Sushi vinegar | Homemade recipe + 3 best store-bought vinegars

by Joost Nusselder Updated:  January 2, 2022

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Sushi is one of the most famous Japanese dishes known to man! It’s made of rice and is served primarily with fish, occasionally garnished with vegetables and even fruits.

This dish is easy to prepare. There are a lot of recipes available on the internet, which makes it simple to make at home.

However, the need for sushi vinegar remains, as it adds to the flavor of the sushi, with a mild, slightly sweet punch that really adds up well with the overall taste.

In this article, we’ll be going through everything you need to know about this rather unconventional sauce.

This is the type of vinegar you can make to get that perfect sushi taste:

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In this post we'll cover:

• 1 Homemade recipe for sushi vinegar
  • 1.1 Ingredients  1x2x3x
  • 1.2 Instructions 
  • 1.3 Cooking tips
  • 1.4 Interesting nutrition facts about homemade sushi vinegar
• 2 The 3 best store-bought online sushi vinegar brands
  • 2.1 1. Mizkan vinegar sushi seasoning
  • 2.2 2. Nishiki 100% natural seasoned sushi rice vinegar
  • 2.3 3. Marukan sushi vinegar
• 3 Best alternatives for sushi vinegar
  • 3.1 1. White wine vinegar
  • 3.2 2. Apple cider vinegar
  • 3.3 3. Champagne vinegar
  • 3.4 4. White balsamic vinegar
  • 3.5 5. Sherry vinegar
• 4 FAQ
  • 4.1 Is sushi vinegar a must for sushi preparation?
  • 4.2 How is sushi vinegar similar to rice vinegar?
  • 4.3 What if you don’t have sushi vinegar?
  • 4.4 How is mirin similar to sushi vinegar?
  • 4.5 Can I use any vinegar for sushi?
  • 4.6 Can I use white vinegar for sushi rice?
  • 4.7 When do you add sushi vinegar to rice?
• 5 Sushi vinegar is what makes sushi rice so good

Homemade recipe for sushi vinegar

Joost Nusselder

Here, I'll give you the ingredients and recipe for sushi vinegar. It'll help you get an idea of the contents and at the same time, the nutritional value.

The following items are needed in the below-mentioned quantities to make a traditional tasting vinegar.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 cups rice vinegar
• 1 ½ tbsp salt
• ⅛ cup lemon juice
• 1 ½ cups white sugar

Instructions

 

• Thoroughly mix the rice vinegar with salt and sugar while you stir it all in.
• Best to use a saucepan on low heat.
• Then, slowly add the lemon juice to the mix while stirring.
• Keep heating the mixture until the salt and sugar completely dissolve. It'll be immediately evident when this is because you won't see any granules. This will normally take around 15 minutes or so.
• Remember to keep it at a low flame, allowing sufficient mixing. But make sure the mixture never boils at all.
• Once a homogeneous solution is obtained, take it off from the stove and allow it to cool before using it on your sushi.
• For longer shelf life, you can keep it in the fridge.

Keyword Sushi

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Here’s chef Hiroyuki Terada showing how to make sushi rice:

Cooking tips

You can add a sheet of kombu to the mixture when on low heat to get an even more authentic umami flavor. I chose to leave it out from this recipe because:

1. The flavor’s not for everyone
2. Not everyone has kombu lying around

But if you have it, you can experiment with it and see if you like the taste of your sushi.

Also read: dashi vs kombu: differences & how to use both

Interesting nutrition facts about homemade sushi vinegar

Each serving is bound to give certain calories. Here’s a breakdown.

Total calories per serving: 97 calories;

• 0 g fat
• 0 g protein
• 0 mg of cholesterol
• 872 mg sodium (coming from salt)
• 25 g carbohydrates (from sugar content)

The 3 best store-bought online sushi vinegar brands

Looking for alternatives and still not getting the right flavor? Why go through the hassle of preparing it at home and managing the correct ratios?

The best option when you don’t have the time or energy to make it yourself is readily available sushi vinegar you can buy online.

Knowing how sushi vinegar is properly made, let’s see what brands are the best ready-made ones. Many are available that make it easy for you to make sushi rice.

Here are some of the best ones that come with the highest purity, quality, and right flavor.

1. Mizkan vinegar sushi seasoning

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What does it take to make the perfect sushi rice? This product, of course!

Churning out great-tasting sushi rice is easy with Mizkan’s ever-popular sushi vinegar or sushi seasoning. It’s a combination of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in the seasoning mix, which makes it perfect for sushi rice.

Check the latest prices here

Stir with freshly steamed white rice and start shaping it into tiny adorable inari sushi or turn them into maki sushi rolls.

Also read: The 21 types of sushi to know for your Japanese restaurant trip

This vinegar can also be used to season salads as a dressing.

The product itself comes in a bottle with a quantity of 24 fl oz. It also comes from the USA and is produced by Kikkoman.

