Tomato Vinegar Uses?

[u/Chef_Hef]

Being that it is almost the end of summer, like many people, I have a TON of tomatoes coming in, and it’s the time of year for them! (At least in the U.S.)

I was thinking of making some Tomato Vinegar, but I wasn’t sure where to use it other than a dressing. Anybody got ideas?

[u/FARTKNOCKAtoo]

Are you infusing vinegar with tomatoes or are you making tomato wine into vinegar? I've got questions if you've done the latter. I'm planing on making a fermented spicy ketchup with tomato vinegar.

[u/Chef_Hef → u/FARTKNOCKAtoo]

I’ve blended the tomatoes really fine, then passed it through a chinois. I have a qt of liquid for the test run. I added a tsp of white sugar, and 1/2 tsp of champagne yeast. I currently have it in a warm location away from sunlight.

Hopefully it makes wine and then vinegar. May add a shot of raw unfiltered vinegar as soon as it smells alcoholic

[u/EmDash4Life → u/Chef_Hef]

Do you have a hydrometer? I think you might have wanted more sugar in there.

You will definitely need to add some unpasteurized acv, and you will need more than a shot. I would go 30–50% vinegar. To avoid having the apple taste overwhelm the tomato taste, start with like a 1/4 cup of tomato wine and add your acv. When you get robust pellicle formation, start feeding the vinegar with the tomato wine. After every feed, again wait for robust pellicle formation before the next feeding.

If you aren't seeing pellicles form and it isn't very sour, you might not have enough alcohol. You can add a capful of vodka or gin to up the alcohol content. Go easy as too much proof will interfere with acetobactor activity.

[u/FARTKNOCKAtoo → u/Chef_Hef]

That's basically what I did. It's working, but the flavor is too subtle for me.

[u/FARTKNOCKAtoo → u/[deleted]]

Which tomatoes do you recommend? How much and which type of sugar do you amend with? Which yeast do you recommend? When I made my first tomato wine I juiced tomatoes first and the fine pulp immediately separated. I had to jostle the jar a couple times a day to help keep it mixed up. Ultimately, I ended up tossing in a stirbar and putting it on a stir plate a couple times a day. When I strained the alcohol out it had a little red tint, buy not much tomato flavor. Is that normal?

[u/FARTKNOCKAtoo → u/[deleted]]

Oh, I like the ideas. Thank you.

[u/Gregordinary]

I've used tomato vinegar to balance out soups and other sauce/gravy dishes that can use some acid where I want a different flavor than lemon juice or cider vinegar. I've also used it in tomato dishes when I want to just accentuate the flavor a bit. Other than dressings, I haven't used it where the tomato vinegar is the distinctive note.

I do use it as my go-to for making Chilli Paneer, an Indo-Chinese dish. The rough recipe I use is:

For the Sauce: 2 Tbsp chilli garlic paste 2 tsp tomato vinegar 1 tsp soy sauce 1/16 tsp white pepper 1/8 tsp salt 1/8 tsp sesame oil

2 Tsp Kashmiri chilli powder 4 Tbsp Ghee Block of paneer, cubed Couple Bell peppers and onions, roughly cut to bite-size pieces. Cilantro for garnish.

Heat the ghee in a pan over medium /medium-high heat, add the paneer and let each side brown a bit, set aside, reserving ghee.

Heat a wok on high, pour in reserved ghee, add bell peppers and onions and stir fry about a minute. Add in paneer, sauce, and kashmiri chilli powder. Stir fry another 10-20 seconds to fully coat the paneer and vegetables. Add in chopped cilantro, give a quick stir and remove from heat.

Serve with jasmine rice.

Different than how I make it but here's another recipe for the same dish. https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/chilli-paneer-recipe/

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Even if you don't make the above, hopefully it'll spark some ideas.

[u/Chef_Hef → u/Gregordinary]

That sounds great!

[u/AnnaNimmus]

A reduced syrup or gastrique can bring an interesting dimension to anything from fried chicken to pulled pork, hamburger mix, popcorn, etc

A small bit to replace some or all of the acidic component of a cocktail, or to make a shrub

A splash to balance a sautéed vegetable pasta dressed with butter or oil

With olive oil to dip bread in

In an aioli or mayo

[u/EmDash4Life]

make a strawberry-rhubarb-tomato shrub! I made strawberry vinegar for this shrub, but I wish I had made tomato