Recipes that use Mirin?

Hello everyone. I was wondering if anyone here knew any recipes or specific uses for Mirin.

I accidentally bought a pretty large bottle of it thinking that I was buying a bottle of cooking oil (that's what I get for not knowing Japanese). Anyways, I'd hate for it to go to waste, and I've heard that it is used quite commonly with Japanese cooking. Since I love cooking, I was wondering if there were any recipes that I could use it in?

I am somewhat interested in making some sort of stir fry with it (though I've never tried making stir fry), but I wonder if there are any ingredients I need other than soy sauce and mirin to make the sauce?

Thanks a ton in advance for your help!

Mirin is like a very sweet sake. You can use it on anything to add sweetness and to get rid of any excess smell, since it contains alcohol. On New Years Day, we even often drink a small portion of it as a substitute of old-fashioned herb liqueur!

Typically, mirin is added when cooking stewed vegetables, lightly stewed fish/meat and things like dipping sauce for noodles. Great for teriyaki.

I suppose it would fit stir-fried dishes as long as you be careful not to let the sugar stick to the pan. Generally speaking however, it is used to add richness to the dish, so if you're already using oil (such as in stir-fried dishes), it might be a bit too heavy. Depends on the person's preferance, I guess.

Sometimes when I cook chicken, I'll add about two parts Mirin and 1 part soy sauce to a pan of frying, boneless chicken (sometimes I'll use a tiny bit of oil or even just water to get the chicken started). I'll lower the temperature, cover, and wait for it to fully cook through, and for the sauce to reduce to syrup. That's it. Simple. Serve over rice with a side of kim chee, and you're set.

I've tried adding a few sprinkles of sugar, and sometimes I prefer it that way. It just depends on my mood.

You can also make a marinade by adding some orange juice, sugar, onions, and pepper to the mix and letting the chicken sit in it over night. Using pork and chicken, I've BBQd with this marinade, fried, poached, and even made siopao with it.

You can't go wrong having a bottle of Mirin in your pantry. :)

Here is a very easy meal to make that uses Mirin.
http://www.nikibone.com/recipe/japanese/gyudon.html