Rice Wine Vinegar Substitutes It has a stronger taste, and is widely used in Japan to make sushi rice. Don’t have sherry? Rice wine and rice vinegar are popular ingredients in Asian cooking. Rice Wine vinegar VS Mirin. Apart from these, another popular rice vinegar is the seasoned rice wine vinegar, which is made from sake, sugar, salt, and sometimes mirin. It has a bit of alcohol in it, which makes it similar to sake, the traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage. It doesn’t just flavor food. Use one tablespoon vinegar and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar for every one tablespoon of Mirin in the recipe. After treating yourself to a drink, use an equal amount of vermouth, dry sherry, or marsala wine in place of mirin. You could also mix 1/2 teaspoon sugar into one tablespoon of rice wine vinegar to mimic mirin's flavor. Despite their similar names, they have many differences. In a pinch, substitute vermouth, dry sherry, or marsala wine for mirin. If you would prefer using a non-alcoholic substitute, you can use vinegar. However, these mirin substitute options will lack that pleasurable umami taste. The next best mirin substitute is white wine vinegar or rice vinegar. 2. White wine vinegar or rice vinegar + sugar. Although it sometimes gets confused with rice wine vinegar, mirin actually is a sweet rice wine used in Japanese cooking. Both are very acidic, so you’ll need to account for the sweetness of the mirin by adding 1/2 teaspoon of sugar per tablespoon of vinegar. This vinegar is the darkest of all the three varieties, and is noted for its distinctive smoky flavor. Ready to get cooking? You can always buy mirin online, but if you're really in a crunch, you can sub in a dry sherry or a sweet marsala wine. When a recipe calls for mirin, the Japanese sweet rice wine, you need a combination of acidic and sweet flavors. Well, they don’t taste remotely the same … so you *can* substitute the one for the other, but the result in the finished recipe will be quite different. If you don't cook Asian food frequently at home, you probably don't have mirin on hand. A. Yet, you may still wonder … The best mirin substitutes have both acidic and sweet properties, and they include: sweet Marsala wine; dry white wine; dry sherry; rice wine vinegar; These won't be quite as sweet, so try adding 1/2 teaspoon of sugar per tablespoon of the substitute. No problem. However, mirin contains much less alcohol and more sugar content. Some sake with sugar added to taste will work better than any type of vinegar. When I can’t find mirin that is not designated as “cooking” mirin, I use the sake-sugar substitute. Add between 1 and 2 tablespoons of sugar to 1/2 cup of white wine, vermouth, or dry sherry to replace 1/2 cup of mirin. Rice wine vinegar has a similar taste as Mirin, but any white wine vinegar will work. 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