Recipes with mirin

109 recipes. Page 2 of 5

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Ishikari Nabe Salmon Miso Hotpot

Salmon fillet with skin and bony parts, milt, and loosened roe all go into one pot of kelp stock seasoned with miso in this Hokkaido-style nabe. It is said to come from fishermen near the mouth of the Ishikari River, who dropped fresh salmon pieces and bones straight into miso soup to celebrate a big catch. Root vegetables, konnyaku, tofu, and rolls of blanched spinach wrapped in napa cabbage are arranged in sections around a mound of miso in the center. A final dusting of sansho pepper over the whole pot adds a tingling lift to the miso broth.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 40min Cook 30min 4 servings

Kimchi Medium

Omizuke (Yamagata Chopped Mustard Green Pickle)

Finely cut seisai, a Yamagata mustard green, is mixed with daikon, carrot, sunchoke, salted shiso seeds and yellow edible chrysanthemum petals into a colorful, finely chopped relish. It comes from the Murayama, Mogami and Okitama areas of Yamagata. The green liquid released during the overnight pre-salting is poured off and the vegetables squeezed hard, which keeps the soy, mirin and zarame sugar marinade from being diluted. Mildly salted and soy-seasoned, it is spooned over rice or mixed into rice balls, ochazuke or fried rice. That low salt also means it stays refrigerated and is eaten within about two weeks.

Prep 35min Cook 15min 20 servings

Noodles Easy

Kake Udon (Plain Udon in Clear Dashi Broth)

It is just udon in a broth of bonito flakes and kombu, topped with a few slices of kamaboko fish cake and some scallion. Nearly all the work goes into seasoning that broth so it stays clear and light rather than salty.

Prep 10min Cook 12min 2 servings

Salads Medium

Narae (Seven-Ingredient Vinegar Salad)

Daikon, carrot, lotus root, shiitake, fried tofu, burdock and koya-dofu (freeze-dried tofu) are cooked in three separate batches before meeting one sweet rice-vinegar dressing. Each group keeps its own texture: crunchy lotus root and burdock, tender daikon, and koya-dofu that holds stock like a sponge. Spreading the cooked pieces in a sieve until they stop dripping keeps the vinegar dressing from turning thin. The simmered koya-dofu cools in the sieve on its own, untouched: pressing it while hot would break it and squeeze out the stock it absorbed. White sesame and fine threads of yuzu peel are scattered on top, adding toastiness and a citrus lift.

🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 35min Cook 25min 4 servings

Asian Hard

Amago Trout Kanroni

Grilled amago simmers slowly in hojicha, soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar until even its fine bones turn soft. The fish is a red-spotted trout of the salmon family, and this way of cooking it comes from the Yoshino and Uda areas of Nara. Raw freshwater fish can carry parasites and contaminants. Only dressed, farmed, cooking-grade amago from a licensed supplier is used here, never fish you caught yourself.

Prep 30min Cook 150min 4 servings

Rice Medium

Gonjuu (Pork Belly and Fried Tofu Rice Ball)

These rice balls were handed out to mikoshi carriers at the autumn Yawatanmachi festival in Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, which is why they are big and shaped to hold in one hand. Inside is pork belly and fried tofu simmered sweet and salty with bonito flakes. The simmering liquid is cooked down until little remains, since it gets mixed into the rice too. One batch makes twenty.

Prep 30min Cook 50min 20 servings

Stir-fry Medium

Koobuirichii (Stir-Simmered Kelp and Pork)

Thin strips of kombu are the main ingredient, and the pork belly is only 60 g, though its cooking water becomes the stock. Konnyaku, kamaboko and fried tofu go in too, giving each mouthful a few different textures. The liquid is cooked down until only a glossy coating is left on everything, which puts it closer to a side dish than to anything brothy.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 30min Cook 55min 4 servings

Grilled Easy

Yakitori (Japanese Charcoal-Grilled Chicken Skewers)

Grilled chicken thigh picks up a sweet, salty glaze and a few charred edges as the tare, a reduction of soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sake, is brushed on in thin layers. The scallion pieces between the chicken lose their sharpness on the grill and turn sweet, which softens the saltiness of the glaze. For a plainer version, shio style skips the tare and seasons with salt alone, letting the chicken juices carry the flavor.

