Bottle with traditional Japanese rice vinegar, isolated on white background
FOOD NEWS
The Difference Between Rice Wine And Rice Vinegar
By Annie Hariharan
Rice wine and rice vinegar are often next to each other on store shelves and are both made from fermented rice, but they taste different due to how they are made.

A cup of rice wine

A cup of rice wine

Close-up of rice koji and wooden spoon. Koji. Koji is fermented rice. A view from directly above.
Rice wine is made with regular or glutinous rice. It’s fermented with yeast, fungi, and lactic acid bacteria to turn sugar in the rice into alcohol — approximately 18% to 25% ABV.
Rice vinegar and soy sauce bottles
Similarly, rice vinegar uses yeast to turn the sugar in the rice into alcohol, but the fermentation process continues until the mixture turns from alcohol into acetic acid.
Close-up of Chinese traditional Duanwu Festival beverage rice wine.
Rice wine can be used for drinking or cooking. It has a sweet, mild flavor and is usually heated to evaporate the alcohol in it when used in recipes.
Bottles with different kinds of vinegar
Rice vinegar comes in white, red, and black and has a delicate, sweet flavor that’s less acidic than white wine vinegar. It’s what gives sushi its tangy taste.
Rice wine vinegar surrounded by rice, seaweed, and a sushi mat
Rice wine vinegar is the key acidity element for Asian-inspired marinades, sauces, salad dressing, and can also be used to pickle vegetables.