Rice vinegar
Savory & ferment· ferment vinegar

What it is
Rice vinegar is vinegar made by fermenting rice, first into a mild alcohol and then into vinegar with vinegar-forming bacteria.
What it tastes like
On the nose: smokey, pear, apple, almond. Among its measured molecules: 4-ethylphenol, ethyl benzoate, 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, diethyl succinate, guaiacol.
What goes with it
- Cacaoboth carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, coffee cocoacite
- Coffeeboth carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, coffee cocoacite
- Dateboth carry isoamyl acetate, pearcite
Salt and acid
Salt
Salt not measured yet.
Acid
Acid not measured yet.
Unusual pairings
Pairs the library can cite that almost nobody makes.
- Rice vinegar + Coffee
both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, coffee cocoa (11 of 338 carry it)
- Rice vinegar + Cacao
both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, coffee cocoa (11 of 338 carry it)
- Rice vinegar + Peated Scotch whisky
both carry 4-ethylphenol, smokey (5 of 338 carry it)
Every one of its 15 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.
acetic acidtasteacidreads as pungent (PubChem)Measured in 35 of 338 ingredients.cite
6,119,026.91 ± 530,020.51 µg/L -- roughly ten times the next-largest compound in the same sample and column — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4 (Content information of vinegar compounds (μg/L)), row 19 (identified in Table 2 as 'acetic acid'), column 'B4')benzaldehydearomaaldehydereads as burning aromatic taste (PubChem)Measured in 54 of 338 ingredients.cite
7281.14 ± 0.96 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 14 (Table 2: 'benzaldehyde'), column 'B4')guaiacolaromaphenolreads as aromatic odor (PubChem)Measured in 15 of 338 ingredients.cite
593.83 ± 117.46 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 32 (Table 2: 'guaiacol'), column 'B4')phenylacetaldehydearomaaldehydeMeasured in 21 of 338 ingredients.cite
23,161.05 ± 76.12 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 15 (Table 2: 'phenylethanal'), column 'B4')phenylethyl alcoholaromaalcoholreads as sharp burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 41 of 338 ingredients.cite
565,184.73 ± 42,979.58 µg/L -- essentially tied with ethyl acetate for the second-largest compound in this sample — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 28 (Table 2: 'phenethyl alcohol'), column 'B4')ethyl benzoatearomaesterMeasured in 6 of 338 ingredients.cite
2766.54 ± 4.32 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 8 (Table 2: 'ethyl benzoate'), column 'B4')furfuralaromafuranreads as almond-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 33 of 338 ingredients.cite
2-methylbutyric acidtasteacidMeasured in 4 of 338 ingredients.cite
9544.95 ± 925.82 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 23 (Table 2: '2-methylbutyric acid'), column 'B4')ethyl acetatearomaesterreads as fragrant odor (PubChem)Measured in 42 of 338 ingredients.cite
571,951.58 ± 3619.70 µg/L -- the largest ester and second-largest compound overall in this sample — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 1 (Table 2: 'ethyl acetate'), column 'B4')3-methylbutanalaromaaldehydereads as apple-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 22 of 338 ingredients.cite
35,396.43 ± 20.06 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 12 (Table 2: '3-methylbutyraldehyde'), column 'B4')2,3,5-trimethylpyrazinearomapyrazineMeasured in 6 of 338 ingredients.cite
53,390.76 ± 5265.10 µg/L -- the third-largest compound in the whole 52-compound table for this sample, and a classic Maillard/roasted-grain marker — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 46 (Table 2: '2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine'), column 'B4')4-ethylphenolaromaphenolreads as sweet smokey (PubChem)Measured in 3 of 338 ingredients.cite
14.55 ± 0.59 µg/L -- the smallest compound in this profile, kept because it is a phenol and this brief specifically asks for phenolic representation — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 35 (Table 2: '4-ethylphenol'), column 'B4')diethyl succinatearomaesterMeasured in 8 of 338 ingredients.cite
1881.49 ± 200.04 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 9 (Table 2: 'diethyl succinate'), column 'B4')isoamyl alcoholaromaalcoholMeasured in 43 of 338 ingredients.cite
13,010.93 ± 167.42 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 26 (Table 2: '3-methyl-1-butanol'), column 'B4')isoamyl acetatearomaesterreads as pear-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 26 of 338 ingredients.cite
22,149.40 ± 183.22 µg/L — Liang et al. 2022, Foods (Table 4, row 5 (Table 2: 'isoamyl acetate'), column 'B4')
Sources
- Liang et al. 2022, Foods