Rice Vinegar

Why rice vinegar is rated low

Rice vinegar comes in low, and the rating is estimated from what is in the bottle rather than from a measured serving in the lab. Plain rice vinegar is fermented rice that has been taken all the way to vinegar, and nothing fermentable is left in it to register, so no FODMAP subgroup is recorded for it. The serving data is qualitative and Any typical portion reads low, which covers a splash into a dressing, a marinade or a stir-fry. The catch is that the bottle beside it on the shelf often is not plain: seasoned and sushi-style rice vinegars have sugar, salt and flavourings mixed in, and dipping sauces built on a rice vinegar base bring their own ingredients. Low describes the plain stuff at the amounts people actually pour, not everything with rice vinegar on the label.

What changes your risk

• Keeping it to a splash Any typical portion reads low, which is vinegar used the way vinegar gets used. Amounts beyond that are not covered by the data, and there is no reason to go there anyway, since vinegar earns its place by being sharp rather than plentiful.
• Plain versus seasoned bottles A bottle marked seasoned or labelled for sushi rice has sweeteners and flavourings added to the vinegar. That changes what you are pouring, so the plain bottle is the one this rating is about.
• The company it keeps in the dressing Rice vinegar rarely goes into anything alone. Bottled ponzu, teriyaki and stir-fry sauces often carry onion and garlic, and those are what push a dish over, not the vinegar. Mix your own with garlic-infused oil, ginger, chives or the green tops of spring onions.
• The whole meal's load Since rice vinegar brings no subgroup of its own, the thing worth watching is the total across the plate. Rice, carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, firm tofu and plain fish all keep that total down; wheat noodles and a legume-based salad do not.
• Reducing it in the pan does not strip anything out Simmering a vinegar sauce concentrates what is already in the pan rather than removing it. Water-soluble FODMAPs only leave a food when you boil it in plenty of water and pour that water away, which is not what is happening in a glaze.

What else works

Plain rice vinegar needs no substitute, so the more useful distinction is which bottles are not the same thing. Seasoned rice vinegar and sushi vinegar are sweetened and flavoured, and ponzu, sushi dressings and bottled Asian salad dressings are blends that commonly include onion or garlic. If you are out of plain rice vinegar and want the same brightness, a squeeze of lemon or lime juice fills the role in a dressing or over a stir-fry, and garlic-infused oil is what to reach for when the flavour you actually want back is the garlic in a bottled sauce.

How to keep it low

Buy the plain bottle and read the ingredient list rather than trusting the front label, since seasoned versions are sold in near-identical packaging and often sit right next to the plain one. Keep it in the cupboard away from heat, and make your own dressing by whisking it with olive oil or garlic-infused oil plus a little maple syrup, which gives you the sweet-sharp balance that seasoned vinegar is sold for without the mystery ingredients. If you season sushi rice, use plain vinegar with table sugar and salt so you control what goes in. Ordering out, the vinegar is almost never the issue: ask what is in the dressing or dipping sauce, because that is where onion and garlic usually turn up.

Common questions

is rice vinegar low fodmap

Yes. Plain rice vinegar reads low at Any typical portion, which covers splashing it into dressings, marinades and stir-fries.

is seasoned rice vinegar the same thing

No. Seasoned and sushi-style rice vinegars have sugar, salt and flavourings added, so they are a different product from the plain vinegar this rating describes. Check the ingredient list.

can i use rice vinegar on the elimination phase

Plain rice vinegar fits the elimination phase at ordinary amounts. What needs checking is the rest of the sauce or dressing it goes into, since bottled blends often carry onion and garlic.

what can i use instead of rice vinegar

A squeeze of lemon or lime juice gives similar brightness in a dressing or a stir-fry. If you are replacing a bottled sauce rather than the vinegar itself, garlic-infused oil plus chives or the green tops of spring onions gets the savoury flavour back.