Shanxi aged vinegar [Shanxi specialty]

What is Shanxi aged vinegar? Authentic Shanxi specialty: Shanxi aged vinegar

Content summary:Do you want to know what Shanxi aged vinegar is? This article is a detailed introduction toShanxi specialty - Shanxi aged vinegar. It was compiled and edited by the editorial team of China Specialty Network after reviewing and collecting relevant information on Shanxi aged vinegar. The full text takes about 15 minutes to read, mainly including the basic introduction of Shanxi aged vinegar and its nutritional value? What are the product characteristics of Shanxi aged vinegar? How did the history of Shanxi aged vinegar come about? How to make Shanxi aged vinegar and identify its authenticity? Wait

Basic Introduction of Shanxi Aged Vinegar

Shanxi Aged Vinegar is brewed from high-quality grains such as sorghum, barley, and peas through a process of steaming, fermenting, smoking, pouring, and sun drying. It is one of the four famous vinegars in China with a history of more than 3000 years and is known as the "number one vinegar in the world". It is renowned for its five characteristics of color, aroma, richness, concentration, and acidity. Shanxi aged vinegar has a sauce red color and is smooth, sour, fragrant, sweet, and fresh when eaten. Shanxi aged vinegar is rich in amino acids, organic acids, sugars, vitamins, and salts. Health vinegar based on aged vinegar has unique effects such as softening blood vessels and reducing triglycerides

3. Shanxi aged vinegar is a nutritional "enhancer": adding water tower vinegar during cooking can stabilize the chemical structure of water-soluble vitamins B and C in food, making them less likely to be destroyed by cooking. Water tower vinegar can also promote the dissolution and absorption of trace elements such as copper, zinc, chromium, and calcium in the material<4. Shanxi aged vinegar can prevent corrosion: Adding a small amount of water tower vinegar to soaked raw fish can prevent it from spoiling and deteriorating

7. Smokers can brush their teeth with Shanxi aged vinegar and a few times to remove the smegma on their teeth<8. If there is an odor in the cupboard or box, you can use a cloth dipped in Shanxi aged vinegar and dry it in the sun to remove the odor<9. Glass and mirrors stained with paint and dirt can be easily wiped clean with Shanxi aged vinegar<10. If there is rust on the clothes, you can soak the rust stains in water, apply Shanxi aged vinegar, and rinse with boiling water after two or three minutes. The rust and vinegar smell can be removed

12. When writing with a brush, use Shanxi aged vinegar instead of water to grind the ink, resulting in black and shiny characters that are not easily faded

1. Using koji to produce grain, with a variety of raw materials: Shanxi aged vinegar has a high ratio of sorghum and bran to 1:1, and uses barley, peas, and Daqu as saccharification and fermentation agents with a ratio of 7:3. The ratio of Daqu to sorghum ingredients is as high as 55% to 62.5%, known as saccharification and fermentation agents. In fact, using koji as a substitute for grain, its variety of raw materials, complete nutritional components, and especially high protein content make it the best ingredient for our vinegar

Secondly, the koji quality is excellent and the microbial species are abundant: other famous vinegar uses mainly Rhizopus and yeast as koji, Aspergillus flavus as malt koji, and Monascus purpureus as red koji. The above microbial populations can be reflected in Red Heart Daqu, but other microbial populations in Red Heart Daqu may not be reflected in the above koji types, especially Daqu, which contains abundant mycotoxins, making Shanxi aged vinegar form a unique aroma and scent

Thirdly, the technology of smoking mash originated in Shanxi, and the smoking aroma is a typical flavor of Shanxi vinegar: smoking mash is a unique technique of Shanxi vinegar, which can organically compound the ester aroma, smoking aroma, and aging aroma of Shanxi aged vinegar; At the same time, the smoked mash can also obtain the satisfactory color of Shanxi aged vinegar, and compared with other famous vinegar, it does not require additional coloring agents

