Talk:Shanxi cuisine

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[edit] Shanxi vinegar 山西醋

I lived in Beijing for a summer and ate jiaozi/dumplings in a delicious dark sauce that I was told was Shanxi vinegar, with a bowl of red pepper to mix in as you wanted. Upon returning to America, I asked a local emigrant, owner of a Chinese food restaurant, whether she served Shanxi vinegar with her jiaozi, and she laughed at me, saying that it was far too "spicy" for Americans. Regardless, this liquid is too delicious to be without a more thorough description on Wikipedia than its brief mention on the Shanxi cuisine page, as even Google is relatively lacking in English (I'll wade through Chinese results when I have the time, if necessary). Is there anyone else with more information on this precious seasoning? —alxndr (t) 07:17, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

This is a new one to me. Chinjiang vinegar, which is from Jiangsu in China's east, is probably the most famous Chinese vinegar, and is discussed in both the Rice vinegar and Vinegar articles. Badagnani 07:27, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Can you read this? Anything good there? Badagnani 07:35, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

The more I read, the more I think this is marketing hype. Comparing it to "the finest balsamic vinegars" or even calling it "the finest vinegar in the world" seems excessive, seeing that the Chinkiang vinegar has historically been more famous in China; maybe I'm cynical but it seems like this vinegar is being promoted as a way to bring income to this impoverished province, the way the PRC government is now promoting Pu'erh tea to help Yunnan. This type of article gives an example of what I am talking about. Badagnani 07:39, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

It looks like the famous vinegar is called Shanxi lao chencu (山西老陈醋). Badagnani 07:42, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

I lived in Taiyuan for some time, and let me tell you that I ate lots of vinegar-soaked jiaozi and noodles! Absolutely great. Vinegar, along with the aforementioned pepper (la jiao) were the two things you would find on every restaurant table. The lack of information available is probably because of its regional nature; the Shanxi vinegar is rarely found elsewhere in China. Trust me, I asked wherever I went! I doubt much has been written about it in English... but if anyone can find verifiable info, it deserves inclusion. -- 209.105.207.181 (talk) 22:37, 16 November 2007 (UTC)