Chinese rice vinegars are stronger than Japanese ones, and range in colour from clear to various shades of red and brown. Chinese and especially Japanese vinegars are very mild and sweet compared to distilled and more acidic Western vinegars which, for that reason, are not appropriate substitutes for rice vinegars. Here are the most popular types:

White rice vinegar is a colourless to pale yellow liquid, higher in acetic acid than other Chinese vinegars, but still less acidic and milder in flavour than Western vinegars.

Black rice vinegar is very popular in southern China. Chinkiang Vinegar is considered the best of the black rice vinegars. It is dark in colour, and has a deep, almost smoky flavour.

Red rice vinegar is darker than white rice vinegar, and more pale than black rice vinegar, with a distinctive red colour .

In Chinese cookbooks, ½ tablespoon of Western distilled white vinegar is stated to be equivalent in strength to 1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar, and recipes which call for 4 teaspoons of red rice vinegar could be substituted with only 3 teaspoons of white vinegar.

Japanese rice vinegar is very mild and mellow (approximately 5% acetic acid, much less than western vinegars) and ranges in colour from colourless to pale yellow.

Seasoned rice vinegar is made by adding sake, salt and sugar. Seasoned rice vinegar is added to rice to make sushi rice. It is also used in salad dressings, such as ginger or sesame dressing.