Shanxi aged vinegar ✦

Vinaigre noir du Shanxi

What it is

After fermenting on sorghum, barley and pea, the solid mash is smoked in sealed jars for several days — that is where the colour and the burnt edge come from, not from any added caramel. The raw vinegar then ages outdoors by a rule of two seasons: evaporate under the summer sun, lift the ice off in winter, and what stays behind is thicker and sharper every year.

In the kitchen

It is drier and far more pungent than Chinkiang, so a straight swap into a sweet Shanghai braise tastes thin — add a pinch of rock sugar if you substitute. On dumplings and cold noodles use it neat, with nothing but slivered garlic.

Goes with

Garlic Ginger Soy sauce Chilli crisp Pork Cucumber

Same species

Sorghum Sorghum syrup

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