There are two main types of cooking sake (alcohol used for cooking).
(1) “Salted cooking sake” is made by adding about 2% salt to sake.
(2) "Synthetic sake" is an alcoholic beverage that is made by adding sugars, amino acids, organic acids, sake components, etc. to alcohol to bring out the flavor of sake.
(1) Salted cooking sake contains salt, so it is inexpensive and tax-free.
(2) Synthetic sake is subject to a liquor tax, but the tax rate is lower than that of refined sake, so the price is low.
From here on it's subjective.
When you actually cook, which one should you use: “refined sake”, “salt cooking sake” or “synthetic sake”? That's the problem.
In general, it is said that it is better to use “refined sake”. The reason for this is that it is difficult to adjust the salt content of dishes with the “salted cooking sake” in (1). (2) synthetic sake has a weaker flavor than “refined sake”.