Balsamic vinegar recommendations?

More like 30 seconds.

@Lucy what was the brand you had before that you can’t find now?

Y’all want to do soy sauce while we’re at it?

I tried some of the handmade fancy-pants stuff once, made in those huge wooden vats in Japan, it was like $20. I don’t think it was any better than San-J, which I can buy at my local grocer for about $4.

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Ah, the perfect vessel in which to store fine balsamic!

We lot!!!

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Good news. Balsamic comes in 100ml bottles. You know what the TSA limit is for planes? That’s right, 100ml. So we can totes take this with us to slather on our first-class meals on our way to Baltra.

I get kikkomen. That’s what “soy sauce” tastes like to me. I don’t know if I’d like a fancier one.

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That’s a good one. I’d say San-J is more… umami, maybe, or perhaps savory. You taste the soy more and the salt less. It’s not miles better but I prefer it and it’s about the same price.

I prefer the tamari varieties, and find their shoyu to be too salty, which is something I don’t often say.

You can afford this stuff. The (ancient) bottle I just used up still had its price tag, at less than $2. The most expensive brand in the shop today was under $6 for a decent-sized bottle. Even if you buy fancy stuff on Amazon, you are looking at maybe $15.

It’s nice. It has rich caramelized undertones, it’s sour, of course, and it adds a nice depth.

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I live very close to two Asian supermarkets. I’ll see what they have the next time I go. I love vinegar in basically all forms.

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We’re gonna need an Upscale Vingear thread if this keeps up.

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Is it worth it to have a upscale olive oil and balsamic vinegar in the house? Can I wow some guests with it?

I eat salad for lunch every day and I use this as my salad dressing.
OnlyTheBestforYouLot

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My vinegar shipping label was already created! Wow!

Absolutely. If impressing guests is your goal, I suggest this fine bottle:

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why does that look browning on the inside lol

But yeah, black vinegar is the bomb.

Probably because I’ve had that bottle for a very long time. I only recently started routinely adding a dash to my soup, and I’ve used it up.

Can you recommend a similar brand? Is this stuff still available? (Was it only so good because i “aged” it in my pantry?"

I don’t think the brand matters. The name of that vinegar you have is the famous vinegar from Chinkiang, a place in China.
The vinegar there is so famous that people just start calling any black vinegar by that name, even if not made there. So if you want to make sure it’s authentic, make sure it’s from there (romanization could be different. In mandarin pinyin it’ll be zhengjiang).

Otherwise, I have no clue what brand is good. I’m also dubious about stuff from China. Quality assurance is lacking. So you might as well get stuff made in the US, or HK and Taiwan, which I trust more.

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It will be here Friday. What cheese should I try it on first?

Dammit, mine won’t arrive until Saturday.

I think a nice creamy cheese like brie could be interesting. And I’ve never had balsamic with blue cheese but I’m picturing that. Maybe with pecans?

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I’m thinking goat cheese. I usually have that on hand. Mmmmm.