Sqwertz wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 19:50:45 -0500, cshenk wrote:
>
> > Mirin comes in many types, and is salted deliberately for taste and
> > cooking reasons among some of them. No relationship to USA 'keeping
> > people from drinking them'.
>
>
> Cooking wines have 2% salt added to avoid having to pay alcohol taxes
> (which can be quite high in some states), to allow them to be sold to
> minors and over state lines, to allow them to be sold in stores that
> may not have a beer/wine permit, and to preserve them for extended
> shelf life.
>
> These are the ONLY reasons they have salt added to them - taste not
> being one of those reasons. They cannot be used for drinking since
> the law requires that they be 2% salt. And you'd get a rude surprise
> when do you do try and drink them in any significant quantity.
> Unsalted mirin exists all over Japan (they probably don't even have a
> salted version), but here in the U.S. it is almost always salted so it
> can be sold without the limitations put on normal wine (and so people
> won't drink it).
>
> Why is this so hard to comprehend? I was actually defending your
> statement you made a few posts ago.
>
> -sw

Steve, this is a Japan item. We already know why USA salts wines.
Some are trying to explain that isnt why some versions of Mirin are
salted which has ZERO relation to USA liquor laws ok?

Most Mirin that I got out in town in Japan was lightly salted plus was
sweeter than saki (sugar added). It was used for cooking. It was rare
to get it unsalted there but I surely did find such.

There is no relation to Japanese salting Mirin, and USA salting sherry
due to alcohol sales laws, only that a USA place may select the salted
versions due to that.


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