Nihon Chomiryo Tabi
Akasu Jitate Umai Awasezu Seasoned Vinegar 200ml (赤酢仕立て 熟寝合わせ酢 200ml)
The story behind it
Kisaichi Jozo in Kamagaya City, Chiba, began in 1922 as a sake shop in Asagaya, Tokyo. Supplying vinegar to the sushi restaurants it dealt with gradually turned it into a vinegar maker, and it started producing in house in 1960.
The base of this seasoned vinegar is the brewery's own red vinegar, Umai Edomae Su. The raw material is not rice but sake lees, what remains after pressing sake. It rests for over 3 years, then goes into cedar kioke (wooden barrels) and is turned into vinegar over 2 to 3 months by still fermentation, letting the film of acetic acid bacteria on the surface do the work without stirring. While resting, the lees change from a white crumble into a black paste, and that color is exactly what gives the vinegar its red cast.
Sake-lees vinegar is said to carry more savory depth and sweetness than rice vinegar. It stacks with the sweetness of fatty fish such as tuna and adds richness, which is why red vinegar has been chosen in the recent Edomae sushi style of aging the fish.
Umai Awasezu is that red vinegar combined with sugar and salt. Three ingredients: brewed vinegar, sugar and salt, with no flavor enhancers. Mix about 30cc into one cup of rice and you have sushi rice, no extra sugar or salt needed.
How to use it
Mix about 30cc into one cup of rice and you get red sushi rice. Use it as is for chirashi-zushi or hand-rolled sushi. Red vinegar suits fatty foods, so a small amount at the end of teriyaki yellowtail or ginger pork tightens the finish. It also seasons dressed dishes such as cucumber and wakame in vinegar, chicken nanban-zuke or marinated carrot, without measuring sugar and salt separately. A dash in potato salad or tartar sauce keeps the richness while lightening the aftertaste.