Prep 20min Cook 15min 2 servings

Soups Medium

Kaki no Dotenabe (Oyster Miso Hot Pot)

Miso is spread thickly around the inside rim of the pot like a bank of earth, and it gets scraped into the broth a little at a time as the pot simmers. Oysters release salty juices of their own, which is why the miso never goes in all at once.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 25min Cook 20min 4 servings

Kimchi Hard

Dried Squid Koji Pickle

Thin strips of dried squid spend ten days in the fridge in rice koji and a soy-based seasoning, slowly softening and taking on the koji's sweetness. The old method aged it in weighted crocks; here nothing sits at room temperature, and it matures in the refrigerator from start to finish. A little goes on rice or alongside a drink.

🍺 Bar Snacks

Prep 90min Cook 10min 24 servings

Noodles Easy

Udon with Seasoned Fried Tofu

Sweet-savory simmered tofu pockets sit on a clear dashi broth and slowly release their syrup, and the soup grows a little sweeter as you eat. The broth starts out lightly seasoned to leave room for that sweetness and should not taste salty before the tofu goes on. Simmer the tofu until a little liquid remains and it stays moist, and making it a day ahead lets the flavor sink in further. Scallions and shichimi pepper add fragrance and a touch of heat.

Prep 12min Cook 18min 2 servings

Salads Easy

Ohitashi (Seri and Spinach in Dashi)

Briefly blanched seri and spinach soak for 8 to 12 hours in chilled dashi seasoned with mirin and light soy sauce, long enough for the broth to seep all the way into the greens. Instead of being tossed in a dressing, the vegetables are served moistened with that clear liquid, letting their own fragrance come through. The two greens are blanched separately so the tender spinach does not overcook while the seri stems keep a distinct bite. Twisting them dry would crush the stems and leave the dashi soaking in unevenly, so they are lined up and pressed between the palms instead. Seri, a Japanese water dropwort, gets swapped for Korean minari when Kuroda seri is hard to find.

🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 15min Cook 10min 4 servings

Asian Medium

Japanese Simmered Yellowtail and Daikon

Two calls decide this braise: how far the daikon is cooked before it meets the fish, and when you stop. Parboil the daikon until the edges turn translucent so the centers are already softening; that way the yellowtail isn't left simmering until it dries out while the daikon catches up. Scald the fish with hot water until the surface turns pale, pat it dry, and spoon the braising liquid over the skin as it cooks so it doesn't dry. Turn off the heat when the thickest piece reaches at least 63°C in the center, a chopstick slides into the daikon, and the liquid has cooked down by about half.

Prep 20min Cook 40min 4 servings

Rice Easy

Japanese Beef Bowl (Gyudon)

Thin-sliced beef and onion simmer briefly in soy sauce, mirin, sugar and ginger and go over rice with their broth, and the ginger leaves a sharp edge at the end of all that sweetness.

Prep 10min Cook 15min 2 servings

Stir-fry Easy

Imogara Stir-fry and Simmer

Dried taro stems (imogara) are soaked for 30 minutes, fried in oil with lotus root, carrot, fried tofu and konjac, then simmered uncovered in a sweet soy liquid. By the end almost nothing is left in the pot; the stems are soft to chew while the lotus root still has its crunch.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 40min Cook 25min 4 servings

Soups Medium

Kasujiru Toyama Turnip Soup with Sake Lees

Toyama turnips from Yonezawa in Yamagata are harder and sweeter than ordinary turnips. Instead of being sliced, they are pried into rough chunks with the heel of the knife, and the sake-lees broth works its way into the torn surfaces. Even so, the flavor only reaches the center once the soup has cooled overnight and been reheated the next day.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 25min Cook 40min 4 servings

Kimchi Hard

Uri no Teppo-Zuke (Chili-Stuffed Soy-Pickled Melon)

A hollowed white melon is packed with green chilies wrapped in shiso leaves, and each slice shows pale melon around a green center. The look of a gun barrel loaded with ammunition gives teppo-zuke, gun pickle, its name. It began as a winter preserve around Narita and Katori in Chiba, became a crisp, spicy side for rice and sake, and is a well-known souvenir near Naritasan Shinshoji Temple. The salted melon first spends two days in water, changed as it goes, to draw out the salt. Reboiling only the marinade and returning it cold each day for several days is how the seasoning reaches the center of the dense melon.

