Food in the time of a pandemic

[Duvel]

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

Real Mirin.

Well ... this is shio-mirin (“salted” mirin, next to no alcohol content, but added salt). It is definitely better that the aji-mirin varieties, but not a preferred choice for many dishes. If you’ll ever get your hands on hon-mirin (“real” mirin) you’ll never go back ...

[ElsieD]

Can someone please tell me when a recipe calls for mirin, and mirin is all it says, is it calling for the sweetened stuff or the unsweetened?  

[Duvel]

5 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Can someone please tell me when a recipe calls for mirin, and mirin is all it says, is it calling for the sweetened stuff or the unsweetened?  

Actually, all mirin is sweet. It is similar to a sweet sake, where part of the starches have been converted into sugars. This can happen naturally (and the sugars undergo subsequent alcoholic fermentation) to produce hon-mirin.

You can cut the process short, add alcohol and sugars (HFCS if you are unlucky), and get aji-mirin or mirin-fu, which tastes very “one-dimensional”, yet has the sweetness of regular mirin.

So you can use any mirin type in cooking in light of the sweetness, adjusting a bit for your taste, of course...

Edited December 23, 2020 by Duvel (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

 

My parents had all his albums. I've been pretty indecisive about what to have for xmas day dessert along with our pizzas....zabaglione? Pink peppermint ice cream with hot chocolate sauce?  But  now at least I know what to do for New Year's Eve: I will get some thulium and thallium and go out with a bang. Here's to the end of 2020!

 

I have all but the 10 inch.

 

[weinoo]

We should all know Kimball is a liar...

 

Quote

we love Ohsawa Organic Genuine Mirin because it is the real stuff, made using traditional methods by the Kankyo Brewery since 1862.

 

 

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, Duvel said:

Actually, all mirin is sweet. It is similar to a sweet sake, where part of the starches have been converted into sugars. This can happen naturally (and the sugars undergo subsequent alcoholic fermentation) to produce hon-mirin.

You can cut the process short, add alcohol and sugars (HFCS if you are unlucky), and get aji-mirin or mirin-fu, which tastes very “one-dimensional”, yet has the sweetness of regular mirin.

So you can use any mirin type in cooking in light of the sweetness, adjusting a bit for your taste, of course...

 

So I have these two bottles.  One is sweet, the other is not.  What is the one on the right, then?  I thought it was unsweetened mirin.

[weinoo]

By the way, if anyone has a source for the real-er mirin in the US, I'm all clicking fingers.

 

 

[Duvel]

23 minutes ago, weinoo said:

We should all know Kimball is a liar...

 

 

 

I have no idea who Kimball is.

[Duvel]

7 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

So I have these two bottles.  One is sweet, the other is not.  What is the one on the right, then?  I thought it was unsweetened mirin.

Mirin should always be sweet (either by natural fermentation or added sugars). Do you have a picture ?

Edited December 23, 2020 by Duvel (log)

[ElsieD]

8 minutes ago, Duvel said:

Mirin should always be sweet (either by natural fermentation or added sugars). Do you have a picture ?

Oops.  I took a picture and forgot to post it.  Here it is:

[liamsaunt]

No CSA or fish deliveries for the next couple of weeks because of the holiday, so we placed an Eataly order to get in some festive stuff for the season.  That's a fresh truffle in the clamshell in front.  I gave my husband a truffle shaver in his stocking last Christmas and he finally gets to use it.  The fruits and vegetables are just a random assortment selected by Eataly.  They gave us two pomegranates and I just had a jar of arils delivered from Wegmans this morning.  Lots of festive salads in our future I guess.  

 

[Duvel]

The bottle on the left is aji-mirin (as you know) and should be quite sweet. This is what you want to use if your recipe asks for mirin.

The bottle on the right is ryorishu or cooking sake. It should not be sweet at all and you can use it if a recipe calls for sake.

 

 

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

We should all know Kimball is a liar...

 

1 hour ago, Duvel said:

I have no idea who Kimball is.

 

Where the info about Ohsawa came from:

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Kimball

[Duvel]

3 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

 

Where the info about Ohsawa came from:

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Kimball

Thanks - I do not know him. It could be that Japanese cuisine is not one of his areas of full expertise. He certainly might be right that his favored product could have a deeper & more complex flavor than (at least the available) Kikkoman choices in the US.

 

And that being said: shio-mirin is a product of its own right (though often used to circumvent the import tax for alcoholic beverages), and the one you‘ve chosen seemingly comes from a reputable producer - so please enjoy !

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

We should all know Kimball is a liar...

 

 

 

And a cheat and an all around pompous selfish human. No one protects his recipes like he does, not that I want them.

[weinoo]

Seriously, if anyone can show me where to get this hon-Mirin in the US, I would buy it.  There is a shop in Brooklyn that specializes in Japanese sake, I will give them a call.

Edited December 23, 2020 by weinoo (log)

[weinoo]

Here are Japanese hon mirin brands from Just One Cookbook she says are popular and good:

 

Popular Hon Mirin in Japan

• Fuki Hon Mirin (Godo Shusei)
• Fukuraijun Hon Mirin (Hakusen Shuzo) – picture on the right
• Gyokusen Hakuryu Junmai Hon Mirin (Gyokusendo Shuzo)
• Hinode Hon Mirin (King Brewing Co)
• Isshisoden Hon Mirin (Ogasawara Mirin Jozo)
• Kankyo Mirin (Kankyo Shuzo)
• Kokonoe Sakura (Kokonoe Mirin)
• Mikawa Mirin (Sanshu Mikawa Mirin) – picture on the left
• Takaraboshi Hon Mirin (Honbo Shuzo)

[Duvel]

I usually buy Hinode. It is one of the more economic brands and I used to buy it when I was living in Japan, so I kept the habit. I have another (more fancy) one down in my cellar which came in a care package from a dear Japanese friend, but I haven’t gotten to try it yet.

Edited December 23, 2020 by Duvel (log)

[KennethT]

@weinoo A bit closer to home is http://www.sakayanyc.com/ They're in the East Village... I don't know if they carry mirin, but I know they have a great sake collection

[KennethT]

@weinoo Also - if you're there, you might want to check out Sunrise Mart - I wouldn't be surprised if they had it.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

weinoo et al, next time you're in Paris, do make a point of visiting    Workshop isse

on rue St, Augustin, east of Opera.    Joyous collection of condiments, vinegars, rice wines, warm welcome and generous samples.

[weinoo]

57 minutes ago, KennethT said:

@weinoo Also - if you're there, you might want to check out Sunrise Mart - I wouldn't be surprised if they had it.

 

Yeah, I checked online both here and Katagiri. Nada so far.

[gfweb]

On 12/20/2020 at 4:29 AM, HardyH said:

I've started to cook every day on my own. Recently I used delivery services a lot, but now I have much more time at home

Amazing how much money you'll save and have fun too

 

[gfweb]

On 12/22/2020 at 1:28 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Indeed I did really come home to a shrink wrapped case of 20 pounds of peanut butter, thanks to amazon and UPS.

 

You have a lot of mouse traps to bait?

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Yeah, I checked online both here and Katagiri. Nada so far.

I know it's a hike, but what about Mitsuwa?  I think the closest one is in Edgewater, NJ.  I haven't lately, but years ago, I bought stuff from them online and they shipped - I was experimenting with obulato at the time after having stuff based on it at El Bulli and couldn't find it anywhere... except Mitsuwa in Chicago, who shipped it.  Now, I see it in Kalustyans!