What to use instead of mirin

Q: What can I use instead of mirin for sweet glaze in a teriyaki-style sauce?

Sake plus sugar (1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin). All but identical once reduced. Cleaner and less sticky-sweet, which suits fish. Dry sherry plus sugar (1 tbsp dry sherry + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin). Nutty and faintly oxidised. Reads fine on chicken and thighs and odd over white fish. Rice vinegar plus sugar (1 tbsp rice vinegar + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin, simmered 30 seconds longer). Sharper, and the glaze reads sweet-and-sour rather than round. Add the vinegar early so the harsh edge cooks off. White grape juice plus rice vinegar (1 tbsp white grape juice + 1/4 tsp rice vinegar per 1 tbsp mirin). The closest non-alcoholic glaze. Slightly fruitier and it thickens a touch sooner, so watch the pan.

Q: What can I use instead of mirin for sweetness and aroma in a simmered dish or broth?

Sake plus sugar (1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin). Same job, drier finish. A nikujaga made this way tastes less sweet and more savoury. Sugar plus water (1 tsp sugar + 1 tbsp water per 1 tbsp mirin). The sweetness lands and the aroma does not. Fish in the pot smells stronger without the alcohol to lift it off. Shaoxing wine plus sugar (1 tbsp Shaoxing + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin). Pushes the broth Chinese, with more caramel and a yeasty note in the steam.

It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.

Sweet glaze in a teriyaki-style sauce

Its sugars reduce to a shine that plain syrup does not give, and the alcohol carries flavour into the surface of the fish or chicken while it cooks off.

Sake plus sugarRan out

1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin

All but identical once reduced. Cleaner and less sticky-sweet, which suits fish.

Dry sherry plus sugarRan out

1 tbsp dry sherry + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin

Nutty and faintly oxidised. Reads fine on chicken and thighs and odd over white fish.

Rice vinegar plus sugarNo alcohol

1 tbsp rice vinegar + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin, simmered 30 seconds longer

Sharper, and the glaze reads sweet-and-sour rather than round. Add the vinegar early so the harsh edge cooks off.

Where to buy it →

White grape juice plus rice vinegarNo alcohol

1 tbsp white grape juice + 1/4 tsp rice vinegar per 1 tbsp mirin

The closest non-alcoholic glaze. Slightly fruitier and it thickens a touch sooner, so watch the pan.

Where to buy it →

What doesn't work: Aji-mirin or mirin-style seasoning poured 1:1 without reading the label. Most of it is corn syrup, water and salt, so the glaze goes sweeter and saltier at the same time. Drop the soy in the recipe by a third if that is what is in the cupboard.

Sweetness and aroma in a simmered dish or broth

It sweetens without any graininess and its alcohol takes the raw edge off fish and meat as the pot comes up to heat, which is why it goes in early rather than at the end.

Sake plus sugarRan out

1 tbsp sake + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin

Same job, drier finish. A nikujaga made this way tastes less sweet and more savoury.

Sugar plus waterNo alcohol

1 tsp sugar + 1 tbsp water per 1 tbsp mirin

The sweetness lands and the aroma does not. Fish in the pot smells stronger without the alcohol to lift it off.

Shaoxing wine plus sugarRan out

1 tbsp Shaoxing + 1 tsp sugar per 1 tbsp mirin

Pushes the broth Chinese, with more caramel and a yeasty note in the steam.

What doesn't work: Sweet white wine such as riesling. It carries far more acid than mirin does, which sours a dashi broth and can make a chawanmushi custard weep water as it sets.