Sake in a recipe is doing at least two things: providing alcohol (which deglazes, tenderizes proteins, and lifts fond) and providing a fermented rice character (soft, slightly sweet, mineral) that differs from white wine's tartaric acid sharpness or beer's hops. The best substitute depends on which function is being asked for in a specific application.
If you don't have sake and need to figure out what to use, start by asking: is this sake being used to deglaze and add depth, or is the sake's specific flavor character important to the dish?
When sake is primarily a deglazing agent
Best substitute: Dry sherry. Sherry is fermented, has alcohol, and its flavor is more neutral and less fruity than white wine. It deglazes the pan the same way sake does without adding white wine's pronounced tartaric acid sharpness.
Use it: In nimono (Japanese simmered dishes), ramen broth, any application where sake is added to a hot pan to lift browned bits and add background flavor.
Ratio: Substitute sake with dry sherry at 1:1.
Why sherry works: Sherry is also made from a neutral base (grape) but aged in a way that reduces its fruit character. The result is a more neutral, slightly sweet, fermented liquid that, unlike white wine, doesn't sharply acidify the dish.
When sake is in a marinade
Best substitute: A mix of dry sherry or dry white wine + a small amount of sugar. The sugar compensates for sake's natural sweetness from the rice starch.
Ratio: For 2 tablespoons sake in a marinade, use: 2 tablespoons dry sherry + ½ teaspoon sugar. Or: 1½ tablespoons dry white wine + ½ teaspoon mirin (if you have mirin).
Why the sugar addition: Sake's sweetness comes from glucose produced during koji fermentation of the rice starch. This sweetness is what helps marinades caramelize and form a lacquer on proteins. Without it, a white wine substitute will produce a less glossy result.
When sake is used with miso or soy sauce
Best substitute: Rice wine vinegar diluted with water.
Why: When sake is used alongside miso or soy sauce (in miso soup, in certain sauces, in dashi-based preparations), its function is less about flavor and more about softening the salt concentration and adding a mild acidic note. Rice wine vinegar diluted 1:2 with water (1 part vinegar, 2 parts water) provides a mild acidity without the strong flavor of undiluted vinegar.
Ratio: 3 tablespoons sake → 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar + 2 tablespoons water.
For miso-based dishes specifically: You can sometimes just reduce the miso quantity slightly and add plain water instead of sake — the sake's contribution in miso soup is very subtle, primarily providing a mild alcoholic note that prevents the dish from tasting flat.
When sake is used in ramen broth
Best substitute: Dry white wine at ¾ quantity. Sake is used in ramen broth to add fermented depth and to soften the fish or meat stock's raw edge. White wine does the same thing but with more acidity.
Adjust: If your white wine substitute makes the ramen broth taste sharper than intended, add ¼ teaspoon of mirin (if available) to reintroduce a slight sweetness.
When sake is used in a Japanese-Italian fusion recipe
In the Japanese-Italian recipes on this site, sake replaces white wine to keep the dish in the Japanese flavor register:
- Dashi Risotto uses sake instead of white wine to avoid white wine's tannins clashing with the dashi
- Sake vs White Wine explains the functional differences in detail
For these fusion applications, dry sherry is the best substitute because it provides the alcohol-deglazing function without asserting white wine's pronounced fruitiness. A risotto made with dry sherry will be somewhat more neutral than one made with sake, but will not fight the dashi the way white wine would.
The substitution table
| Application | Best sake substitute | Ratio | |-------------|---------------------|-------| | Deglazing a pan | Dry sherry | 1:1 | | Marinade (need caramelization) | Dry sherry + sugar | 2 tbsp sherry + ½ tsp sugar per 2 tbsp sake | | Miso/soy-based sauce | Rice wine vinegar + water | 1:2 (vinegar:water) per 3 tbsp sake | | Ramen broth | Dry white wine (¾ qty) | 3 tbsp wine per 4 tbsp sake | | Japanese-Italian fusion | Dry sherry | 1:1 | | Recipe calls for 1 tbsp sake only | Optional to omit | Small quantities are often skippable |
Can you just use white wine?
Yes, in most cases. White wine replaces sake in all the applications above, but the result will be sharper, more acidic, and more "wine-flavored." This changes the character of the dish slightly — moving it away from the Japanese register and toward the European one.
Whether that matters depends on the recipe. In an Italian-Japanese hybrid where you're already blending flavor traditions, white wine in place of sake is a small variation. In a traditional Japanese recipe where sake is the only alcohol, white wine changes the dish's character more noticeably.
Use white wine when: You don't mind a sharper, more acidic result. Marinades, braises, ramen broth.
Avoid white wine when: The recipe is explicitly Japanese and the sake's soft, sweet character is what you're after. In ponzu, in miso-based glazes, in delicate dashi preparations.
Can you omit sake entirely?
In most applications, yes, with some adjustment.
Deglazing: Use stock (chicken or dashi) instead. The alcohol's function in deglazing (dissolving fond into liquid) can be partially replicated by stock, though without the alcohol's solvent power you may need to deglaze more aggressively with higher heat.
Marinade: Add an extra ¼ teaspoon of sugar to compensate for sake's sweetness and slight acid to compensate for its mild acidity.
Small quantities in recipes (1-2 tablespoons): Often safe to omit. The sake's contribution in small quantities is usually background rounding, not a primary flavor. Taste the dish and adjust with a tiny amount of sugar or a small splash of the cooking liquid if it tastes flat.
The full explanation of what sake does that white wine doesn't — and when the difference matters — is in the Sake vs White Wine guide in the journal.
The Flavor Pairing Matrix at borderlesskitchenseries.com/free includes sake as one of the eight core Japanese-Italian pairings — white wine's Japanese equivalent.
The full recipes live in the book.
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