For meat marinade: the best recipes

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

If you ask anyone, even the most experienced cook, what is his favorite marinade for meat, it is unlikely that he will be able to get a clear answer. Indeed, for many centuries of its existence, mankind has accumulated an incredible number of recipes for their preparation. Yes, we didn't agree. Just for centuries. Because the ancient Egyptians were the pioneers in this matter. To keep the meat fresh, they dissolved sea s alt in water and then soaked it in this brine. Later, in Southern Europe, s alt was replaced with vinegar. And cooks liked this marinade for meat so much that even today, despite the abundance of recipes, it finds its application. Over time, people thought of adding all kinds of seasonings - herbs, spices - which gave marinated meat a special taste.

Main ingredients of marinades

Any marinade that exists today for meat simply must have three basic ingredients in its composition. It's a flavor, some kind of acid and fat.

The acidic environment causes the meat fibers to soften, resulting in a more tender dish. Fat (usually oil)as if it envelops the meat, as a result of which the juice remains inside during cooking. Well, with flavors and without explanation, everything is clear. They add flavor and finish to the food.

And now a few words about each component. As an acid, as a rule, all types of vinegars available to modern chefs are used. Also great for these purposes are kefir, yogurt, acidic fruit juices (lime, lemon, pomegranate). Mayonnaise has also proven itself well, which, in fact, contains all three basic ingredients (if it is with aromatic additives).

As for fats, it all depends on the "nationality" of the cuisine. So, in the Mediterranean they prefer olive, and in the East they often use sesame.

Perhaps the mentioned nationality also affects the type of aromatic additive. So, for example, in Chinese cuisine, almost every second marinade for meat contains garlic, green onions and ginger. The French love to add vegetables (carrots + onions + celery). Mexicans love spicy marinades, which is why almost every one of them contains hot peppers.

In general, by and large, marinade for meat is fertile ground for the activity of a culinary specialist. Here you can experiment and almost every day create your own masterpieces, while not forgetting, however, about the basic rules of pickling. What, in fact, will be discussed further.

Basic pickling basics

As a rule, almost every marinade used for meat does not require cooking. But there are alsoexceptions. Let's say the French prepare a marinade of boiled red wine, adding juniper to it. Mexicans, on the other hand, sometimes roast their favorite peppers before adding them to the sauce to give the marinade a richer, somewhat smoky flavor.

As for dishes: you need to take containers that do not react to acid. For this reason, metal or aluminum utensils will not work. Take containers made of porcelain, clay or glass. It is not at all necessary that the marinade completely covers the meat. Pieces can be simply turned over or mixed from time to time.

About cooking time. Follow the requirements of the recipe. The principle of “let it stand a little longer” does not apply here. Meat that has been marinated for too long can simply become tasteless, sour.

And last. Before the cooking process itself, be sure to make sure that the marinade is stacked from the pieces. Because they are wet, for example, on a grill, they will be more likely to be stewed than fried.

And remember: you can not reuse the marinade. It has too many bacteria. Even if you want to water them during frying, say, barbecue, do not be lazy, put the composition in a saucepan on the stove and quickly bring (but do not boil!) To a boil. Believe me, you will be he althier.

Well, that's enough theory, I think. Let's move on to practice. So, recipes for meat marinades. Let's get started!

The easiest way

Of course, this will be a marinade for meat with vinegar. By and largeaccount, almost everyone who cooked barbecue, previously kept it in this composition. What, exactly, gives such a marinade? Soft meat. No more. But sometimes that's enough.

For cooking, we need three hundred grams of onion, a glass (250 milliliters) of ordinary vinegar (nine percent), black peppercorns and, of course, s alt. It will not be superfluous and a bag of seasoning - special, just for barbecue.

How to cook

Pork (preferably) cut arbitrarily, into pieces of the size we need, put the meat in a container. Mix the onion cut into rings with seasoning, s alt and, of course, vinegar, add all this to the meat. Then we add water (cold, but boiled) so that the marinade completely covers our future barbecue. Pour peppercorns there, you can add a couple of bay leaves. All. We put it in the refrigerator all night. And in the morning you can go on a picnic and grill a barbecue.

