Shaoxing Wine vs Mirin: Which is better for cooking?

Shaoxing wine is the best cooking wine in China. It is a pure yellow liquid. Mirin, a kind of Japanese cooking wine, has the similar appearance and same function with Shaoxing wine to remove the fishy smell of the food, and someone use it as cooking wine substitute. Shaoxing wine vs Mirin, which one of them is better for cooking? Can I use one to substitute the other during cooking? Let’s have a look.
 

Mirin and Shaoxing wine both contain alcohol, so in the cooking process, the fishy smell volatilizes together with alcohol as the temperature goes high.
 

Mirin is a high-sweet cooking wine contains more than 9 kinds of carbohydrates with different sweetness, giving the food a natural sweet taste. Besides, the glucose it contains can reconcile the salty taste of the salt and the sour taste of the vinegar, making the taste of the dish more mellow and fresh. While Shaoxing cooking wine is slightly spicy and has no sweet taste, and the freshening effect is not so obvious.

 

Shaoxing cooking wine makes meat tender for that it can dissolve some organic substances in meat. Mirin makes meat firm, tightens protein and prevents meat from shattering during cooking. Therefore, when cooking meat that require long-term stewing, a proper amount of Mirin helps maintain the integrity of the fish and make the dishes more appealing.
 

Glucose and amino acids in Mirin become golden yellow when heated and make dishes appetizing.

Carbohydrate Shaoxing wine produced during natural fermentation adds color to the dishes. Besides, Shaoxing wine makes dishes fresh by forming sodium salt with edible salt.
 

Mirin and Shaoxing wine both can be used when frying, stewing, roasting, grilling, steaming and baking. Shaoxing cooking wine is mainly used to cook meat, fish and seafood. Mirin can be added when cooking meat, fish, seafood, vegetables and noodles. When steaming rice, adding one or two drops of Mirin can make rice grains chewier; when baking cakes, it can protect the cake from break.
 

Both Shaoxing cooking wine and Mirin have their own advantages and we cannot give a simple and crude conclusion on which one is better. Mirin is an indispensable seasoning when cooking teriyaki dishes and many other Japanese dishes like udon noodles. And only Shaoxing cooking wine can make Chinese dishes more authentic.
 

It is not suggested to replace one for another. Although Shaoxing cooking wine and Mirin are all cooking wines, their traits and functions are not the same.

If you don't have Mirin, the better replacement than cooking wine is rice wine with brown sugar in a ratio of 3:1 or grape wine with a little vinegar. When sousing meat, fish or sea food, Mirin can be Shaoxing cooking wine substitute, while when cooking or seasoning, Mirin cannot be replaced by cooking wine since it has too strong aroma.

The more frequent replacement of cooking wine is Chinese yellow wine. If you replace cooking wine by Mirin, you should reduce the amount of sugar and vinegar used and add it a little late, otherwise the meat will become too firm.

 Read more: An Ultimate Guide to Chinese Cooking Wine