Chinkiang vinegar

Glutinous rice vinegar aged on a solid bran mash, around pH 3.2. Alongside acetic acid it carries the melanoidins and Maillard products of that long ferment, giving the malty, nearly balsamic depth that no distilled or rice-wine vinegar has. Distinct from black malt vinegar, which is malted barley darkened with caramel and has its own record here. The two were previously conflated under a shared alias. Brief heat drives off the sharp low-boiling acetic fraction and leaves the aged notes, so a pan dose and a raw finishing dose do different jobs and are worth splitting.