Baoning Handcrafted Vinegar, Aged 3 Years (Sichuan Black Vinegar)

Note: This bottle occasionally leaks a tiny bit in transit, but it does not affect the quality of the vinegar. Let us know if it leaks significantly. 

Sichuan's Baoning vinegar is one of the Four Famous Vinegars of China and is the vinegar of choice for Sichuan dishes. We are the exclusive importers of two handmade Baoning vinegars, this blend of 3-year vinegars and a super-premium Baoning aged for 10 years. 

Red-brown and medium-bodied, this vinegar's taste is more savory than sweet, and the multigrain composition—rice, bran, wheat, corn, sorghum and buckwheat—hits the nose and palate in unfamiliar but intriguing ways. Part of the intrigue also turns out to be its fermentation starter, which, uniquely among Chinese vinegars, is created from more than 60 Chinese spices and medicinal herbs. It then ages for years—the longer the better—in earthenware crocks that lend it additional depth. 

While eastern China's Zhenjiang vinegar is more well-known outside China, Baoning can be substituted in most Chinese recipes. Baoning is less sweet and slightly less acidic than Zhenjiang. Go here to read more about both Zhenjiang and Baoning and their differences. 

The pride of Langzhong, an ancient city in northeastern Sichuan, Baoning vinegar traces its history to 936 A.D., during the Five Dynasties period. Its modern accolades begin with a gold medal at the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair, and since then it has racked up China's highest honors, including China Time-Honored Brand, Sichuan Intangible Cultural Heritage, and gold-medal Green Food, China's pollution-free designation.

Baoning vinegar is used in almost all Sichuan cold sauces for noodles and vegetables and is a must-have ingredient for yu xiang and gong bao (kung pao) and other sweet-and-sourish dishes as well as Chongqing's suan la fen. 

For more information on how the four famous vinegars are made and a thoughtful taste-test comparison, check out this video by our affiliates at Chinese Cooking Demystified.