What is Mirin?

GadgetGuy

(Formerly Shermie)
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I'm thinking that it's probably an herb or a spice. I've never used it before, but I came across a recipe that calls for it. Can someone tell me, please? I guess that I can do without it if I can't find it. :whistling:
 
Yes, it is a form of rice wine. It tends to be on the sweet side. I have a bottle in the fridge that I use a few time a year. It is a Japanese flavor that I actually like.

GG, you shuld be able to find it in your local grocery store.

CD
 
Yes, it is a form of rice wine. It tends to be on the sweet side. I have a bottle in the fridge that I use a few time a year. It is a Japanese flavor that I actually like.

GG, you shuld be able to find it in your local grocery store.

CD

Sounds like it turns into vinegar if it's kept too long. I don't need it. I was just wondering what it was.No wonder the thread was moved to here! I didn't know what it was, or that it had anything to do with wine. I thought maybe that it was a herb. :woot:
 
Mirin is a kind of rice wine, used a lot in Japanese cooking.

I buy a little bottle every couple of years, use it once, forget about it, find it a couple of years later, throw it out, then repeat the cycle. :laugh:
I like asian style stir fries so I use a bit of it to marinate my meat in it before frying it in the wok..along with other stuff..usully ginger and soy sauce and chili
 
I think I had this discussion with flyinglentris, the Mirin I got at the supermarket has the flavor, but not the alcohol, will post a pic below. Traditionally its a rice wine intended for cooking and as stated above it tends to be on the sweeter side. I often use it in marinades for several Asian dishes.

20220129_095608.jpg

^ commonly found in US supermarkets.
 
I think I had this discussion with flyinglentris, the Mirin I got at the supermarket has the flavor, but not the alcohol, will post a pic below. Traditionally its a rice wine intended for cooking and as stated above it tends to be on the sweeter side. I often use it in marinades for several Asian dishes.

View attachment 80067
^ commonly found in US supermarkets.
Yep, hon mirin is the natural process that extracts the sweetness from the carbs in the rice through fermentation, or at least that's what I remember lol and aji mirin is sweetened with some kind of sugar and generally will have less alcohol or it could have none. It works pretty good for most applications.
 
I'm thinking that it's probably an herb or a spice. I've never used it before, but I came across a recipe that calls for it. Can someone tell me, please? I guess that I can do without it if I can't find it. :whistling:

As others have pointed out, it is a rice wine flavoring agent, similar to a sweetened sake, but with less alcohol. The stuff you buy in the grocery stores, rarely, is true mirin, as they do not include rice wine or sake, due to the alcohol content. So, unless you go to a Japanese source, you get a cheapo mirin substitute which is not mirin, but some fake.

I think I had this discussion with flyinglentris, the Mirin I got at the supermarket has the flavor, but not the alcohol, will post a pic below. Traditionally its a rice wine intended for cooking and as stated above it tends to be on the sweeter side. I often use it in marinades for several Asian dishes.

View attachment 80067
^ commonly found in US supermarkets.

Yes, and I was disappointed that the mirin I purchased was a fake substitute for mirin. The required alcohol ingredient in rice wine or sake makes the grocery store products not mirin, but some flunky fake. So, I have a whole bottle of the fake stuff, that I have to use up gradually and live with it.
 
That is another mirin substitute, apparently it has Japanese flavoring added, not sure what that is but I suspect it will be better than the aji.

It will be a while til I go after some real mirin, but for now, I have a couple bottles of sake and can tip some into this substitute I bought, when I use it. It's the best I'll be able to do.
 
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