8 Substitutes for Mirin + 3 Tips

Diana Barkley (Senior Editor)

Mirin adds or certainly increases umami flavors in Asian dishes. It is quite sweet and its sugar content is helpful when you’re making caramelized, sweet and savory sauces. In this article you’ll find the perfect substitutes for mirin and top reasons, why you should substitute it.

Mirin originated hundreds of years ago and was originally a sweet drink similar to sake. The alcohol content apparently served the purpose of keeping the mirin for long periods of time, though there are some variances in its history.

What we do know is that mirin is now a popular ingredient in many Chinese and Japanese dishes.

Mirin adds or certainly increases umami flavors in Asian dishes. Mirin is quite sweet and its sugar content is helpful when you’re making caramelized, sweet and savory sauces.

Mirin is frequently used in teriyaki sauce, in combination with soy sauce and sugar. The mirin adds a sheen to your sauce that ups it to real gastronomic levels.

In this article, we’ll explore exactly what mirin is, why it’s good for your cooking and baking, and how it differs from another popular Asian ingredient… rice vinegar. Most of all, we’ll explore alternatives to mirin for when you can’t get it or would prefer an alternative in your recipes.

Facts about Mirin

Facts about Mirin

Let’s start with some interesting facts about mirin. This centuries-old Japanese rice wine is a popular addition to many delicious dishes.

Whether you’ve tried it before and just want to explore alternatives, or you’re just starting out on your mirin journey, here is some more information on what it is, what it’s good for, and more.

Here you’ll learn more about japanese food.

What Mirin Is

What Mirin Is

Mirin is a kind of rice wine used predominantly in Japanese cooking. It’s similar to sake in some ways, but has a lower alcohol content.

There are different types of mirin you can buy (particularly if you have an Asian specialty food store near you), which are:

Hon-mirin, or true mirin, which contains around 14 percent ABV and is naturally sweetened through the fermentation process.

Shio mirin, which contains around 1.5 percent of salt, making it unsuitable for drinking but an excellent addition to sauces and stir fries. Shio mirin is also known as ‘fermented seasoning’, and works well in recipes but not as a drink.

Lastly, there’s shin mirin or mirin-fu chomiryo, which is known as ‘new mirin’ or ‘mirin-like seasoning’ and only contains 1% of alcohol but has a similar flavor. The latter is a particularly useful ‘substitute’ for true mirin if you’re concerned about its alcohol content.

What Mirin Is Good For Baking and Cooking

What Mirin Is Good For Baking and Cooking

For baking, you’ll want to opt for hon-mirin or true mirin. The pure, refined quality of this natural fermented rice wine is particularly good for desserts, including ice cream.

We’ve seen Christmas mirin meringue cake recipes and Japanese sponge cake made with mirin syrup, which are both best made with a high quality mirin.

Hon-mirin and shio mirin are both fine for cooking, though the latter contains salt.

If you’re using shio mirin, you’ll want to reduce the amount of salt you add to your recipe and potentially use less soy sauce, too, as soy sauce is also known to be very salty.

Is Mirin Healthy?

Is Mirin Healthy?

Mirin isn’t regarded as unhealthy, but it certainly isn’t a health food. Some have compared it to other available sweeteners, and it has a comparably low GI (glycaemic index) value.

This makes it somewhat unlikely to cause your blood sugar levels to spike. Diabetics are still encouraged to swap for sugar free mirin.

Mirin Versus Rice Vinegar

Mirin Versus Rice Vinegar

Mirin is to rice vinegar what white wine is to white wine vinegar. Essentially, mirin is made from fermented rice and is similar to sake though it’s sweeter and contains less alcohol.

Rice vinegar is also made from fermented rice, however it’s processed until the fermentation converts its alcohol content into acetic acid, or the key component of vinegar.

Taste-wise the two are truly quite different: mirin is sweet and contains alcohol, giving it a bit of a kick, and rice vinegar is fairly acidic.

Rice vinegar does retain a subtle sweetness and is generally much less acidic than Western vinegars, for example white wine vinegar.

