Mirin (sweet cooking rice wine)

• Type
• There are three types of following the mirin. Honmirin is a kind of liquor. Ingredients and process of Mirin fu chomiryo are quite different from Honmirin. Mirin fu chomiryo and Hakko chomiryo are cheap because they have no liquor taxes.

  		Honmirin mirin It is made of glutinous rice, rice koji, alcohol. It has variety of cooking effect such as deodorant, flavoring, and so on.
  		Mirin fu chomiryo mirin-style seasoning Added glutamate, a perfume in syrup or glucose. Since a sweetener resembling mirin, alcohol content is less than 1%.
  		Hakko chomiryo fermented seasoning After fermenting glutinous rice, rice koji, the alcohol, it has about 2% salt by the addition of salt.

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• Manufacturing process
• Mirin made ​​with traditional methods is a companion of the liquor, but unlike sake, it does not alcohol fermentation by yeast. Using steamed glutinous rice, rice koji, alcohol such as shochu as raw materials, and let saccharification and aged over a period of several years from 40 days. Starch and protein of glutinous rice are decomposed by the action of koji, unique flavor and sweetness of mirin are born.
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• History
• There are several theories about the roots of mirin, however, the theory of sweet wine brought over from China, and the theory of adding shochu for anti-corruption in Hakata are strong as an origin. In 16th century, mirin, not for cooking, but have been prized as luxury sweet liquor. It was the mid-Edo period that it came to be used as a seasoning as of today. Such as buckwheat soup or sauce of grilled, along with the epidemic of Edo cuisine of "sweet and spicy taste", mirin went popular.