Mirin (sweet seasoning) is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 59 recipes to get you started.

What is mirin (sweet seasoning)?

Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine made for cooking, not drinking. It is golden and syrupy with a low alcohol content, and it brings a gentle sweetness plus a glossy sheen to a lot of Japanese cooking.

Think of it as the sweet counterweight to soy sauce.

Where soy brings salt, mirin brings sugar and gloss, and the two together form the base of teriyaki and most simmered dishes. The sweetness comes from rice starch converted to sugar during brewing, not from added sugar, so it tastes round rather than sharp.

Cooking With Mirin

Mirin does its best work in glazes and simmered dishes. Combine it with soy sauce and you have the base of teriyaki. Simmer it down and the sugars reduce into a lacquer that coats fish or pork with a deep, glossy finish.

You can taste that balance in Amazing Asian Glazed Pork Chops and David Chang's Korean Sticky Ribs, where mirin rounds off the soy and gives the glaze its gleam.

It is just as useful off the stove. A splash sweetens dressings and dipping sauces for Cold Soba Noodle Salad, and it balances the soy in the stir-fry sauce for Snow Peas, Carrots & Water Chestnuts Stir-Fry with Asian Sauce. Sushi rice gets a little too, alongside vinegar.

Timing matters. Add mirin near the end when you want its raw aroma, or early when you want only the sweetness and gloss, which lets the alcohol cook off in a couple of minutes at a simmer.

Pairing and a Common Mix-Up

Mirin pairs naturally with soy sauce, sake, dashi, ginger, and toasted sesame. That salty-sweet combination is why it turns up in marinades and stir-fry sauces across East Asian and Asian-American cooking.

The mix-up to avoid is mirin and rice vinegar.

They sit side by side on the shelf and look alike, but vinegar is sour and mirin is sweet. Swap one for the other and a glaze turns either flat and sharp or cloying, so read the label carefully.

Also worth knowing: most supermarket bottles labeled aji-mirin are a seasoning blend with added corn syrup and salt rather than true brewed hon-mirin. They work fine, but they run sweeter and saltier, so go a little easier on added sugar and salt.

Substitutes

The cleanest swap is dry sake or dry white wine plus a little sugar. Use about a tablespoon of sake with half a teaspoon of sugar for each tablespoon of mirin.

No alcohol on hand? A tablespoon of rice vinegar with a teaspoon of sugar mimics the sweet-tangy note, though it leans more sour. White grape juice with a splash of vinegar works too.

None of these match mirin's depth, but they cover the sweetness and acidity well enough for most weeknight glazes and dressings.

Buying and Storing

Look for hon-mirin if you want the real thing; the label lists rice, koji, and shochu, with an alcohol content around 14 percent. The aji-mirin seasonings sit right beside it and cost less.

True hon-mirin keeps for several months at room temperature thanks to its alcohol, though the fridge keeps the flavor brighter once opened.

The aji-mirin blends are lower in alcohol, so refrigerate them after opening and use within a few months. Give any bottle a sniff before using; mirin that has turned smells off and flat rather than gently sweet.

Quick facts

Where to find mirin (sweet seasoning): Mirin (sweet seasoning) is usually found in the asian section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

In Chinese

料酒（甜调味）

British (UK) term

Mirin (sweet seasoning)

en français

mirin (de l'assaisonnement sucré)

en español

mirin (dulce condimento)

Recipes using mirin (sweet seasoning)

There are 59 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 59 recipes

More mirin (sweet seasoning) recipes

• Beer Battered Shrimp with Chipotle Dipping Sauce
• Braised Veal Shanks in Hot & Sour Sauce
• Fiery Shrimp Curry
• Miso Barbequed Tofu
• Seared Sea Scallops On Sautéed Spinach With Hoisin Butter Sauce
• Sesame Gingered Shrimp
• Traditional Japanese Noodles & Broth