Pineapple vinegar substitutes

The practical answer, in almost every kitchen already. Cider vinegar is fruit-fermented and moderately mild, so it behaves the same way in an adobo or an escabeche - it tenderises, it brightens, it does not shout. It is a little stronger, usually 5 percent against pineapple vinegar's roughly 4, and it tastes of apple rather than pineapple, so a cochinita marinade made with it reads slightly sharper and more orchard than tropical. The spoonful of pineapple juice fixes most of that.

Best for

cochinita pibil, adobos and pork marinades, escabeche and pickled red onions, salsa macha and chilli sauces, dressings and salsas

Unfiltered cloudy cider vinegar is closer in character than a clear one. If it tastes harsh, add a teaspoon of water per tablespoon to bring it down toward pineapple vinegar's gentler strength.

The nearest relatives on a shop shelf. Both are fermented from sugar rather than from grain or grape, both are mild, cloudy and faintly funky, and both bring a soft rounded sourness rather than a sharp one. Cane vinegar has a light molasses warmth, coconut vinegar a slightly yeasty, savoury edge. Neither tastes of pineapple, but the texture of the acidity - the way it sits gently in a marinade - is the closest match available without making your own.

Best for

adobos and marinades, escabeche and quick pickles, salsas and dressings, Filipino and Latin American dishes generally

Found in Filipino, Caribbean and Latin American groceries. Add a spoonful of pineapple juice if the recipe leans on that tropical note.

The cheapest reconstruction and surprisingly effective, since it separates the two jobs - the vinegar brings the acid, the juice brings the fruit. Straight white vinegar on its own is the swap to avoid: it is harsh, considerably stronger and tastes of nothing but sourness, which flattens a marinade built around achiote and citrus. Cut with juice, it lands close enough for most cooked dishes, though it never has the rounded, fermented depth of the real thing.

Best for

pork and chicken marinades, pickled onions and escabeche, cooked salsas, any recipe where the vinegar is one of many strong flavours

Canned pineapple juice is fine here. Use unsweetened juice, or reduce sugar elsewhere in the recipe if yours is sweetened.

In Yucatecan cooking this is not a compromise but often the original: cochinita pibil, escabeche and many adobos are built on naranja agria, sour orange. It is fruitier and more perfumed than pineapple vinegar and less sharply acidic, so the pork tastes brighter and more citrusy and a shade less tangy. If you cannot find sour oranges, two parts regular orange juice to one part lime juice, or equal parts orange and grapefruit with a squeeze of lime, gets very close.

Best for

cochinita pibil and pibil-style roasts, escabeche and pickled onions, marinades for pork, chicken and fish, salsas

Citrus juice does not tenderise or preserve quite like vinegar, so marinate a little longer, and keep the meat refrigerated throughout. Add a splash of vinegar too if the dish needs more grip.

A good option when you want mildness above all. Unseasoned rice vinegar is the gentlest common vinegar, around 4 to 4.5 percent, which is close to pineapple vinegar's own strength, so nothing needs diluting. It is cleaner and more neutral, without any funk or fruit of its own, so the result tastes tidy and simple rather than rustic. Fine in salsas and dressings, slightly bland in a long marinade where you want depth.

Best for

salsas and dressings, quick refrigerator pickles, seafood ceviche-style dishes, delicate marinades

Use unseasoned rice vinegar. The seasoned kind carries sugar and salt and will throw off the balance of a Mexican dish.

The real thing, and the reason this ingredient has such a following - it is made from what you would otherwise throw away. Put the well-washed peels and core of one pineapple in a clean jar with about 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of unrefined or brown sugar, cover with cloth so it can breathe, and leave it somewhere warm out of direct sun. It ferments to a sweet, slightly fizzy tepache in a few days; leave it longer, a further two to four weeks, and it sours into vinegar. Strain and bottle. It tastes fruitier and livelier than anything on this list.

Best for

adobos, marinades and escabeche, salsas and dressings, drinking diluted, in the tepache stage, cooking generally

Keep the fruit submerged and the jar covered with cloth rather than a sealed lid. If it grows fuzzy or coloured mould, or smells rotten rather than sharp and yeasty, throw it out and start again. Because its final acidity is unknown, use it in fresh cooking only - never in canning or shelf-stable pickles.