The nature and taste of vinegar have been recorded in all previous dynasties. Xunzi Zheng Ming said: "Smelly, fragrant and smelly, smelly and sour wine smells strange." It is also recorded in Records of Yuanshi County that "apricot acid, crisp jujube acid, sour intestines and bitter taste are also sour". In Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica, it is written that "vinegar can reduce swelling, disperse internal heat and remove bitterness. These records show that ancient people had a very deep understanding of the efficacy of vinegar.
First, the origin of vinegar
There is a folk saying: "The five flavors of salt are the best, and the taste of harmony is the first." Yuan Mei, a famous gourmet in the Qing Dynasty, also said in his poem: "The taste of life is like commenting on poetry, and there are sour and salty things in the world." It seems quite meaningful to put vinegar in front of salt here. About the origin of vinegar, some people say that it was in the Yin and Shang Dynasties that wine fermented again for some reason, so it became vinegar. It is also said that Du Kang's son accidentally turned the wine into vinegar when making wine. The villagers thought it was delicious, so they added vinegar to the dish and tasted it. Of course, these are just legends. Emperor Yao's vinegar was recorded in Shanxi Tongzhi, and it was also mentioned in Bamboo Annals that acetic acid was made from calendar pods.
Second, the record of vinegar in Yao Min Shu.
Qi Yao Min Shu records a large number of brewing methods of vinegar, which is the most complete ancient literature on brewing acetic acid in China so far, and also records another name of vinegar-Qiang. Qi's Yao Min Shu also recorded many raw materials of fermented vinegar, such as millet, millet, barley and soybean. There are even honey and some fruits which can be used to make vinegar.
Third, Shanxi vinegar
Speaking of vinegar, many people will think of Shanxi's old vinegar. There are more than twenty technologies in fermented vinegar, which will take nearly one year to complete. Cotton, sour, fragrant, sweet and fresh are the characteristics of Shanxi mature vinegar, with red sauce color and mellow taste.
Besides Shanxi vinegar, there are other kinds of vinegar in China, such as Zhenjiang vinegar, Tianjin Liu Du mature vinegar, Fujian Yongchun mature vinegar, Qishan vinegar, Henan old turtle special vinegar and Redmi vinegar. You can go and have a look if you are interested. Space is limited, so I won't introduce it here. In addition, drinking more fermented vinegar is good for your health.