Mirin
Used in 2 recipes on RecipeWiki.
Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine made for cooking, not drinking: rice and koji are fermented with a distilled spirit until the result is syrupy, low in alcohol and full of a gentle, rounded sweetness. It carries both sugar and a faint savoury depth, which is why a teriyaki sauce built from mirin, soy sauce and sugar turns glossy and lacquered as it reduces rather than just salty. In Chicken Teriyaki the mirin is what gives the glaze its shine and its clinging body, balancing the saltiness of the soy so the sauce coats the chicken without tasting harsh. Look for 'hon mirin' (true mirin) rather than the cheaper 'mirin-style seasoning', which leans on corn syrup; an opened bottle keeps for a couple of months in the fridge.
Most often cooked with
Soy sauce
Spring onion
SugarRecipes with mirin
Chicken Teriyaki
Chicken thighs started skin-down in a cold pan for crisp skin, then glazed in a four-ingredient reduction of soy, mirin, sake and sugar with no cornflour.
Chicken
Dinner
Japanese
Shoyu Ramen with Chashu Pork
A soy-based broth that tastes long-cooked because it is. The pork rolls the night before, which is most of the work and none of the effort.
Pork