🍺 Bar Snacks

Prep 60min Cook 50min 4 servings

Noodles Easy

Osaka Kitsune Udon (Thick Noodles with Sweet Fried Tofu in Dashi)

A sheet of sweet, soy-simmered fried tofu sits on top of the bowl, and every bite squeezes its braising liquid out into the broth. That broth is a clear dashi made from kombu and bonito flakes, pale in color but full in flavor, in the Kansai style associated with Osaka. Reducing the tofu until its simmering liquid is nearly gone puts the sweetness inside the tofu rather than leaving it in the pot. It tastes best once it has soaked in the hot soup for a moment and gone soft. In Osaka this is everyday food, eaten as an early breakfast as readily as at lunch.

Prep 10min Cook 20min 2 servings

Asian Hard

Japanese Braised Pork Belly with Boiled Eggs

Thick blocks of pork belly are simmered twice: first in plain water with ginger and scallion until the fat layer turns soft, then in a fresh soy sauce, mirin and sugar glaze that leaves a glossy brown film on the surface. Splitting the work this way lets the meat go tender before the seasoning has a chance to reduce too far. Boiled eggs cook in the glaze alongside the pork and come out stained brown, seasoned through the white.

Prep 20min Cook 90min 4 servings

Rice Medium

Korean Grilled Eel Rice Bowl

This bowl starts from a 200 g raw, cleaned freshwater eel fillet rather than a packet of cooked kabayaki, and that changes how it has to be handled. The sugary glaze darkens well before the center is done. The signal is the thickest part reaching 63°C/145°F, not the shine.

Prep 10min Cook 15min 1 serving

Stir-fry Easy

Yogoshi (Finely Chopped Greens with Sesame Miso)

Blanched daikon greens are chopped fine and coated in miso and ground sesame, making a loose, crumbly side you spoon over rice. Chopped this small, even the tough stems go down easily, and a little sugar and mirin turn the miso sweet rather than sharply salty.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 15min Cook 10min 4 servings

Soups Hard

Kiritanpo Nabe (Akita-Style Grilled Rice Stick Hot Pot)

Freshly cooked rice, pounded until about half the grains break, is pressed around skewers and browned, then cut into pieces that soak up chicken broth and turn chewy, much like rice cake. Kiritanpo comes from Akita Prefecture, where the rice is traditionally wrapped on cedar skewers and grilled over charcoal; this version browns the sticks in a dry pan instead.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 30min Cook 30min 4 servings

Noodles Medium

Hot Pot Udon (Japanese Earthenware Pot Noodle Soup)

Cooked and served in a small earthenware pot, nabeyaki udon stays piping hot from the first bite to the last. Chicken thigh simmered right in the dashi, soy, and mirin broth adds fat and body that breast meat would not. The egg poaches in the center under the lid until the white sets and the yolk stays soft, and the shrimp tempura is added after the heat is off so it reaches the table still crisp.

Prep 15min Cook 20min 1 serving

Asian Easy

Sake no Chanchan-Yaki (Miso-Butter Salmon and Vegetables)

Salmon, cabbage, onion, shimeji mushrooms, green pepper and carrot are sealed in foil with a sweet miso sauce and a pat of butter, then steamed in a covered frying pan. The dish is a local specialty of the Ishikari area of Hokkaido. Inside the parcel, steam wilts the vegetables while butter, miso and the juices of the salmon and vegetables pool into a salty sauce at the bottom.

Prep 15min Cook 15min 1 serving