hon-mirin, where can I buy?

[aser]

Besides flying to the closest mitsuwa in Chicago, where can I get me some hon-mirin? I will try calling Ozawa tomorrow but I seriously don't think it's a good idea for me to buy 18L of mirin at once.

For clarity, hon-mirin is real mirin w/ alcohol. The stuff we get in markets have barely any in it, less than 1% to 0.

I run into the same problem w/ chinese cooking wine, but that's solved by visiting Chinatown and doing the cough cough wink wink.

[canchi]

try J-Town? (On Steeles, right across from Good Life fitness, between Woodbine Ave. and Victoria-park Ave.)

I guess you have to use aji-mirin instead.

I wonder how big the difference would be. (may be if we can find like 6 people together to share the 18L?)

[wciu]

J-town doesn't have it. No idea how different it is, but that just make me want to try it more. :p

I wouldn't mind sharing a bottle, let me know if we get 6 :)

[munchieHK]

The big Korean supermarket in Koreatown on the south side of Bloor stocks more than one brand of the real thing. Sorry, I forget the name of the market, but it's hard to miss.

[jlunar]

Probably you're thinking of P.A.T.
You can also get 1.50 chicken carcasses for soup there. 3 per package!

---
http://www.foodpr0n.com/ -- food. is. love.

[munchieHK]

Yep. That's the place, thanks. Great store.

[Notorious P.I.G.]

Hmmmm, out of all the brands there I have never found true Hon Mirin. Let me know if anyone picks some up.

[aser]

I don't think the other people understand what hon-mirin is. Yes you can find mirin, but it's not "hon" (ie. true). You're looking for 14% alcohol content. I haven't seen any at PAT or Galleria, etc...

Generally the closest you'll find is Kikkoman aji-mirin, which is not the real deal but it's at about 8% alcohol.

http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/img/pr...

Ozawa and Yamasho both have hon-mirin but in 18L containers.

I've found Kikkoman 11% mirin only at Foodymart. Comes in a 1L bottle, I'll take a pic of it tomorrow, it's at work.

[Kagemusha]

I've never seen hon mirin sold here in household-sized bottles, just aji and even that can be tricky. Wonder why the LCBO radar hasn't picked it up yet???

[Notorious P.I.G.]

This may be your best bet:

http://www.naturalimport.com/inc/sdet...

[Kagemusha]

No mention of alcohol content on this product. Suspect it's shin mirin, widely available here. 11% stuff aser found is probably tops.

[Notorious P.I.G.]

Oh, sorry, the Mitoku stuff is 14%+

[aser]

http://www.kikkoman.co.jp/products/pr...

not sure why it was deleted but this is what I purchased from Foodymart. The english labeling says 12% but the Japanese labelling says 14.5%. By far the most legit I've found.

[wciu]

Hmm, I think the label in the picture says cooking sake, not mirin. Is that the right link?

[aser]

You know what, you might be right.

I'm not Japanese for the record, so I muffed that one up.

[wciu]

Did you ever find this locally?