OK chefs....hot and sour soup. Some recipes say white (regular) vinegar, some say rice vinegar?!
Answers: Which vinegar will give the best, most authentic flavour?
I've always felt that white (regular) vinegar was good for one thing ... shining all of the stainless steel in my kitchen. Most other chefs would agree.
Alternative vinegars: Champagne vinegar, red wine vinegar, rice, malt, apple, balsamic, and even beer vinegar.
both will work fine but if you're going for authentic I would say go with the rice vinegar.
Rice wine vineagar just plain tastes better. It is also better for your health too then that synthetic white vinegar too.
You can use lemon juice or lime juice. That's what I have always used.
If you go with sweet and sour gowith authentic asian.....use rice vinegar.
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one part white vinegar to one part apple cider vinegar. I'm a huge fan of h&s soup.
Use the rice vinegar.
If you really want to go authentic, then you need to use Chinese Black Vinegar. Also, known as Chekiang vinegar or
Chenkong vinegar.
This website gives equivalent substitutions.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Vinegars.html#Ch...
However, use what you have or what you like.
Rice vinegar is not as sour as regular distilled white vinegar. Also, you can mix the two so you get a broader flavor profile and a little more tartness.
Use rice vinegar. It is far more delicate in flavor than is white vinegar and will give a far more authentic flavor to your hot & sour soup.
OMG - we just made this soup tonight and wondered the same thing!! We just can't get the soup to taste as yummy as it does in restaurants - we've tried different vinegars and I do agree the rice vinegar isn't as "sour" as the restaurant, so they must not use rice vinegar. I'm going to give the other one a try that's listed here (1/2 white vinegar & 1/2 apple cider vinegar) and see if that's it.
If you cook Oriental food often, I'd recommen you buy roce vinegar. But in an emergency, ordinary distilled white vinegar will do for hot and sour soup.
You should be using white rice vinegar or white wine vinegar.
As for Dave C's reply, generally you only use black vinegar in small amounts eg. a dash when eating hot & sour soup or sharksfin soup or Chinese steamed dumplings, and not as a substitute for other vinegars in cooking. The only time you use black vinegar liberally is in cooking such dishes like braised pork trotters in black vinegar; this is a Chinese confinement dish with loads of vinegar & old ginger eaten by Chinese women after giving birth (believed to replenish strength, drive out 'wind' to prevent rheumatism & other aches when older, purify the blood and strengthen joints).
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Try red vinegar. That's what we use in our family. But only a *tiny* bit. Put in a little at a time. If the soup looks reddish, you've put way too much and it'll taste extremely sour.
Most authentic of the two, though would be rice vinegar.