Is there a difference between......

[John F]

"rice vinegar" and "rice wine vinegar"?

Thanks

[Bob Ross]

John, rice vinegars are made from fermented rice. Rice wine vinegars are generally made from the lees of the wine or sake. There are many types of each vinegar, with generally subtle differences in taste.

The field is vast, but this is a start.

Regards, Bob

[Howie Hart]

Don't know for sure, but the normal progression is for sugars (broken down starches in the case of rice) to ferment in the presence of water and yeast to produce alcohol. The alcohol solution is then turned into vinegar in the presence of vinegar bacteria (aceter bacter?). So I would think they are the same thing.

[Bob Ross]

Howie, what you write makes sense, but take a look at Wikipedia's explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_vinegar

Regards, Bob

[Howie Hart]

Thanks Bob. I think I see there's a difference, but I didn't see anything specific about rice wine vinegar in the link, but your previous post makes sense. I think we posted about the same time.

[Bob Ross]

Right, Howie. They just allude to the differences between the two basic types, and from what I've read, so do the Japanese. I'll see if I can find a clearer reference -- I remember getting intrigued with the various vinegars several years ago -- Rosengarten may be my source.

I'll revert if I can find the reference -- I'm certainly not an expert.

Regards, Bob

[John F]

The reason I ask is I was standing in the supermarket yesterday in Tokyo - and there were at least a half dozen different rice vinegars but none marked as rice wine vinegar