Nakano Rice Vinegar {Giveaway}

One of my very first blogging buddies asked me a few weeks ago if I was interested in trying some Nakano Rice Vinegar. I love cooking with good vinegar, for the bold taste it imparts when I'm cooking light healthy meals, so I was excited to try it.

Nakano makes natural and seasoned rice vinegars, all of which are fat, gluten, and preservative free. Their rice vinegar is also low in calories and lower in sodium than other rice vinegars - by 50%! The available flavors are Original, Roasted Garlic, Basil & Oregano, Red Pepper,
Pesto, Balsamic Blend and Italian Herb.

I received a bottle of roasted garlic vinegar, and at first I was a little bit nervous about the garlic flavor - I could smell a hint of it even before I opened the seal - would it over power my food? Would my mother get within six feet of me after having cooked with it?

I put my fear aside and began looking through the recipe booklet that was included. While all the recipes looked tasty, the tropical chicken looked and sounded amazing, and I had all the ingredients in my kitchen. I made a few modifications to the original recipe, mainly because we were grilling the next day and with the oppressive heat of summer still clinging on (I know those of you who live where it really gets hot are laughing at me, go ahead, I know I'm a wimp!) I didn't feel like roasting chicken inside. I combined all the ingredients and let everything marinate overnight.

Not only was this dish easy, it was delicious! The flavor was rich, tangy and slightly sweet, definitely something I could imagine eating on vacation. I will definitely be making tropical chicken again and again. In case you would like to try it, here is the recipe:

Tropical Roast (or grilled) Chicken

1/4 cup Nakano Seasoned Rice Vinegar (Roasted Garlic flavor)
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1.5 Tbsp minced ginger (I keep my ginger frozen, and use a microplane as a quick and easy way to "mince" ginger!)
1 Tbsp minced garlic (since the microplane is out, may as well grate that garlic clove too!)
1 Tbsp dark toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp each salt & paprika
4 chicken legs (or boneless skinless breasts)

If you're going to grill the chicken, I would suggest pouring everything together in a gallon sized storage bag and letting it sit in the refrigerator overnight. If you would prefer to roast the chicken, preheat your oven to 375. Brush both sides of your chicken liberally with the glaze and arrange on a roasting rack. Bake 20 minutes in the upper portion of your oven. Brush again with remaining glaze and continue baking 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Now that I had tried one recipe, I was intrigued. I went to the recipe section of the Mizkan website and looked around, and now I have several more recipes bookmarked to try. I can especially see myself using these vinegars in dressings and glazes with vegetables and salads.

Would you like to win a Nakano prize pack, including a $25 Gift Card, 1 bottle of seasoned
vinegar and a coupon/recipe booklet? If so, visit the NAKANO website and tell me what Splash tip is your favorite.

For extra entries, you can do any of the following, and leave me a separate comment letting me know:

Sign up for the NAKANO SPLASH Recipe Club to receive a free monthly e-newsletter
featuring great recipes and tips.

Leave a link to your favorite NAKANO recipe in the comment section, and include the title or description

Post about this giveaway on your website or facebook page

Follow me on Twitter

Subscribe to my RSS feed

This giveaway will close at midnight on September 27, and a winner will be randomly selected. I was provided with compensation and a bottle of Nakano Rice Vinegar for this review, but the opinions provided are strictly my own. For more information, please visit my disclosure policy.