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When searching the web, there seems to be a lot of confusion what the sweet liquid flavoring called mirin in fact is.

It is, for example. often called “sweet cooking sake”, but that is wrong. Mirin does not contain any sake and has not been fermented either.

Mirin is produced by mixing steamed glutinous rice (the type used for mochi rice cakes) on which the koji mold has been cultivated, with shochu (Japanese distilled liquor). Instead of shochu it is also possible to use brewer’s alcohol (ethanol). The koji transforms the starch in the rice into glucose and over a period of 40 to 60 days a delicious sweetness develops. When the mirin is ready, it contains 13.5 to 14.5% alcohol and 40 to 50% sugar.

In other words, in the traditional kitchen, mirin is used as the standard sweetener. The alcohol will evaporate during cooking.

[Photo from the photostream on Flickr of aidanbrooks]

There are several cheap “chemical” replacements on the market, so to make clear we have to do with real mirin, it is called “hon-mirin.” You can also recognize it by the alcohol percentage that is always on the bottle, and the light brown color, as a thin, golden syrup. The chemical replacements are lighter colored and contain less than 1% alcohol.

Mirin possesses a refined sweet taste and a delicious aroma. With dashi, soy sauce, vinegar and miso, it is one of the most important traditional flavorings in the Japanese kitchen.

Mirin is also used as ingredient for all kinds of dip sauces for noodles, for sweetening simmered dishes, for marinades, and the sauces for kabayaki and teriyaki, as well as for glazing grilled foods. Mirin contains lots of amino acids and therefore “umami.” Mirin also helps to mask the strong aromas of meat or fish.

In the past, mirin was sometimes also consumed as an alcoholic drink, by adding more shochu. It is still used as ingredient in otoso, the New Year’s sake that has been spiced up with a herb mixture.