What Is Mirin? Uses, Types, and Best Substitutes

If you’ve eaten Japanese food, you’ve almost certainly tasted mirin. Alongside miso, soy sauce, dashi, and rice vinegar, the sweet rice wine is a staple of Japanese cooking. It brings richness and complexity to stocks, stews, marinades, and sauces, plus a glossy sheen to glazed dishes like teriyaki.

Mirin is often described as sweet with subtle umami, but Sonoko Sakai, author of Japanese Home Cooking, prefers the term koku. “Koku is like umami, but it gives not just flavor but aroma; you feel it with your palate, and it gives depth.”

But the type of mirin you buy matters—and the bottle your local supermarket stocks likely won’t deliver the koku Sakai describes. Hon mirin, or “true” mirin, tends to be pricey and hard to find in the US. Here’s what sets it apart, when it’s worth seeking out, and what to use when you can’t find any.

What exactly is mirin?

Traditional hon mirin is made from just three ingredients: glutinous rice, koji, and shochu (a Japanese distilled spirit often made from rice). During production, enzymes break down the rice’s starches into “simple sugars, mostly glucose,” explains Hiroko Shimbo, author of The Japanese Kitchen. That gives mirin a distinctive sweetness without added sugar.

Shimbo describes that sweetness as more subtle and “elegant” than table sugar. She explains that glucose is about 70% as sweet as sucrose (the sugar commonly used in cooking), while Sakai notes that mirin has a lower glycemic index than many other sweeteners.

Hon mirin’s alcohol content further sets it apart. With an ABV around 14%, it’s about as alcoholic as some sakes and most grape-based wines, though it’s not generally consumed as a beverage. (One exception is o-toso, a traditional spiced mirin-based New Year’s drink.) Its alcohol content also makes it useful in cooking. “Alcohol denatures proteins,” says Shimbo. “It helps them firm up slightly—it’s also hygroscopic, so it helps to retain moisture.” The result is food that’s tender, juicy, and rich with umami sweetness.

For a bottle of the real thing, Sakai recommends Fukuraijun hon mirin, while Shimbo favors Mikawa hon mirin from Sumiya Bunjiro Brewery.

Of course, not everyone is using true mirin. Most American home cooks likely have aji-mirin on hand. Translated as “tastes like mirin,” and widely available and inexpensive, aji-mirin is typically made with glucose or corn syrup, water, rice, salt, and alcohol rather than through the lengthy traditional production process. Alcohol content varies by brand; Kikkoman’s aji-mirin, for example, contains about 8%.

Both Shimbo and Sakai avoid aji-mirin, citing its less nuanced flavor and more intense sweetness. Shimbo also notes that aji-mirin’s lower alcohol content can affect how it performs in cooking.

That said, if you can’t find anything other than aji-mirin when shopping, don't despair. J. Kenji López-Alt, author of The Food Lab, also admits that aji-mirin doesn't have the same flavor. “Natural fermentation creates all these byproducts that give hon mirin better aroma,” he says. But he also notes that mirin often makes up only a small portion of a dish and is generally cooked alongside other strongly flavored ingredients. While he uses naturally brewed mirin when he can, “I also cook all the time with aji-mirin—it’s not a problem. You'll notice a difference, but even the cheapest stuff is still going to work just fine.”

Both mirin and sake are rice wines used in Japanese cooking, but mirin is considerably sweeter. The difference comes down to how they’re made.

Hon mirin is made with mochi gome (sweet or glutinous rice) and shochu, a distilled spirit that creates an alcohol-rich environment while koji enzymes break rice starches into sugars. Sake, by contrast, uses sakamai (sake rice) and relies on yeast to convert sugars into alcohol, leaving it considerably less sweet.

Sake is also brewed for drinking, so you’ll find a much wider variety of styles and flavor profiles on the market, some of which would be wasted on cooking.

Though mirin and rice vinegar are both rice derivatives, they have very little in common. Mirin is sweet, syrupy, and alcoholic, with an umami undercurrent. Rice vinegar is acidic and tart, with little natural sweetness.

Their shared origins might tempt you to substitute rice vinegar mixed with sugar for mirin, but Shimbo, Sakai, and López-Alt agree the result would be far too acidic. Save the vinegar for dishes that need tang, not mirin’s rounded sweetness.

What’s the best substitute for mirin?

According to López-Alt, Shimbo, and Sakai, the best substitute for mirin is sake mixed with a sweetener. The two wines share enough characteristics to make this a closer match than most alternatives, though the result won’t have all the complexity of hon mirin.

Any sake you have on hand will do, but Shimbo recommends keeping a large bottle of seishu (clear sake) for cooking. Avoid anything labeled “cooking sake,” which may contain added salt that could throw off your dish’s seasoning.

López-Alt generally combines two parts sake with one part sugar by volume. Shimbo prefers brown rice syrup, which she finds more closely mimics the sweetness of hon mirin. Both Shimbo and Sakai also offer maple syrup as a worthwhile swap.

If you don't have sake or aji-mirin, you can use dry white wine or dry sherry mixed with a sweetener, though neither is an exact substitute. “Dry white wine is closer than a sherry,” says López-Alt, but it brings a distinct flavor that can substantially change the finished dish. As he points out, many recipes that call for mirin also call for sake, so you may need to replace both.

None of our experts had an alcohol-free alternative they strongly recommended. Some mirin-style seasonings contain less alcohol than hon mirin, and others are alcohol-free, but they aren’t interchangeable in every application. Check the label carefully: Aji-mirin can contain alcohol, and shio mirin (salted mirin) isn't necessarily alcohol-free.

Cooking can reduce mirin’s alcohol content, but it doesn't guarantee that all the alcohol evaporates. If you’re strictly avoiding alcohol, choose a product explicitly labeled alcohol-free rather than relying on cooking time.

Be mindful of added salt, too. Some mirin-style products are salted to make them unpalatable for drinking, so you may need to adjust other sodium sources in your recipe.

How should you store mirin?

Hon mirin is remarkably shelf-stable thanks to its sugar and alcohol content. Store it tightly sealed in a cool, dark place rather than the refrigerator, where its sugars may crystallize. Storage recommendations for aji-mirin and other mirin-style seasonings vary by product, so check the label for instructions after opening.

How to use mirin

Combined with soy sauce and sake, mirin makes a silky tare (seasoning base) for ramen or, when reduced until syrupy, a lip-smacking teriyaki sauce. Try it on salmon, steak, vegetables, and more.

Mirin is equally at home in quick-cooking dishes like stir-fried udon with pork and soboro don, as well as slow braises, soups, and marinades. Its delicate sweetness complements fish and tofu, as in brothy steamed bass, and balances the tang of this versatile miso-turmeric dressing. Mirin can also be used in many applications where Western-trained cooks might reach for table sugar. “When you use real mirin,” says Shimbo, “there are many good effects.”