.

How to properly use vinegar for rice?

A seemingly simple action can ruin the taste of your favorite delicacy. Mixing vinegar and rice for sushi follows certain rules.

The process of combining the two components should be carried out in wooden (or glass) containers and wooden utensils. In this case, intensive stirring is completely avoided so that the rice retains its structure and the dressing soaks it well.

The undeniable advantage of vinegar for rolls is not only its versatility, but also its pleasant, unobtrusive taste and aroma, which allows it to be used as a universal product in the kitchen, at home and on the shelf with cosmetic tubes.

When you get tired of ordinary dishes and want something special, you don’t have to go to a restaurant. Now on store shelves you can see products for preparing a wide variety of delicacies, including Japanese cuisine. However, one of the most important ingredients in Japanese dishes—rice vinegar—is not so easy to find. What can replace it?

Should we look for alternatives?

Rice vinegar is both a rare and quite expensive product. It is not surprising that many cooks are thinking about eliminating it from the dish altogether. However, this extreme measure will negatively affect the taste of homemade sushi or rolls. After all, this type of dressing is used mainly not to make the rice sticky, as many people think (if you cook it correctly, it will already be quite sticky), but to give the dish an exceptional taste. Rice for sushi and rolls is very bland, as it is cooked without adding any spices, and vinegar contains sugar, salt and wine.

Among other things, it has antibacterial properties, which is very important when working with raw fish. Recently, due to its milder and piquant taste compared to other types of vinegar, rice vinegar has become increasingly popular in Europe. It is used not only in Asian dishes, but also in the preparation of sauces, dressings, marinades for meat, and even added to soft drinks.

What can replace rice vinegar in rolls?

Since you can’t do without this gas station, and it’s extremely difficult to find in stores, or you want to save money, what to do? Is it possible to replace rice vinegar with regular vinegar? To be honest, it’s impossible without changing the taste. Apple or wine products in their pure form will give rolls or sushi a more sour, sharp taste. But there is still an alternative. If you add sugar and salt to various types of vinegars, their taste will be closer to the original. Let's look at several recipes for making seasoning for rice. The technique will be the same, only the components will differ.

Using apple cider vinegar

• apple cider vinegar - 1 tbsp. l.;
• granulated sugar - 1 tsp;
• salt - ½ tsp;
• hot water - 2 tbsp. l.

Grape vinegar

• wine vinegar - 4 tbsp. l.;
• sugar - 3 tbsp. l.;
• salt - 1 tsp.

6% vinegar

• table vinegar 6% - 50 ml;
• soy sauce - 50 ml;
• sugar - 1 tbsp. l.

Wine or apple cider vinegar and nori

• vinegar - 2.5 tbsp. l.;
• granulated sugar - 2.5 tbsp. l.;
• salt - ½ tsp;
• nori - 1 sheet.

To prepare a vinegar solution using these methods, you need to mix all the ingredients in one container and put it on the stove. Without bringing to a boil, heat until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. In the case of nori, crushed seaweed must be added after the solution has been heated, and then the mixture must be beaten until smooth. You can also add dry seaweed or orange zest to any of these recipes.

Thus, the difference with a real oriental dressing will be almost invisible. Pour one of these dressings over the cooked rice and stir gently with a wooden spoon.

Ginger marinade or lemon juice

What else can replace rice vinegar for sushi? A good option would be made from ginger marinade: it is also sweet and sour and goes well with rice. Lemon juice may also help. Take 2 tbsp. l. juice, add 2 tbsp. l. warm water and dissolve 1 tsp in it. sugar and ½ tsp. salt.

You should not replace the rice product with balsamic: it has a specific sharp aftertaste that can overwhelm the taste of the finished dish. It is also not recommended to use 9% table vinegar.

If you fundamentally want an identical taste, try making rice vinegar yourself.

Homemade Rice Vinegar

Another alternative recipe that allows you to completely replicate the taste of the original. It is very labor-intensive and time-consuming, but the result will be worth it. You will not be able to distinguish this rice vinegar from the store-bought one and will also avoid counterfeits.

All containers for preparation should be made of glass, and mixing should be done with wooden utensils.

Ingredients:

• white rice (preferably jasmine) - 300 g;
• dry yeast - 1/4-1/3 tbsp. l.;
• sugar - 800 g;
• egg white.

