Today I was watching Ming on his TV program and he said to buy a naturally
sweened Mirin vs. the kind where they add sugar. 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.
Any comments welcome,
Dee

On Dec 28, 11:53 pm, "Dee Randall" > wrote:

> 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.

As I thought - it's a brand of soju, produced in South-Korea.

Bye, Sanne.

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

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

"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

"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:

> 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
<snap>
"Nan: is the Korean word for Korean

Joe Umstead