Complicating composition

As we have already mentioned, the preparation of marinade for meat is a creative process, and therefore nothing prevents us from improving the first recipe. Why take the same onion (three large pieces will be enough), four cloves of garlic, three teaspoons (do not overdo it!) Of sweet paprika, a pinch of hot pepper, a large lemon and a couple of tablespoons of banal sunflower oil. A bunch of parsley will not be superfluous.

Cut the onion into rings and mix it with finely chopped garlic. Add peppers, pour in oil, s alt,squeeze the juice from our large lemon. We leave for thirty minutes. During this time, it will be just possible to prepare the meat - wash and cut into pieces of the desired size. And after the specified time, we add the meat to the marinade prepared by us, after which we forget about it until the morning. As for parsley, it can also be chopped along with onions and garlic. It will give the marinade a more interesting taste. But here we must be more careful. Those who do not really like these greens may not like the smell of the finished dish.

However, what are we all about barbecue. Not so often, unfortunately, today we manage to get out on a picnic. But at home, you just have to cook every day. So let's talk further about other recipes that will be useful to housewives in everyday conditions.

Meat marinade for pan frying

How often it happens that there is simply no time to cook! Of course, a good piece of meat is able to saturate any, even a demanding and extremely capacious male stomach. True, cooked in haste, it is far from always able to please our taste buds. What to do in this case? Of course, use the meat marinade! Not only fresh pieces are suitable for frying in a pan. The meat can also be marinated. And do it in the evening. And after work, quickly cook a delicious dinner out of it.

Take a glass of any (brand does not matter) beer, a few (four things will be enough) garlic cloves, a teaspoon of such a wonderful seasoning as thyme, lemon, ground pepper(red). Mix all this, just do not forget to cut the citrus, and then put portioned pieces of meat in the marinade. Just remember: you need it to lie in this mixture for at least two hours. Well, the best thing, of course, is to leave it overnight. All. The meat that has been in such a marinade will be very tender, soft and unusually tasty. And no one will dare to reproach you that “today we have overdried soles again for dinner.”

Instant Marinades

Didn't have time to cook meat for tomorrow evening? No problem! There are instant ways to help make it soft and tasty. We look in the refrigerator. And if there is mayonnaise and tomato sauce, then we rejoice. Mix them, add chopped garlic + your favorite seasoning. Half an hour of marinating, ten minutes of cooking - and a great dinner is on your table.

And you can mix yogurt or sour cream with finely chopped onions and pickles. It's also a great marinade for grilled meats. Just do not forget to add, of course, seasoning. Whichever you prefer.

Meat marinade with soy sauce

The last one is an excellent replacement for the vinegar that is already pretty fed up with everything. Marinade with soy sauce goes well with all types of meat. And it's very easy to cook it. To do this, take a hundred milliliters of the sauce itself, the juice of half a lemon, mix. Crush the garlic clove, add to the previous ingredients. Season this mixture with a quarter teaspoon of ground pepper. And add a pinch of basil.

Onlyremember: do not add s alt to the marinade. After all, the sauce itself contains a lot of it, so be careful, try the composition during cooking. By the way, this marinade is quite “fast”. Beef can be kept in it for no more than three hours. So be sure to take note of this method.

A small digression

And since we are talking about soy, I would like to say a few words about another product from it, which some call meat. Everyone, as they say, has their own taste, and a he althy diet is, of course, very good. However, such meat, albeit very he althy, is far from always pleasing with its smell, and even more so with its taste. And here the marinade will come to our rescue. There are not many cooking options for soy meat, however, there is something in the culinary piggy bank anyway.