Nutrition per 100 ml:

• Energy: 557 kJ/133 kcal
• Fat: 0 g (of which Saturates: 0 g)
• Carbohydrate: 33 g (of which Sugars: 27 g)
• Protein: 0 g
• Salt: 8.3 g

Note: the product is gluten-free

Practical use:

When preparing sushi rice, a quantity of 5 tablespoons (75 ml) must be used. For sushi seasoning, you’ll need almost 2 cups (i.e. 500 ml of total uncooked rice is implied). A total quantity of 4 cups (1,000 ml) is used for cooked rice.

Note:

• Don’t forget to thoroughly mix the vinegar to get the full flavor
• When adding to cooked rice, do it when it’s hot

It may also be used for sushi seasoning. You’ll get oil-free sushi by just sprinkling it over the final dish!

Storage tips:

Keep it in a dry, cold place.

Contents:

• Glucose-fructose solution with a balanced addition of water
• Distilled water
• Organic sugar
• Organic salt
• Flavors are food-grade
• It’s served in a regular bottle of 24 oz

Also read: can you use brown rice vinegar for sushi as a healthier option?

2. Nishiki 100% natural seasoned sushi rice vinegar

The next brand of choice is none other than Nishiki.

The brand claims to be 100% natural. So it’s a safe choice if you’re looking up organic items for your day-to-day diet!

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Nishiki’s product is made from pure rice vinegar, which has been delicately seasoned with sugar and sea salt to cure foods like sushi and sashimi to their optimal levels.

This blend is traditionally used to make sushi rice and to marinate vegetables. You can also use it for salad dressing; just drizzle it with vegetable oil to enhance the salad’s flavor!

Enjoy the acidic augmented taste of grilled chicken or fish when you sprinkle this sushi rice vinegar over these foods, or you can also add it to your favorite tuna and macaroni salad.

In case you’re planning to prepare sushi at home to test your Japanese cooking skills, then I highly recommend that you include this product in your cupboard.

Whether you’ll cook ramen, chicken yakitori, or other famous Japanese recipes, eventually, you’ll try to make sushi or sashimi. And when that time comes, you’ll want your sushi rice to have a perfect blend and taste. Otherwise, it won’t be sushi!

Also read: these knives are must haves when it comes to making sushi

Nishiki 100% natural seasoned sushi rice vinegar is usually sold in a 300 ml (10 fluid ounces) bottle and can be purchased at your local Asian grocery store or on Amazon.

Nutritional facts per 1 tbsp:

• Energy: 20 Kcal
• Protein: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 0 g
• Sugar: 6 g
• Sodium 490 mg
• Carbs: 6 g

Practical use:

The practical use of this sushi vinegar is just the same as the aforementioned option since both generally use the same ingredients, with the same intense flavor. So it’s 2 cups for 500 ml rice and 4 cups for 1,000 ml rice. 

Product description:

The brand is derived from 100% natural sources that include:

• Sea salt
• Organic sugar
• Purified water

Benefits:

• It meets high food grades and quality levels to deliver the best to its customers
• The size of the bottle is 300 ml, which accounts for 10 fl oz per bottle
• This product of Japan meets the need of Japanese cuisine that’s sprinkled or added with vinegar
• There’s high availability on Amazon.com
• It has the same authentic Japanese ingredients
• It helps in rolling sushi rice up into the right shape for maki sushi rolls
• It’s placed over salads for garnishing and bumping up the flavor

3. Marukan sushi vinegar

Marukan is a well-reputed brand that has been making authentic Asian products to embellish the cupboard of Japanese food lovers for quite a while now. And when you taste their sushi vinegar, you get to know exactly why! 

Prepared with a bunch of “secret” ingredients following Marukan’s special brewing method, this is a 12 oz bottle of magic that’ll turn your sushi experience into a total foodgasm. 

What makes it best is its perfect balance of sweetness and savoriness, giving the rice a subtly pleasing taste that won’t overwhelm your taste buds. 

Aside from sushi, you can also use it for a bunch of other recipes and marinades. Users love it for the fact that it perfectly blends in with every ingredient!

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Nutrition per 1 tbsp:

• Energy: 25 Kcal
• Sodium: 530 mg
• Carbs: 6 g
• Sugar: 6 g
• Protein: 0 g

Practical use:

Use 5 tablespoons of Marukan sushi vinegar for 75 ml of rice, 2 cups for 500 ml, and 4 cups of vinegar for 1,000 ml of rice. Be sure not to exceed the recommended amount, as it’ll give the rice a very overpowering flavor and ruin the dish. 

Benefits of the product:

• It’s seasoned vinegar with the highest quality standards
• It comes from a highly reputed brand
• There’s no fat in the product as per the label
• Maruki vinegar has a perfect taste for sushi
• Can be used in a variety of recipes, including marinades
• Perfect for salad dressing

Best alternatives for sushi vinegar

If you can’t find a premade sushi vinegar in your nearest Asian superstore or have simply run out of rice vinegar to prepare at home, don’t panic! Following are some of the best alternatives you can use when the recipe and hour call for it.