But the two are still remarkably different. Rice vinegar can be substituted for mirin if you only have the former at hand, but you should add some extra sugar to your recipe to counteract the tart flavors of the vinegar.

Reasons for Substituting Mirin

Reasons for Substituting Mirin

Mirin is a popular ingredient in Japanese cooking, and is often used for its unique flavor and the complexity it adds to your cooking.

However, there are reasons why someone might choose an alternative over mirin for their recipe preparations. Here are some of the most common ones.

Alcohol Content

Mirin contains alcohol, which some people may wish to avoid for health, personal, or even religious reasons. Fortunately there are both low alcohol and non-alcoholic alternatives available.

Availability

Availability

Outside of East Asia, mirin, and certainly certain sub-types of mirin, may be more difficult to buy. If you’re struggling to find mirin in your local supermarket, there are delicious alternatives that taste similar enough and add the same sort of qualities as the popular Asian rice wine.

Dietary Restrictions

People may have certain dietary restrictions which mean they’d better avoid mirin. For example, mirin is relatively high in sugar, making it unsuitable for those wishing to avoid sugary foods.

Flavors

Not everyone likes the flavor of mirin. Subtly different alternatives may add the same complexity and qualities of mirin, but with flavors you enjoy more. Remember, everyone’s tastes are different, and there’s no reason to use mirin if you just don’t like it.

Best Substitutes for Mirin

Best Substitutes for Mirin

Mirin is reasonably easy to substitute if you can’t find it or need a similar-tasting alternative. Here we list some of our favorite mirin substitutes which, with slight modifications, will result in delicious dishes that taste just as they should.

Sake

Sake

The key difference between sake and mirin is that the former is higher in alcohol and lower in sugar, while the latter is lower in alcohol and higher in sugar.

If you prefer a less sugary recipe, sake is actually an excellent alternative that tastes very similar. Mirin does offer a better balance to saltier ingredients such as soy sauce.

If this is important to you and all you have is sake, adding a tiny bit of sugar to your cooking will balance it out perfectly.

Rice Vinegar and Sugar

Rice Vinegar and Sugar

As mentioned above, rice vinegar is essentially further fermented mirin that has lost its alcohol and become acidic.

The flavors are still reasonably close, and you can mimic the extra sweetness of mirin by adding a little bit of sugar to your cooking.

With that said, some prefer the light acidity of rice vinegar, as it’s fairly well balanced and still less acidic than Western vinegars. Rice vinegar, of course, also doesn’t contain any alcohol, which some will prefer.

White Wine

White Wine

White wine will act as a good replacement for mirin in your cooking. Some suggest using a dry white wine plus sugar, but we actually think a sweet-ish white wine works even better.

Pinot Blanc is a popular, naturally sweet white wine that offers flavors of apple and almond. This makes it a great option for adding mirin-like sweetness and complexity to your cooking.

However, where authenticity is concerned, you may wish to opt for our previous two substitutes.

Best Substitutes for Mirin in Sauces

Best Substitutes for Mirin in Sauces

If you don’t have any mirin but want to add a similar complexity and flavor profile to your sauces, don’t despair: here are a couple of the best substitutes for mirin in sauces.

Top tip: if you don’t want to add alcohol to your cooking, opt for an alcohol-free variety of the below. There are now non-alcoholic vermouths and sherries available at some specialty stores and online.

Sherry

Sherry

Sherry is often used in Mediterranean or French sauces in the same way mirin is in Asian cuisines. Sherry has a similar, subdued sweetness that isn’t overpowering, and a similar-ish alcohol content of around 15-17%.

It is generally a little more acidic and less sweet than typical mirin, but it’s close enough, and will work well in sauces. If you’re lacking sweetness, you can always add a touch of sugar or honey to balance it out.

Marsala Wine

Marsala Wine

Marsala is a popular Sicilian fortified wine that’s frequently added to delicious sauces in the region. It makes for a good substitute for mirin, as the high sugar content caramelizes beautifully.

Mirin is popular for being quite similar in its complexity of flavors, sharing mirin’s umami, boozy, acidic, and sweet notes. Both sherry and marsala are less sugary than mirin, so you may need to add a bit of sweetness to your sauces.

