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How to Make Homemade Seasoned Rice Vinegar

Can you use unseasoned rice vinegar in a recipe that calls for seasoned rice vinegar?

Rice vinegar is made from steamed rice. Also called rice wine vinegar (not to be confused with rice wine), it has a mild acidity and gentle sweetness. It is available both seasoned and unseasoned. Because the seasoned version contains added salt and sugar, we usually call for the unseasoned kind so that we can control the seasoning in a dish.

That said, through testing we came up with a way to add “seasoning” to convert plain rice vinegar into a facsimile of the seasoned version. This recipe makes ½ cup of seasoned rice vinegar. Table salt dissolves most readily here, but if all you have is kosher salt, increase the amount to 2 tablespoons. 

1.  Combine ½ cup unseasoned rice vinegar, ¼ cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon table salt in bowl and let sit for 5 minutes.

2.  Whisk constantly until sugar and salt dissolve, about 3 minutes. (Seasoned vinegar can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.)

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