Is Mirin the protagonist of teriyaki? How to use Mirin
There are various seasonings in Japan. Among them, there are many people who do not know how to use mirin and do not understand the difference between cooking sake and mirin. (Including Japanese)
Today is the story of Mirin.
What is the role of mirin?
Mirin is used when you want to add gloss to dishes or when you want to add sweetness. It also has the role of preventing falling apart while cooking. By the way, the meaning of “teri” in ”teriyaki” means gloss.
It is no exaggeration to say that it can be used in place of sugar. If you don’t want to use much sugar, you should try using mirin.
Mirin is sake, which is also high-class sake
In fact, mirin is a high-class sake. There is also mirin that costs about 20,000 yen (about $200) when you search.
Originally, mirin was drunk as a high-class sake 500 years ago. It was 100 years ago that it spread to the ordinary people. It seems that this is because the tax reduction for mirin was approved.
It was in the 300 years ago that it began to be used for cooking, and it seems that eel restaurants uses it for sauce.
Sake becomes sweet when alcohol evaporates
As with cooking sake and mirin, it becomes sweeter when alcohol is evaporates. It has a milder and richer sweetness than sugar.
(Sweeter than sake.)
Difference between Mirin and Mirin-style seasoning
First of all, mirin-style seasonings are made of starch syrup and brewed seasonings of rice and rice jiuqu, and contain almost no alcohol.
On the other hand, Mirin is made from glutinous rice and rice jiuqu, which are made into alcohol and saccharified. It takes about two months to saccharify, during which sugar, amino acids, lactic acid, etc. are produced, giving a unique flavor of mirin.
Mirin-style seasoning contains 1% alcohol, while mirin contains about 14%.
Mirin-style seasoning is a product made because mirin was expensive.
Differences in how to use Mirin and Mirin-style seasonings
As explained above, mirin-style seasonings do not contain alcohol, so there is no need to evaporates alcohol. It can be used in the same way as sugar.
For example, when making a fruit punch (fruit salad with fruit and soda or sparkling water), you can use it like this because it does not contain alcohol, such as adding mirin-style seasoning instead of sugar.
On the other hand, it is necessary to evaporate alcohol from Mirin. Alcohol soaks into the ingredients, making it easier for the sweetness to soak into the ingredients along with the alcohol. However, put it at the beginning of cooking to thoroughly evaporate alcohol.
When making Japanese food, there is an order to add seasonings. It is to put in the sweetest first. Add sugar, sake, mirin first, then salt, vinegar, soy sauce, and miso. The reason for adding sweets at the beginning is that the sweetness does not soak when added later. If you add soy sauce or miso first, the aroma will disappear, so add it last.
Use mirin well to cook well
When mirin is used, the rich flavor contained in the sweetness is reflected in dishes, and the odor evaporate with the alcohol, and it is a seasoning that can also express glossy.
Please make good use of it and enjoy cooking.
Click here for recipes using mirin.
(The image is Similar to teriyaki taste Kinpira burdock root (Gobo))
