Shanxi people have a deep friendship with vinegar. The history of vinegar making in Shanxi is about 3000 years. Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty summed up 22 kinds of vinegar making methods in his famous Book of Qi Yao Min, and Shanxi Province can be said to be a big vinegar producing province. In this issue, I will take you into Shanxi culture and learn about the ancient and mellow Shanxi vinegar culture.

Shanxi vinegar has a long history and exquisite craftsmanship, which is unparalleled in the world. Shanxi people began to brew vinegar in the Zhou Dynasty. By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Shanxi vinegar brewing had spread all over urban and rural areas, breaking the single pattern of "public vinegar workshops" in the Western Zhou Dynasty. There are five flavors in Qin dynasty: spicy, salty, bitter, sour and sweet. By the Han Dynasty, vinegar had become a popular condiment at that time. Sima Qian's Biography of Historical Records of Huo Zhi and Cui Yan's Four-person Monthly Order also have records of vinegar making.

The raw materials are diverse, with complete nutrients, especially protein, which is the best raw material for vinegar in China. Shanxi over-mature vinegar contains 18 kinds of amino acids, which has good freshness and taste-changing effect. The quality of distiller's yeast is excellent, and there are many kinds of microorganisms, especially the rich mycin in Daqu, which makes Shanxi mature vinegar form a unique aroma and smell.

Fumigating vinegar technology originated in Shanxi, and incense is a typical flavor of Shanxi vinegar. The unique fumigation technology can organically combine the vinegar aroma, aroma and aging aroma of Shanxi mature vinegar, and at the same time, fumigation vinegar can also obtain satisfactory color of Shanxi mature vinegar. Compared with other famous vinegars, it does not need to add toner.

The total acidity, specific gravity, concentration, viscosity, soluble solids, non-volatile acid, total sugar, reducing sugar, total vinegar and amino acid nitrogen of Shanxi aged vinegar can rank first in China. Due to the conversion of acetic acid, the condensation of aldehydes and alcohols and the increase of the proportion of non-volatile acids in the aging process, the acidity of aged vinegar is delicate and soft.

People often say "sweet in the south and sour in the north". 1978, the relevant departments made a survey on the per capita annual consumption of vinegar in five cities in North China. The results are: Tianjin 5. 1 kg, Shijiazhuang 8 kg, Beijing 8.4 kg, Hohhot 10 kg, Taiyuan 18 kg. According to the recent preliminary statistics, the annual per capita vinegar in Shanxi Province is above 10 kg, which is the highest in the country. This shows that Shanxi is not only a major vinegar producing province in China, but also a major vinegar producing province.