"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote in message
. ..
> Hello, sanne!
> You wrote on 28 Dec 2006 15:20:04 -0800:
>
> ??>> He said it is "HAN" mirin.
> ??>> I took this to mean it is "Chinese" mirin, or "a brand of
> ??>> mirin called "Han," or a type of mirin. I have googled
> ??>> for unsweetened Mirin and naturally sweetened mirin, but
> ??>> have found nothing.
>
> s> As I thought - it's a brand of soju, produced in
> s> South-Korea.
>
> It's an interesting question. Apparently, you can't malt the starch in
> rice so a special yeast preparation is added, kome-koji, which breaks down
> the starch to sugars. If all these sugars are not converted to alcohol,
> you would seem to have a "naturally sweetened" product. See
> http://www.geocities.co.jp/foodpia/1751/mirin.html for the "mirin
> process".
>
> If someone can give a clearer explanation, without reference to mysticism
> and tradition, I'd also be glad to have it too.
>

> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland

I found an answer to the word that I thought was "Han" or 'han." It is here
at referred to as "hon mirin."
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/sau...rinprofile.htm

"Mirin Varieties: There are two types of mirin: hon mirin and shin mirin.
The difference is the amount of alcohol. Hon mirin contains nearly 14%
alcohol. Hon mirin was available only at alcohol retailers until December
1997, but now it's sold at supermarkets too. Shin mirin has less than 1%
alcohol but has the same flavor as hon mirin, so it's commonly used for
cooking."

Perhaps the 14% would reduce the sugar that was needed to add, and the 1%
would have more sugar added; so that they will taste the same.

Dee