Rice vinegar is a vinegar made from fermented rice or rice wine in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
Chinese rice vinegars are stronger than Japanese ones, and range in colour from clear to various shades of red, brown and black.
Chinese and especially Japanese vinegars are less acidic than the distilled Western vinegars which, for that reason, are not appropriate substitutes for rice vinegars.
The majority of the Asian rice vinegar types are also more mild and sweet than vinegars typically used in the Western world, with black vinegars as a notable exception.
Chinese rice vinegars are made from huangjiu, a type of rice wine.