Preparation:

1. Wash the rice and add water. Leave for 4 hours covered.
2. Place the bowl of rice in a cool place overnight.
3. The next day, strain through cheesecloth to obtain rice water. Pour a glass of sugar into it and stir until it dissolves.
4. Steam the solution in a steam (water bath) for 25 minutes and then leave to cool.
5. Pour into a glass container and add yeast (1/4 tbsp per liter of liquid).
6. Leave for a week to ferment.
7. Pour the solution into a clean jar. Tie the neck with gauze and place in a dark place for fermentation.
8. The vinegar should be infused for a month or two at room temperature to achieve the desired taste.
9. Strain the slightly cloudy prepared liquid, boil it (for longer storage) and bottle it.

You should get more than a liter of vinegar. To make it more transparent, add egg white before the final boil.

Rice dressing prepared at home will be aromatic, sweet, with a slight sourness, and very pleasant to the taste. The product is much softer and more delicate than apple or alcohol vinegar; in addition, it is rich in amino acids.

There is hardly a housewife who, at least once in her life, has not tried to cook something unusual for her family.
If you have not yet achieved such a feat, I invite you to join me in wondering about the method of preparing sushi dressing.

Sushi and rolls are part of our daily life. Now you no longer have to go to a restaurant to try these Japanese dishes. All ingredients can be bought in the store. Homemade rolls and sushi are no worse than those you can taste in restaurants. But the necessary products, for example, rice vinegar, may not always be at hand.

How to replace rice vinegar or how to prepare it at home - that’s what my article today will be about.

Rice

Special sushi rice can be replaced with regular round grain rice. In no case do we use steamed varieties or rice in bags. They make a nice side dish, but not a sticky rice mass for rolls.

Proportions of water for cooking 1 cup of rice:

• Rice pre-soaked for 1-2 hours - 1:1;
• Dry rice grain - 1.5 cups of water: 1 cup of water.

After the water boils (it will take about 10 minutes), reduce the heat and cook for 15 minutes. It is advisable not to lift the lid. After the time has passed, turn off the heat and let the porridge brew for 20-25 minutes, opening the lid.

Add the dressing to the rice when both the dressing and the rice have cooled a little.

Rice vinegar

This ingredient can rarely be found on the shelves of regular stores due to its high cost.
Or maybe there are no specialized stores in your small town or you rarely go to huge supermarkets? Then the question of replacing such vinegar will immediately arise the first time you want to cook an exotic dish.

In such cases, our housewives have learned to replace rice vinegar and generously share recipes on forums or blogs. True, the taste of cooked rice will be slightly different, but we are just learning and may the Japanese forgive us!

Alternative dressing for rice

To prepare an alternative seasoning for rice, we can use apple, wine or grape white vinegar. These types of vinegar essence are quite affordable and inexpensive compared to rice essence.

✔ We use red grape vinegar

The second name is wine vinegar. Contraindications to its use may be increased stomach acidity or an allergy to grapes.

Very often at home, old red wine is used instead of wine vinegar.

• 3 tsp Sahara
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp. grape vinegar

Place the prepared ingredients in an enamel bowl and bring to a boil. The dressing should not boil. A sign of readiness is the complete dissolution of sugar and salt.

✔ Apple cider vinegar

This type of vinegar essence is one of the highest quality, having a large list of beneficial properties. It is obtained by fermenting sweet apples and apple wine, which makes its taste much milder than ordinary table vinegar.

• 1 tsp Sahara
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp. l. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp. boiled water

Preparation is similar to the previous recipe. Readiness is also determined by the dissolution of dry substances.

✔ White grape vinegar

If there are no contraindications to the use of vinegar, then you can try regular table vinegar 6% or white wine. The cooking recipe is similar to the one where red grape tincture was used.

You can also combine vinegar with soy sauce, which will add a special twist to the soak.

• 1 tbsp. l. Sahara
• 2.5 tbsp. l. soy sauce
• 2.5 tbsp. table or white wine vinegar

Heat all ingredients until sugar dissolves.

✔ Using lemon juice

Lemon juice is a good option for soaking rice. The fact is that rice vinegar has a very mild taste that is difficult to reproduce. Lemon juice diluted with a small amount of sugar can easily replace it. Very rarely can anyone tell the difference in taste.

• 2 tbsp. l. boiled warm water
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. Sahara
• 0.5 tsp salt

Mix everything until the sugar and salt dissolve. Under no circumstances let the mixture boil.

✔ If there is nori

If you have seaweed in the kitchen (just not kelp, otherwise you'll end up with a bitter-tasting dressing), you can get an almost Japanese version of the dressing.

