You can replace rice vinegar with regular vinegar. How to replace rice vinegar for sushi - Irzeis

There is hardly a housewife who has not tried to cook something unusual for her family at least once in her life.
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 included in 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 may not always be at hand, for example, rice vinegar.

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 visit 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. A contraindication to its use may be increased acidity stomach or 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 useful properties. It is obtained by fermenting sweet apples and apple wine, which makes its taste much softer than usual. table vinegar.

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.

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 almost Japanese version refills.

  • 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 sit 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 wooden spoon.

Place the rice syrup in a water bath for 20 minutes. We count down the time from the moment 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 life 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.
  • It is necessary to mix carefully, moving top layer 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!

Rice vinegar for sushi is an indispensable component of Japanese cuisine: it is thanks to it that sushi and rolls acquire their unique aroma . Invented in ancient China, this seasoning after some time became most widespread in the countries of the East. For 12 centuries, rice vinegar appeared only on the tables of the most distinguished persons, because it was a very expensive product.

Nowadays, its production technology has been significantly simplified, which has made rice vinegar a very affordable and popular product in Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

Initially, rice vinegar was used exclusively as a marinade for cooking fish, because thanks to its antibacterial effect on the human body, it was possible to protect consumers from helminths and pathogens dangerous infections contained in raw fish.

In addition, rice vinegar is used:

  • as a flavoring agent for rice;
  • to give the cereal plastic properties: it is under its influence that the rice becomes more sticky and holds its shape well;
  • for dressing all kinds of salads and fish and poultry dishes.

Types of vinegar for sushi

There are two types of rice vinegar: Chinese And Japanese. Chinese rice vinegar has a slightly stronger pungency and slight sourness. The Japanese product has a barely pronounced sweetish taste.

When preparing rolls and sushi, it is better to choose the Japanese variety of vinegar, since the Chinese version can cause disharmony by interrupting the delicate taste of the sushi.

How to replace vinegar for sushi

Apple cider vinegar

If you are unable to find rice vinegar in the store, you can buy wine, apple or regular (6%) dining room vinegar. But in this case, it should be used very carefully: unlike rice vinegar, which has a special mild taste, table varieties of vinegar, taken in excessive quantities, can ruin delicious sushi and rolls.

To avoid mistakes and make a complete substitute for rice vinegar, you can use one of the recipes below:

  • Mix grape vinegar (4 tablespoons), sugar (3 teaspoons) and salt (1 teaspoon). Place the container over low heat and heat the mixture until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved. It is strictly forbidden to bring it to a boil.
  • Take apple cider vinegar (1 tablespoon), sugar (1 teaspoon), salt (1/2 teaspoon) and hot water (1.5 tablespoons). Stir all ingredients until salt and sugar are completely dissolved.
  • You can prepare a mixture of 50 ml of regular 6% table vinegar (white wine or apple cider vinegar will also work), 20 g of sugar and 50 ml of soy sauce. The sugar must be completely dissolved, so the ingredients must be heated and mixed thoroughly.

Vinegar prepared in this way is in no way inferior to rice vinegar, you just need to add it in smaller quantities.

Instead of rice vinegar for soaking rice(boiled for sushi) you can use lemon juice, diluted with water with the addition of a drop of sugar. This dressing option is as close as possible to the taste of real rice vinegar, so lovers of homemade rolls should take note of this recipe.

How to make sushi vinegar

We offer Far Eastern sushi vinegar recipe, which was proposed by Japanese chefs working in Kamchatka in the early 90s.

Ingredients:

  • Rice vinegar – 450 ml.
  • Granulated sugar – 300 g.
  • Salt – 80 g.
  • Mirin sauce – 50 ml.
  • Adinomoto (Japanese flavor enhancer) – 5 g.
  • Leaves seaweed(kelp) – 5 g.

You should get approximately 870 ml of finished product.

Preparation:

All components of the future sauce are placed in a deep container and placed on low heat, stirring constantly and continuously to prevent burning. granulated sugar. Heat the mixture only until there is no residue dissolve salt and sugar. Do not bring it to a boil!

The product can be considered ready if the salt and sugar have dissolved and the liquid became completely transparent. At the very end of cooking, you need to add kelp leaves: during the infusion process, it will give the sauce the necessary rich taste.

The minimum time for infusing sushi sauce is at least 60 minutes. After this, it can be used for cooking.

The sauce prepared according to this recipe does not have an expiration date. You can store it at room temperature, which will save you from the mistake made by inexperienced cooks who pour cold sauce over hot rice that was in the refrigerator.

Making rice vinegar at home

Do you want to make your own rice vinegar? This is not difficult to do.

Ingredients:

  • Apple cider vinegar (for rolls) – 2 tablespoons.
  • Sugar – 1.5 tablespoons.
  • Japanese (round) rice - 2 tablespoons.
  • Salt – ½ teaspoon.

Preparation:

Mix vinegar, salt and sugar until completely dissolved. Rinse a flat ceramic (or wooden) plate cold water and put the already boiled rice on it. Pour the mixture over the rice and add small quantity boiling water

Gently stir the rice without crushing it using a wooden spatula. Cool the rice to 20 degrees, and then transfer it to a special container with a lid (nabe). Process natural fermentation will take from two to three weeks. Ready-made vinegar can be used to prepare sushi, rolls, and salad dressings.

