If you’ve eaten Japanese food, you’ve almost certainly tasted mirin. Alongside miso , soy sauce, dashi , and rice vinegar, the sweet rice wine is a staple of Japanese cooking. It brings richness and complexity to stocks, stews, marinades, and sauces, plus a glossy sheen to glazed dishes like teriyaki.

Mirin is often described as sweet with subtle umami, but Sonoko Sakai, author of Japanese Home Cooking , prefers the term koku . “Koku is like umami, but it gives not just flavor but aroma; you feel it with your palate, and it gives depth.”

But the type of mirin you buy matters—and the bottle your local supermarket stocks likely won’t deliver the koku Sakai describes. Hon mirin, or “true” mirin, tends to be pricey and hard to find in the US. Here’s what sets it apart, when it’s worth seeking out, and what to use when you can’t find any.

What exactly is mirin?

Hon mirin vs.…