Kakuida Organic Black Rice Vinegar - 5 year aged

500 ml - Kirishima, Japan - ingredients: Organic Brown Rice, Organic Yeast, Water

This traditional Japanese black rice vinegar is made by placing organic brown rice, organic yeast and water in earthenware pots and then placing the pots outside, on the shores of Kagoshima Bay, where the vinegar ferments and ages, exposed to the local sun, wind and rain. Kakuida black vinegar is aged for five years. The end result is a full, well-rounded taste, deep amber color and smooth acidity.

Because it starts with rice, like Sake, this Japanese black rice vinegar's fermentation process is different. Wine vinegars start the process where the sugars of the grape juice are converted to alcohol. To ferment rice you must first convert the starch to sugar.

Then yeast and a mold, known as koji, (Aspergillus oryzae) is added. Several enzymes are produced and break down the starches in the rice to make simple sugars which are then fermented by the yeast. Making a fermented rice mash (moromi) of the highest quality creates the best black vinegar. This process takes weeks.

Black vinegar has some acetic acid like other vinegars and it also is rich in citric acid. The citric acid cycle, the TCA cycle, the Krebs cycle, are a central driver of cellular respiration.

Cellular respiration is a process that takes place in the cells of organisms to convert biochemical energy from nutrients into adenosine triphosphate. Or energy.

It is this energy created from the citric acid cycle that is good for our brains and immune systems. In one study, moromi has been shown to have anti-tumor action.

When black vinegar is aged it takes on a rich, almost smoky exterior. To the nose it is tingly vinegar acid without the linger or a wrinkling of the nose effect. Though many say Balsamic Vinegar and Black Vinegar are similar, I do not find, in the flavor profile, any similarities at all.

To the sip, the vinegar flavor is familiar, yet to describe it, it is indescribable. It changes each time you take a small taste. It is a smoky feel, and it is more than a smoky flavor, is has hints of grapefruit and some earthiness as well.

The acetic acid keeps you from taking big swills as the back of your throat will tell you with a big ping and some eye scrunching that it is a vinegar.

Though many sip this vinegar for their health (in small quantities) when this 5-year-old aged Kakuida black vinegar is added to dishes it seems to add the fifth element of interesting twists to your palate. Together with soy sauce it can add a familiar taste to stir-fry, as a dipping sauce for dumplings or added to a bowl of noodles.

But it is not just for Asian dishes. You can experiment with this wonderful flavor in marinades, grilled summer vegetables and with proteins like fish, shrimp and pork.

Black Vinegar of this quality is rare indeed. The complexity of the flavor is remarkable, and though the first taste may not be what you would expect, it is a taste that grows on you.