With that said, it’s a fairly close substitute that will work beautifully in sauces and add tons of complex flavors.

Sweet Vermouth

Sweet Vermouth

If you’re up for experimenting with slightly more bold flavors, sweet vermouth can be an excellent substitute for mirin. It’s described as being full-bodied, flavorful, and sweet.

Sweet vermouth contains around 14.5% of alcohol, so it’s very similar to mirin. Flavors include notes of caramel, chocolate, vanilla, and dark fruits.

This makes it a particularly good substitute in strong, flavorful sauces for meats.

Healthiest Substitutes and Alternatives for Mirin

Healthiest Substitutes and Alternatives for Mirin

Healthy substitutes depend a little bit on what your definition of healthy is. If it’s alcohol-free, there are a few, but even the alcoholic variants we mentioned above aren’t particularly unhealthy.

So long as you use any of these in moderation, even alcohol-based alternatives to mirin are fine. As far as sugar content is concerned, the more alcohol or acidity, the less sugar there will usually be. Check nutritional profiles, just to be sure.

Fruit Juice

Fruit Juice

Hear us out: fruit juice may not be your first choice when it comes to substituting mirin, and it is filled with natural sugars.

With that said, a high quality white grape juice is the base ingredient of white wine, and can add a similar sort of sweet and sour balance.

White grape juice won’t contain that much acidity and will be lacking the complexity of mirin, but it can add a bit of depth to a dish that calls for rice wine.

It’s also a decent alcohol-free alternative, making it a good enough choice for when you don’t want added alcohol in your cooking.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar offers a lovely balance of acidity and subtle sweetness. It’s quite a popular substitute for rice vinegar, making it a somewhat fitting alternative for mirin as well.

Apple cider vinegar has a decent amount of complexity and a flavor profile that works well with many sauces and marinades.

If you do use apple cider vinegar instead of mirin, make sure you add it little by little and keep tasting, to ensure it doesn’t overwhelm other flavors in your dish.

Apple cider vinegar is arguably one of the healthiest substitutes you can find, and has long been touted for weight loss, preventing diabetes, lowering cholesterol, relieving heartburn, and even whitening teeth.

Tips for Substituting Mirin

Tips for Substituting Mirin

As you’ll have learned by now, there are plenty of alternatives available for mirin. It mainly depends on what you’re using it for, as mirin’s subtle Asian flavors shine differently in sauces, cakes, and even drinks.

Here are a few of our top tips for substituting mirin ‘the right way’, so you’re getting as authentic a dish or drink as possible.

Compare the Nutritional Profiles of the Substitutes

Tips for Substituting Mirin

If nutrition is one of the key reasons for substituting mirin in your cooking, you’ll want to take a close look at the alternatives and what they contain.

For example, apple cider vinegar offers many health benefits, but sherry is relatively high in sugar.

Marsala wine is even sweeter, containing around 40 to over 100g of sugar per liter of wine. Comparing the nutritional profiles of potential mirin substitutes is your best bet to ensure they fit in with your diet.

Consider the Type of Dish You’re Making

Consider the Type of Dish You’re Making

Mirin can be used in cocktails, but you wouldn’t want to add salty shio mirin in this instance. Likewise, mirin is excellent in marinades, but the best quality hon-mirin may be a little bit wasted here.

Similarly, you wouldn’t want to add sweet vermouth to a salad dressing or apple cider vinegar to a cake. Make sure you consider what type of dish (or drink) you’re making, and take a good look at all available alternatives.

The best mirin substitute will be one that most closely produces the flavors and textures of the recipe you’re re-creating.

Think About Authenticity in Your Cooking

Think About Authenticity in Your Cooking

Mirin is especially used in authentic Japanese cooking. If authenticity is important to you, you might wish to substitute your mirin with other Japanese ingredients, such as rice vinegar or sake.

If the alcohol content of mirin is your key concern, you may want to opt for shin mirin, which contains less than 1 percent ABV, making it a suitable ‘substitute’ for true mirin in authentic Asian cooking.

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