Fourth, highlight aging and replace cluster fermentation with new vinegar aging: Zhenshan West old vinegar is aged with new vinegar instead of vinegar fermentation, and the aging period is generally 9-12 months, some of which can last for several years. The traditional technique is called "summer sun drying, winter ice harvesting". After sun drying and winter ice harvesting, the concentration of new vinegar can reach more than three times. Shanxi aged vinegar has a total acidity of 9-11 degrees, and its specific gravity, concentration, viscosity, soluble solids, non-volatile acid, total sugar, reducing sugar, total ester, amino acid nitrogen and other quality indicators can all rank first in national vinegar

After the Tang and Song dynasties, due to the advancement and development of microorganisms and koji making techniques, by the Ming dynasty there were already three types of koji: Daqu, Xiaoqu, and Hongqu. Shanxi vinegar used red hearts as the koji for making vinegar, which integrated various beneficial microbial populations such as Daqu, Xiaoqu, and Hongqu. The most famous vinegar brewed was the Chinese time-honored brand "Yiyuanqing". According to historical records, Zhu Jihuan, the grandson of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, was granted the title of Prince Ninghua in Taiyuan Prefecture. The vinegar brewed by "Yiyuanqing" was designated as the exclusive vinegar for the Prince Ninghua's mansion, which greatly enhanced its flavor due to the conversion of some white vinegar to smoked vinegar. In later generations, it was called Warm Method Smoked Vinegar. In the first year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644), the Chinese time-honored brand "Meiheju" in Gangyang (now Qingxu, also known as Qingyuan) changed its vinegar aging process to "summer sun drying, winter ice fishing", forming its unique taste in vinegar and naming the product "aged vinegar"

The late renowned microbiologist Mr. Fang Xinfang summarized and affirmed the process of "Meiheju" Shanxi aged vinegar as early as the 1930s. He published an article in the magazine "Huanghai" pointing out that "when the fermentation temperature of Qingyuan vinegar is above 40 ℃, its tyrosotes and lactic acid bacteria must play a role, and the unique aroma of Shanxi vinegar can prove the role of bacteria other than acetic acid bacteria." He also called it "one of the four famous vinegars in China, with Shanxi aged vinegar being the first. The late renowned biologist Mr. Chen Jusheng explicitly stated in various works that 'Shanxi aged vinegar is the most famous vinegar in northern China'. Shanxi aged vinegar is one of the four famous vinegars in China, with a production history of over 3000 years. There are also more than 1000 vinegar production enterprises of all sizes in Shanxi. Shanxi aged vinegar, known as one of the four famous vinegars in China, is renowned for its unique flavor of mellow, sour, fragrant, sweet, and mellow, as well as its long brewing history, ranking ahead of Zhenjiang vinegar, Baoning vinegar, and Fujian red yeast vinegar in China

The most common variety of vinegar consumed by Shanxi people is undoubtedly the local specialty - Shanxi aged vinegar, which is well-known both domestically and internationally and originated during the Shunzhi period of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Nowadays, whenever people talk about aged vinegar, they naturally think of Shanxi vinegar. Outsiders jokingly call Shanxi people old Xi'er. You should know that "xi" sounds similar to "xi". Shanxi people love to be jealous, and they are like a synonym for jealousy, which is well-known throughout the country. However, they do not know that "xi" is the original name of "vinegar" in ancient China. Regarding Shanxi vinegar and Shanxi people, there have been many jokes made by people from other provinces, probably all related to vinegar

The production method of Shanxi aged vinegar

Shanxi aged vinegar is mainly made from sorghum, bran, bran, and water, with barley and pea koji as saccharification and fermentation agents. After alcohol fermentation, it is brewed through solid-state acetic acid fermentation, smoking mash, aging and other processes. The main brewing process features include: multiple raw material ratios mainly using sorghum, high-quality saccharification and fermentation agents mainly using red heart koji, low-temperature concentrated mash alcohol fermentation, high-temperature solid-state acetic acid fermentation, and long-term aging of smoked mash and new vinegar

Distinguishing Shanxi aged vinegar mainly manifests in three aspects: firstly, it is purple red in color; The second is smell, its scent is sour and fragrant, not pungent and sour; The third point is that it has the characteristic of hanging a bottle. When Shanxi aged vinegar is poured into a bowl and then discarded, a thin liquid film of vinegar hangs on top, indicating that it has reached a certain concentration