1. White wine vinegar

The best thing about white wine vinegar that makes it highly suitable for replacing rice or sushi vinegar is its mild flavor. Since it’s not as sweet as rice vinegar, you have to be a little generous with adding sugar to give it the same taste. 

You can conveniently substitute white wine vinegar for rice vinegar in a 1:1 ratio. Also, you should add 1/4 tablespoon of sugar for every single tablespoon of white wine vinegar to get an almost similar taste, or a little more if you’re substituting it for seasoned rice vinegar, e.g., sushi vinegar.

2. Apple cider vinegar

With a subtle taste of apple and generally slightly sweet, tangy taste, apple cider vinegar is another great option to perfect your sushi recipe.

However, keep in mind that the sweetness of apple cider vinegar isn’t as intense as rice vinegar, with the tanginess overpowering the overall flavor.

So you should be way more generous with the sugar than what you’d add to rice vinegar. You can substitute both for a 1:1 ratio.

3. Champagne vinegar

Champagne vinegar is another chef’s favorite for seafood, salad dressings, marinades, and even dipping sauces. The reason is simple: champagne vinegar has a subtle flavor that goes along with everything without overwhelmingly affecting the dish’s overall taste!

But since sushi rice requires that strong, sweet punch, adding a little sugar will help a lot. 

4. White balsamic vinegar

White balsamic vinegar is something that goes well with pretty much everything you’d use sushi vinegar with. The thing that makes it so suitable as a replacement is its sweet, subtle flavor.

With a pinch of sugar and salt, you won’t be able to tell the difference between both of the aforementioned vinegars!

5. Sherry vinegar

Sherry vinegar is another option that you could use if you don’t have seasoned rice vinegar. However, it should be your last option.

Generally used for marinades, sauces, and vinaigrettes, sherry sauce has a very nutty, rich, and slightly sweet flavor.

Though it doesn’t taste exactly the same as rice vinegar, the subtle sweetness, enhanced with a pinch of sugar, will suffice to add a decent flavor to your sushi.

FAQ

You now know how to make sushi vinegar and some other info on it.

But do you have more questions? I’ll answer them below!

Is sushi vinegar a must for sushi preparation?

At times, people substitute apple cider vinegar when they don’t have sushi vinegar. You can do so too!

Just add 1/4th of a teaspoon to every 15 ml of vinegar. It enhances the sweetness of the vinegar and tastes more like the sushi vinegar you’d normally use.

For the sushi to taste traditional, you have to use some kind of vinegar to season the rice. Otherwise, it’d be pretty bland.

How is sushi vinegar similar to rice vinegar?

Sushi vinegar is very similar to rice vinegar. In fact, the latter is the main ingredient of the former! All you do is add sugar, salt, and lemon juice in addition to rice vinegar to get a subtle seasoning to your sushi rice.

Also, check out these exact differences between rice and sushi vinegar here.

What if you don’t have sushi vinegar?

You can overcome not having proper sushi vinegar by using apple cider vinegar. However, it needs a little adjustment to meet up the standard taste.

How is mirin similar to sushi vinegar?

Mirin is a kind of rice wine that’s sweet in flavor. However, the brands that you use might taste like sugar water with a slight tinge of sourness to it.

Sushi vinegar is also sweet with a little sourness to it, but it’s made out of rice vinegar, with added ratios of salt and sugar (5:1:2). Also, this vinegar is only used in making sushi rice.

Also read: these are the basics of sushi for beginners and all you need to know

Can I use any vinegar for sushi?

As a matter of fact, no! You can’t use just any vinegar for sushi, but there are some exceptions.

Since sushi vinegar is made mainly of rice vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and sugar, condiments that share the same (or nearly the same) taste as rice vinegar can be substituted for the main recipe.

However, you’ll have to make some tweaks to the amount of each ingredient you add to make the vinegar, subject to the inherent sweetness or savoriness of the substitute vinegar.

Can I use white vinegar for sushi rice?

Although not a common choice, white vinegar will also work well enough to give your sushi rice a nice flavor. However, it won’t taste as good.

When do you add sushi vinegar to rice?

For the best results, I recommend you add sushi rice vinegar after cooking, when the rice is still a little warm. Also, make sure that the vinegar is spread evenly throughout the rice. Gently stirring the rice will help a lot in this regard.

Sushi vinegar is what makes sushi rice so good

Sushi is undoubtedly one of the best dishes to come out of the already exquisite Japanese cuisine, and its taste is incomplete without adding sushi vinegar. Made with the simplest ingredients, sushi vinegar has evolved over time from just a source of preserving fish to being an indispensable part of the whole recipe.

In this article, we discussed everything you need to know about sushi vinegar, from its origin to taste, uses to substitutes, and everything in between.

We also went through a great recipe you can use to prepare the condiment at home.

I hope my 2 cents have been helpful. See you with another informative article.

Until then, try making a homemade sushi vinegar and see how your tastebuds react to it. You’ll love it, I’m sure!

Check out our new cookbook

Bitemybun's family recipes with complete meal planner and recipe guide.

Try it out for free with Kindle Unlimited:

Read for free

Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.