Japan's Vinegar Culture

About this book

Japanese vinegar is not one mild bottle for sushi rice. It is a whole fermentation culture: clear rice vinegars, red vinegars born from aged sake lees in Handa, black kurozu rested for years in ceramic jars under the Kagoshima volcano, citrus vinegars from the groves of Shikoku, persimmon and apple vinegars of the farm country, and the seasoned vinegars — sanbaizu, tosazu, amazu — that dress the Japanese table. This guide covers it entire in 200 entries: the kinds and their labels, the breweries and brewing towns from Handa to Fukuyama, the koji, water, jars and barrels of the craft, the regions read through their vinegars, and the dishes, pickles, drinks and festivals the vinegars serve. Every entry follows the same four fields — what it is and where it belongs, how it is brewed and aged, how it tastes and is used, and where you meet it with the one official check to make before you travel — so any two entries can be compared in seconds. No makers are ranked and no prices or hours are asserted, and no health effects are claimed; vinegars, towns and traditions are described as the people who make them know them. Written and produced in Japan by a Japanese author and publisher.