With summer just around the corner, the barbeque season is about to start. There is a particular sense of joy in spending time outdoors. The food is sizzling on a grill, inviting friends and family to join the feast.
Yet, barbeques would certainly lack in variety if not for marinades.
Marinades just take a few minutes of your time and are not only great to tenderise meat. Spices and herbs infuse marinated meat with flavours. Moreover, marinades prevent the formation of cancer-causing free radicals when meat is cooked at high heat.
Let’s try a marinade from the land of BBQ
One of the most delicious yet not-so-common recipes comes from Australia, the land of barbecue.
Use a food processor to blitz 1 yellow onion, 70 g / 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 60 ml / ¼ cup of honey, 60 ml / ¼ cup of apple cider, 2 garlic cloves, 3 teaspoons of Vegemite. (Vegemite can be replaced with Marmite or another yeast-based condiment.) Pour the mixture into a roasting tin and add 500 ml / 2 cups of apple cider.
This marinade works perfectly with pork ribs. So add the ribs into the tin and coat them thoroughly. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Cover the tin with foil and roast for up to 1 hour at 180 C / 360 F. Then remove the foil, turn the ribs over and cook for another hour until tender. Once ready, remove the ribs from the tin, drain and reserve the juices with the marinade.
Set the barbeque grill on medium heat and char the ribs for 3 minutes on each side.
Boil the reserved juices in a pan for 15 minutes. Once the volume is reduced, add some chili flakes and pour over the grilled ribs.
Marinades are not only for BBQs
The use of marinades in cooking is not limited to a barbeque of course. The first marinade known to humans was salty water, used to preserve meat in transportation.
The name marinade originates from the Latin word “Marina”, meaning sea. Since then, marinades have evolved so much that salty water is no longer regarded to be a marinade but rather a brine.
Today marinades contain some percentage of acidity, which affect the flesh of meat, tenderising it.
Marinades are usually used for meat, fish, chicken and soybeans products like tempeh.
A marinade that gives your healthy bowl a flavour explosion
Try this marinade for tempeh. It will turn your meal into an explosion of flavours next time you make a salad or a healthy bowl.
In a bowl, combine 60 ml / ¼ cup of tamari, 2 tbsp of rice vinegar, 2 tbsp of maple syrup, a tbsp of olive oil, a tap of sriracha and a tsp of ground black pepper.
Cut the tempeh into cubes and steam for 20 minutes. This will allow the tempeh to absorb the marinade better. Place the tempeh cubes in a roasting tin and pour the marinade over. Leave it for 30 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 200 °C / 425 °F. Transfer the tempeh cubes to a tray with some parchment paper and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven, brush with marinade from the tin where you have been marinating the tempeh earlier. Then return it to the oven for 10 more minutes.
Enjoy!
What do you think?