Sushi came to us, as we know, from Japanese cuisine, in which each ingredient plays a special role. Often people who decide to make sushi on their own wonder what rice vinegar for sushi is and how to use it correctly? After all, it is usually mentioned in recipes. You can find the answer to this question with us, we will tell you about correct use this product so that you definitely don't go wrong! How much rice vinegar should I add? What does it taste like? The questions will be covered in detail, and you will be pleasantly surprised by preparing everything according to our recommendations.

What is it and how to use it?

Rice vinegar has a sweetish taste, it is soft enough and without it it is not sushi at all, the Japanese definitely know a lot about cooking. No one can tell you exactly how much rice vinegar you need, because everyone has their own secrets, so try experimenting.

You need to add vinegar to flavor the rice; besides, it makes it a little sticky. This will help you shape the rice into a variety of shapes. How much vinegar is needed to make the rice sticky enough should also be determined during cooking. A lot depends on how much rice vinegar you add, and one of the best things is that it has many health benefits and is even antibacterial.

But how much?

To make rice vinegar dressing, you will need sugar and salt. For 450-500 g of rice you need to put 2 tbsp. vinegar and 1 tsp. salt and sugar. Without bringing to a boil, the dressing is stirred, then the rice is sprinkled with this mixture or simply watered, using wooden utensils. Stir gently, without pressing, so as not to accidentally cook porridge.

Fans of Japanese cuisine are well aware of the important role rice vinegar (su) plays in it. Without adding it, it is impossible to prepare rolls and sushi, since it holds the rice together without making it slippery and unpleasant to the taste and appearance. But not everyone is aware that the product is also good for health. In particular, it improves liver function and helps normalize blood sugar levels. Asian cosmetologists add su to tonics and creams, as it promotes skin rejuvenation, nourishes and moisturizes it, smoothes and tightens it. Cooks respect rice vinegar for its pleasant sweet and sour taste, which can transform the taste of any dish, while it does not irritate the stomach as much as regular vinegar. This is also used by people on a diet, seasoning their dishes with rice vinegar instead of mayonnaise and ketchup, energy value which is only 18 kcal.

Rice vinegar industrial production in our country is no longer a scarce commodity, it can be purchased in most supermarkets and just large grocery stores. However, this product is not cheap, and not every housewife can afford to add it to dishes as generously as apple or grape. However, you can prepare rice vinegar itself and its analogues yourself. If you know how to make rice vinegar at home, you can cook your favorite Japanese dishes as often as you want. In terms of benefits, such a product will not be inferior to a store-bought one and may even be of better quality than a store-bought one.

Cooking features

The process of making rice vinegar at home is no more complicated than creating a similar product from apples or grapes. The technology has its own specifics, but it is enough to learn a few secrets to avoid mistakes and get the expected result.

  • The basis for preparing rice vinegar is rice cereal. Parboiled rice is best suited for this purpose, as unparboiled sous comes out too cloudy.
  • To prepare vinegar, rice is washed well, usually warm water, then pour in clean liquid and infuse. After straining, rice water is obtained, which later turns into vinegar.
  • To prepare rice vinegar, sugar and yeast are also used, which provide fermentation. Sugar can be used white or brown. The ratio of rice water, sugar and yeast must be exactly as indicated in the recipe, otherwise the result may differ from what was expected.
  • It is advisable to use dry yeast for making rice vinegar. Pressed ones will give the product a specific smell that is not characteristic of real rice vinegar.
  • If fermentation does not occur or occurs slowly after mixing rice water with sugar and yeast, then you mixed the yeast with too hot or too cold a liquid. The optimal temperature for activating yeast is 30 to 40 degrees. In a cold environment they refuse to work, and when exposed to hot temperatures they die. If the yeast has been activated correctly, but the rice water is still fermenting poorly, try moving the container with it to a higher location. warm place. The higher the room temperature, the more actively the product ferments.
  • Immediately after preparation, homemade rice vinegar always turns out to be cloudy, but this does not affect its organoleptic qualities. If you want a perfect result, you can clarify the vinegar with protein. This requires protein raw egg. It is dipped in cloudy vinegar, boiled until the protein coagulates (this happens quickly), then the vinegar is filtered - it becomes transparent.

For preparing sushi and rolls in pure form Rarely used, it is usually adjusted to the desired taste by adding salt or soy sauce, regular or brown sugar. This is done immediately before preparing the food.

If homemade rice vinegar is poured into clean bottles and sealed tightly, it may stored quite long, up to several months. The product will have a longer shelf life if kept in a cool place.

Homemade Rice Vinegar Recipe

  • rice cereal – 0.21 kg;
  • boiled water – 1 l;
  • sugar – 0.25 kg;
  • dry yeast – 5 g;
  • chicken egg (raw) – 1 pc.