So, arm yourself with coriander grains (half a teaspoon will be enough), turmeric (a third of the same spoon), cardamom (take the same amount), a tablespoon of lemon juice, a mixture of peppers (here - to taste), tomato paste (one hundred and fifty grams, no more), three tablespoons of oil (any vegetable). We mix all these ingredients, and then pour the soy meat pre-soaked in boiling water for ten minutes with the resulting composition. Marinate overnight (keep in the fridge). Well, then from such meat you can cook anything. Let's say, goulash, or even bake on coals. Knowledgeable people say that it turns out excellent food. But here, of course, is just the moment when, as they say, there is no arguing about tastes.accounted for.

Marinades for smoked meats

Which of us does not like to eat smoked delicacies? Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to cook such goodies on their own. But if it is available, then, of course, you will need to know which marinade is best suited for smoking meat. There are also a lot of recipes for their preparation, but we will talk about a few - the best.

Ketchup Marinade

We take half a glass of tomato ketchup, white wine, olive oil and honey. Then add to it a teaspoon of garlic, pre-chopped, a mixture of peppers, dry mustard and s alt. Pour the meat with this composition. This marinade recipe for smoking meat is good because you can keep the latter in it for no more than three hours.

On kefir

To make such a marinade for smoking meat, you need to take a glass of kefir, a teaspoon of sugar, fifty grams, no more, olive oil, a third of a glass of mint leaves (chopped), five cloves of garlic (crush with a knife). Mix it all, s alt and pepper as you like. Marinate for at least eight hours.

We have provided just two of the many recipes available to smoker owners today. All of them are very diverse, and for the most part, as a rule, copyright. So you can very well take the ones we have considered as a basis, and then come up with your own options based on them. The only thing that experts recommend to take into account. If you smoke meat for the future,be sure to add another ingredient to the marinade - food s altpeter. It is she who will allow the product to be stored as long as possible. As for its amount, it is usually taken no more than three percent of the required volume of s alt.

And finally, consider a few recipes for unusual marinades.

Fruit

This marinade is usually used when they want to cook beef steaks.

To make it, you must first peel and then grate the kiwifruit on a coarse grater (two large specimens will be enough). Then add to them a pinch of rosemary and a mixture of your favorite peppers. S alt, and then marinate the steaks in this mixture. The exposure time is at least an hour. Before cooking, do not forget to dry the steaks with a napkin. It is desirable to fry in a hot frying pan. And although the marinade is a little unusual, the taste of the final product is simply amazing!

"Drunken" pickles

The constant ingredient in such formulations is either wine or cognac. Maybe also beer. We mentioned one such recipe above. And now let's talk about a few more, but already on wine.

Carrots (one piece is enough) and two fairly large onions cut. Crush garlic (several cloves). Add all this to the meat previously placed in the dishes, pour a glass of wine (dry white), and half a glass of vegetable (any) oil. S alt, throw a few peas of black pepper and a couple of bay leaves. Mix carefully. Marinate for about eight hours. By the way, by the way. Without marinadesuch meat can be stored for another two days. So take note of this long-lasting recipe.

Very often white wine is mixed with fruit juices. So, for example, an Austrian recipe suggests making a mix of a glass of wine and three glasses of pineapple juice. Ground black pepper is used as a seasoning. And the Argentine version suggests the presence of two glasses of grapefruit juice and half a glass of lemon juice and wine in the composition. It is also recommended to add a teaspoon of curry.

An excellent marinade for almost any meat is a mixture of apple juice (half a liter of drink is already taken here), a glass of brandy, finely chopped one onion, marjoram and turmeric (you need to take these ingredients by a pinch).

Conclusion

Of course, it is almost impossible to describe all existing recipes. After all, as we have already mentioned, all marinades can be made independently, based on the recommendations of chefs and your own taste preferences. But one thing is certain. Marinade is essential for meat. After all, it is he who makes this product soft and tender. Well, its components allow you to radically change the taste of many dishes that have become familiar to us for a long time. So don't be afraid. Create! Invent your own marinades, and let your homeworkers praise you for your imagination and extraordinary culinary skills.

Bon appetit!