The market · Seasonings and ferments · East Asia

Mirin

Sweet Japanese rice wine, used as a seasoning.

sweet · winey

What to do with it

Classics built on it
JapaneseChawanmushiA savoury egg custard, steamed in a teacup with dashi, and set so softly it barely holds.2 versions hereJapaneseOyakodonChicken and onion simmered in sweet dashi and soy, bound with barely set egg and slid over a bowl of rice.No one here has made it yetJapaneseTonkotsu ramenThin, straight noodles in a cloudy, creamy pork-bone broth, with slices of chāshū, red pickled ginger and spring onion.No one here has made it yet

Kinds

Hon-mirin
The real thing — fermented, around 14% alcohol.
Mirin-style seasoning
Mostly sugar, little alcohol — check the label.

If you can't find it

Japanese grocers; hon mirin is the real thing, aji-mirin is sweetened.

  1. 1Sake
    The same, with a teaspoon of sugar per tablespoon
    You lose a little gloss.
  2. 2Fino sherry
    The same, with a teaspoon of sugar per tablespoon
    You lose mirin's clean, rice sweetness.

Goes with

soy saucedashi

Cooked with, here

dashieggginkgo nutlight soyprawn–8 hours ahead marinate the fishcaperchopped parsley
Put with it only once, though they're used elsewhere here — where experiments start:
butterflaky saltsherry vinegar

How much, here

0.8–1% of the dish by weight, typically 0.8% — a place to start.

Chawanmushi1 tsp mirinAna Etxarri · 0.8% of the dishChawanmushi, my grandmother's1 tsp mirinKenji Hara · 0.8% of the dishShio Koji–Mirin Halibut2 tsp mirinDaryl · 1% of the dish

Knowing it

Where to buy
Japanese grocers.
A little history
Drunk as a sweet liqueur in the Edo period before it settled into the kitchen.

Kitchens that keep it in

JapanJapaneseA cooking of restraint and season, built on dashi — and on letting one ingredient taste as much of itself as it can.10 classics · 2 cooked here

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