Mirin Sauce
A sweet sauce, with heat depending on the amount of ginger and pepper used. The six tablespoons of liquid should result in sauce for roughly one serving of food. Expand amount of liquids (and the cooking time) as appropriate.
- 3T Mirin.
- 3T White wine (I favor complex whites, such as Canoe Ridge Chardonnay).
- Ginger and fresh ground white pepper to taste.
- Bay leaf.
Mix the mirin, herbs, and spices. Reduce until mirin lightly caramelized. Strain out herbs and spices. Add white wine, and cook until reduced by half. Tricky to reduce at first for the unskilled, but fairly easy otherwise. Be careful with the amount of spices, as the sauce will become very hot even with modest amounts of white pepper and ginger. Serve tea or chocolate afterwards, to help reduce the negative effects caramelized sugars have on the teeth.