Cooking method:

  • Rinse the rice. Fill it with warm boiled water in the amount indicated in the recipe. Leave for 2-4 hours at room temperature, covering the container with rice with a thin cloth or regular lid.
  • After the specified time, put the rice in the refrigerator and leave for at least 12 hours (but no more than a day).
  • Strain. Pour the rice infusion into a saucepan, add sugar.
  • Heat over low heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.
  • Remove the pan from the heat. Cool its contents to 35–40 degrees.
  • Add yeast and stir.
  • Pour the mixture into a glass jar with a capacity of at least 1.5 liters. Tie the neck with gauze. Place the jar in a warm and dark place.
  • The rice infusion will ferment for 4–7 days, then the bubbles will disappear and fermentation will stop.
  • Pour the mixture into a clean container, cover with a lid, making a narrow hole in it with a knife. Leave to infuse at room temperature for 1–1.5 months.
  • Strain the mixture and pour it into a saucepan.
  • Separate the egg white, beat it with a whisk or mixer, and add to the rice vinegar.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil. Strain to remove any bits of coagulated protein from the vinegar.

All that remains is to pour the vinegar into clean bottles, seal and store in a cool place.

Rice vinegar dressing for sushi

  • rice vinegar – 60 ml;
  • sugar – 30–40 g;
  • salt – 10 g.

Cooking method:

  • Pour the desired amount of bite into the cup.
  • Add salt and sugar, mix thoroughly.

The dressing prepared according to this recipe is enough to make rolls or sushi from two glasses of prepared rice.

Apple Rice Cider Vinegar

  • apple cider vinegar (6 percent) – 50 ml;
  • soy sauce – 50 ml;
  • granulated sugar – 20 g.

Cooking method:

  • Mix apple cider vinegar with soy sauce.
  • Add sugar. Stir until the crystals are completely dissolved.

Apple cider vinegar can be replaced with grape cider vinegar. Of course, the resulting composition will not be rice vinegar, but it will resemble it in taste and in its qualities.

Rice vinegar is an important product for preparing Japanese cuisine. You can make it at home. This process is simple but time consuming.

Traditional Japanese seasoning can be replaced with wine, apple or table vinegar prepared according to certain recipes. It's easy to make your own rice vinegar if you want.

Where is rice vinegar used?

Rice vinegar is widely used in Japanese cuisine for cooking traditional dishes– sushi, salads raw vegetables, various sauces.
It is rich in amino acids, can neutralize lactic acid, leach the blood, and stimulate digestion. The seasoning has a characteristic light sour taste and aroma.

How to make rice vinegar in your kitchen

If you like sushi and make it often, learn how to make your own rice vinegar. To do this you will need short grain rice, sugar and dry yeast.

  • Pour 1 cup of rice into a jar and add 0.25 liters of water and leave in the room for 4 hours. Place the mixture in the refrigerator and keep it there overnight.
  • The next day, strain the rice, but do not squeeze it out.
  • Pour the liquid into a glass and add warm water to the top.
  • Add 4 tbsp to the solution. sugar and dissolve it, stirring the syrup with a wooden spoon.
  • Place the container with the liquid in the water bath. Wait until the water in the water bath boils and keep the bowl with the syrup there for 20 minutes, then remove.
  • Cool the broth, pour into a jar, add 1/3 tsp. dry yeast and stir.
  • Cover the jar with gauze and leave to ferment for a week. Do not cover the jar with a lid to allow air to flow freely to the yeast bacteria.
  • After about a week, the fermentation process will end and there will be no more bubbles in the solution.
  • The solution should be infused for a month.
  • Filter the solution and boil. The mixture should be cloudy, this is its normal color.
  • To clarify, you can add beaten egg white to the solution while boiling, and then filter again.
  • Pour the finished product into a glass container and place in the refrigerator.


Rice Vinegar Substitute Recipes

To ensure that the taste of the seasoning is as similar as possible to the original product, prepare it from several components according to special recipes.

Grape vinegar seasoning

Pour grape vinegar (4 tbsp), salt (1 tsp), sugar (3 tsp) into a small container and place on low heat. Heat the solution until all components are dissolved. Make sure the mixture does not boil. Do not use wine vinegar for these purposes if you are allergic to grape products or have increased stomach acidity.


Apple Cider Vinegar Seasoning

You will need 1 tbsp. l. apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp. sugar, 0.5 tsp. salt and 1.5 tbsp. l. hot water. Pour everything into a glass and stir with a wooden spoon until the elements are completely dissolved.


Seasoning made from table vinegar and soy sauce

Take 50 ml of 6% table vinegar, 20 g of sugar and 50 ml of soy sauce. Mix everything until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved.

Lemon juice seasoning

Properly diluted lemon juice can reproduce the taste of rice vinegar. Only the native Japanese will determine the difference.

Pour 2 tbsp into a glass. boiled warm water, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tsp. sugar, 0.5 tsp. salt. Mix everything until the contents are completely dissolved. You can heat the mixture, but you cannot boil it.


Many people have concerns that alternative recipes sushi and rolls will be ruined. Experienced chefs refute this opinion. They recommend not to overdo it with the amount of seasoning, then the result will please even gourmets.