A lot of recipes I look at (such as Teriyaki sauce) use Sake on top of Mirin, Sugar & Soy but the problem for me is that Sake is quite expensive to buy in Sweden and I know an opened bottle only lasts for like 2-3 weeks so it feels like a huge waste to get a bottle only to have it go bad and get thrown away.
I’m trying to find something that works fairly well to replace it with in recipes (preferably alcohol free as that’s usually a lot cheaper here). I do have Mirin but as far as I understand it’s a bit too sweet to be used as a replacement for Sake in recipes. I did find [this](https://www.drakfrukt.se/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Matlagningsvin-sake-substitut.jpg) which says it’s a Sake replacement but the description says that it’s a bit sweet as well, has anyone used this particular product? Because it’s a lot cheaper than Sake so if it’s decent I’ll probably get a bottle of that instead. Unless you have any other suggestions?
![[I made] Katsu Curry](https://www.lonelyjapan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ek5eqrx8n67a1-380x220.jpg)
8 comments
This might be scandalous but I think any dry rice-based alcohol could work. So maybe an unflavored soju or shochu. I’ve used shochu before when I didn’t have any cooking sake open.
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Generally I think the most common substitutes are shaoxing wine (which might also be hard for you to find, though) or just dry sherry. I haven’t had OTTOGI, but isn’t it more of a mirin replacement?
Chinese cooking wine. The clear ones. The cookies ones have a unique flavour
What Can I Substitute for Sake in Recipes?
The closest substitution for sake is dry sherry or Chinese rice wine.
If you cannot consume alcohol, you can replace it with water or broth when a recipe calls for sake for steaming or making a sauce.
Anything Nami says is bible: https://www.justonecookbook.com/sake-mirin/
Sake lasts months in the refrigerator if kept tightly sealed. Sometimes it might lose a little bouquet, but it’s unlikely that it will “go bad” (turn into vinegar).
Sake is added to Japanese cooking because it contains a high concentration of amino acids such as glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and proline. The amino acids come from the protein contained in rice being broken down by proteolytic enzymes in the koji used to ferment it. These amino acids are perceived by your taste buds as umami.
“Cooking sake” is usually has lots of salt added to make it undrinkable which is how they get around liquor tax laws in a lot of countries. Unless you are using recipes specifically calling for “cooking sake” you can’t use it in place of sake because it will make the food too salty. It’s kinda of the same as using cooking wine in place of wine.
Some commenters suggested using soju or shochu, but these are both distilled spirits which have been distilled (boiled and then recondensed). By nature of the distillation process these will not contain ANY amino acids, which kind of defeats the purpose of adding the sake in the first place.
The reason why most sake makers recommend drinking the product as soon as possible is because once you’ve opened it it will start to oxidize and it will start to undergo maillard browning. This is considered undesirable for drinking (but some people deliberately age sake because of the complexity it creates). For cooking it doesn’t really matter because most of the aromatics will burn off anyway, and the maillard browning is actually good thing. Just keep it in the fridge and it will be good for years (for cooking).
If you wanna learn more about sake and why it’s used in food, I have a video series explaining everything you need to know here: https://youtu.be/C2p6MN4EVeA
Japanese here, and I’ve never heard of cooking sake going bad after 2-3 weeks. My family don’t even refrigerate it….it’s stored inside a cupboard.
For myself, I get cheap drinking sake and use that for cooking. A bottle lasts me 6 months or so, and it will never go bad.