“I want to cook, but I’m out of rice vinegar!!”
What can I use instead of rice vinegar? What is the substitute for rice vinegar?
Rice vinegar is often seen to have some substitutes, but actually, there is only one suitable to be its substitute. Learn what it is and know the others can’t be the substitute for rice vinegar in this article!
What is Rice Vinegar?
Rice vinegar is one type of vinegar you can easily incorporate in everyday cooking. It is a traditional seasoning condiment mainly used in China, Japan, and Korea.
Rice vinegar is a type of vinegar made with rice as the main ingredient.It is made from rice, fermented rice or rice koji, and water.
Our article will focus more on the Japanese Rice Vinegar (米酢), which slightly milder and sweeter than Western vinegar with around 5% acetic acid.
Rice vinegar is used mostly in Asian cooking for many purposes.You can use rice vinegar for:
⇒ Making salad dressings⇒ Making Japanese vinegar dishes (sunomomo)⇒ Making Japanese styled pickles (tsukemono)⇒ Making Japanese simmered dish (nimono)⇒ Seasoning sushi rice⇒ Making a marinade⇒ Seasoning cooked vegetables and meat
Find out more info about rice vinegar and its benefits in our article below.
Can’t decide which kind of vinegar you need? Then compare it!We also include some recipes using rice vinegar for your delicious cooking reference.
Recommended Pure Rice Vinegar Products
Rice Vinegar Substitute
Rice vinegar is the sweet, delicate vinegar you can use in cooking. But what should you do if you are making a dish with the recipe requires rice vinegar, but you couldn’t find one around you?
Maybe you thought you can substitute it with other vinegars. But, don’t make a mistake! Although they are all vinegars, not all of the vinegars can suitably substitute each other.
The best substitute for rice vinegar is apple cider vinegar, or ACV.
Apple Cider Vinegar (left) and Rice Vinegar (right)
While many of vinegars may look similar to rice vinegar, their flavor might be the opposite of rice vinegar’s. Do not decide the vinegar’s substitute based on their colour.
Why Cider Vinegar is the Best Substitute for Rice Vinegar?
Apple cider vinegar comes from crushed apples that have undergone fermentation. It has a pale orange to amber color, may differ from each manufacturer.
It has a mild flavor that is similar to rice vinegar. Apple cider vinegar also has a moderate acidity like rice vinegar.
With its mild taste, slight sweetness, and a hint of apple flavor, apple cider vinegar is a good choice for rice vinegar’s substitute.
Actually, ACV makes a good substitute for any type of vinegar.
How to Substitute Rice Vinegar with Cider Vinegar?
You can use apple cider vinegar for rice vinegar substitute in the ratio of:
1 Rice Vinegar = 1 Apple Cider VinegarYou can add 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) of sugar per tablespoon (15 ml) of cider vinegar to add sweetness.
You can use apple cider vinegar in place of rice vinegar in just about any recipe, such as sushi rice and marinades. Although the apple flavor is fairly weak in apple cider vinegar, it may become stronger if used for certain types of recipes, like pickling.
Recommended Apple Cider Vinegar Products
Rice Vinegar Substitute Q & A
- What is the substitute for rice vinegar?
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The best substitute for rice vinegar is apple cider vinegar (ACV). The reason are because cider vinegar has the flavor and acidity close to rice vinegar.
Also, you can’t use normal vinegar instead of rice vinegar when making a dish that originally needs rice vinegar. It has more acid and has no sweetness that may change the taste of the dish.
- Can you substitute white vinegar for rice vinegar?
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Rice vinegar and white vinegar have the same color, but they generally can’t substitute each other.
Unlike rice vinegar, white vinegar has strong flavor and more acidity (5-10% acetic acid). While rice vinegar only has low to moderate acidity. White vinegar also doesn’t have the slight sweetness like rice vinegar.
- Can I use white wine vinegar instead of rice vinegar?
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You can substitute white wine vinegar for rice vinegar, but only recommended for making vinaigrette dressing.
Substitute it in an equal amount, and add ¼ teaspoon of sugar in every tablespoon of white vinegar to add sweetness. However, we recommended to use ACV more than white wine vinegar for rice vinegar’s substitute.
- Is mirin the same as rice vinegar? Can you use it as substitution?
- Mirin is classified as rice wine together with Japanese sake, it is a different thing from rice vinegar or rice wine vinegar. Therefore mirin cannot be the substitute of rice vinegar.