• 2.5 tbsp. l. any vinegar (table, wine, apple)
• 2.5 tbsp. Sahara
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 sheet of nori

Heat all ingredients except seaweed until dissolved and only then add nori. You can take more seaweed - instead of one sheet 2. Chop the seaweed and beat the mixture until smooth.

What not to use

Experienced cooks are strongly against using balsamic vinegar when making rice vinegar. The latter has a bright, specific taste, infused with a bouquet of herbs. It is completely capable of changing the taste of rice, which should have just a hint of sourness.

We use 9% or 6% table vinegars, which are familiar to our kitchens, only as a last resort.

Homemade Rice Vinegar

If you have already learned how to cook sushi at home and have decided that it will become a frequent guest on your menu, you should not use substitute dressings. I suggest making a dressing for rice for future use.

To prepare real rice vinegar at home, we need:

• 1 cup short grain rice
• 250 ml water
• 4 tbsp. Sahara
• Dry yeast - 1/3 teaspoon

Pour the rice into a tray or liter glass container and fill with water.
Let it stand for 4 hours at room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, without squeezing out the swollen rice, strain it through a clean cloth. The solution should be a glass, if it is less, add warm boiled water to the full capacity.
Add sugar to the resulting solution and dissolve it, stirring everything with a wooden spoon.

Place the rice syrup in a water bath for 20 minutes. We count down the time from the moment when the water under the syrup boils.

Cool the solution, add yeast and let it ferment in a glass jar for a week. Cover the top of the container with clean gauze, thereby allowing access to air, which is necessary for the vital activity of yeast bacteria.

After the solution stops bubbling (the fermentation process is complete), let the rice-sugar solution brew for another month.

After the specified time, filter the resulting mixture again through cheesecloth and boil. Don't be alarmed if the vinegar turns out cloudy - this is its normal condition. If you wish, you can lighten the solution by adding beaten egg white to it while boiling.

The clarification process will require another filtration, after which we pour the homemade rice vinegar into a dark glass bottle and store it in the refrigerator.

How to Add Rice Vinegar to Cooked Rice

After we've made the dressing for the rice and cooked the rice, it's time to combine them. How to do it right?

• In order to combine the dressing and rice, use a wooden spoon and utensils.
• Place the rice in a wooden tub, pour over the dressing and stir with a wooden spatula or spoon.
• Mix carefully, moving the top layer of rice down. Intense stirring will turn the rice into an incomprehensible mess.

After preparing the rice and seasoning, you can start preparing the rolls. And the story about how to wrap sushi and what to use for the filling is the topic of a completely different article.

I hope this collection of secrets for cooking rice and rice vinegar will help you make sushi successfully.
Even if you have to replace rare ingredients, let your rolls please your household and become the next conquered peak of culinary art!

Gained fame in our country thanks to the growing popularity of Japanese cuisine. After all, it is this spice that is used as vinegar for preparing rice, which is part of rolls and sushi.

However, the availability of Asian sous is not widespread at the moment and ways may be needed to replace the overseas seasoning with similar ingredients without losing its beneficial qualities.

Finding an alternative is not a futile exercise for several reasons:

1. Most “spare” recipes are based on other types of vinegar (, etc.), so the body will easily receive a portion of the necessary amino acids.
2. The taste qualities when replacing one type with another practically do not change, unless the initial concentration of the solution is exceeded. Asian sous is soft and neutral, so the strength of alternative ingredients should not be higher than 3%-4%.
3. Substitute recipes, while preserving the features of the original, add new flavor notes and other components important to the body to the seasoning.

There are many interesting alternative ways to prepare this seasoning. Most of them are easy to do at home without major financial outlay.

What to replace: recipes from available products

An arsenal of substitutes is stored in every refrigerator or kitchen cabinet. Such commonly available products include lemon, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, etc.

Apple and wine cider vinegar dressing

Despite the large number of substitutes, the most delicious for connoisseurs of Asian cuisine is still homemade rice vinegar or, “in a hurry,” store-bought.

This is interesting! The production and consumption of rice vinegar began two thousand years ago. Contrary to popular belief, the birthplace of this seasoning is not Japan, but China.

Rice vinegar is an unusual and unique product that is widely used in cooking, medicine and the beauty industry. It has a rich centuries-old history and many options for replacement. It is important that most analogues, along with the original, have a beneficial effect on the body, providing it with amino acids and other equally useful substances.