New life in old vats
Fermenting good vinegar needs both space and time, and so sticking to the traditional methods can make it a challenging way to make a living. Gao Qiping points over to the rows of vats: “Our vinegar needs at least eight months to ferment and there are only so many vats we can fit in, so even if we wanted to make more vinegar more quickly, there’s no way we could.”
Each of those vats has its own history. “Over time, the ceramic vats accumulate various microorganisms in their pores,” says Gao. “Each of them plays a different role at a different point in the fermentation process—some speed things up, some slow them down, and knowing which to employ when requires experience.”
Gesturing toward a few deeply colored vats, Gao explains that they go back to when the family first crossed the Taiwan Strait during the late Qing Dynasty. The vinegar in them is more than 30 years old, and what they produce has a layered, rich flavor that fills the mouth.
When the company first made the move from Xinzhuang to Shulin, they also added a few new vats, but the vinegar made in them was clearly different in flavor, Gao says. To address that, he spent over two years “maturing” them, the way a tea lover may do with a teapot, to ensure that the Wu Yin vinegar produced in them was as complex and rich as ever.
Making vinegar might sound like an easy task, but when following the traditional methods one has to not only worry about changes in temperature and humidity, but also the threat of earthquakes. Just one little shake can break up the layer of microorganisms on the surface of the vinegar, sending it sinking and impacting the fermentation of the whole batch.
When the Jiji Earthquake struck Taiwan in September 1999, many of Gao Ji’s vats were smashed, while others developed hairline cracks in their bottoms. The vinegar that seeped from these vats began to eat away at the floor, so since then the older vats have been placed on saucers to prevent potential damage.
These venerable vats, dating back to when the Gao family first crossed the Taiwan Strait in the late Qing Dynasty, are still in use today. The vinegar in them is more than 30 years old.