What is a marinade and how do I make one?

by Cookthink

The acid-and-salt combination of marinades was once used to preserve meats and fish. Now, we use marinades more for flavoring, tenderizing and moisturizing. Though any marinade could be made from more or less of any of its parts, here’s a basic formula for making one: acid (vinegar, wine, yogurt, citrus juice) + oil (olive, vegetable) + aromatics (onion, garlic, ginger) + salt/umami (soy, miso, Worcestershire) + herbs/spices (rosemary, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, clove) + pepper/chile heat (red pepper flakes, hot sauce, sliced chiles) These elements can be varied according to the season, geography -- basically anything. So, for example, an American marinade might be: American: 2 cups apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 thinly sliced onion 2 smashed garlic cloves 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme leaves 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce Replace the the cider vinegar with rice wine vinegar, Worcestershire with soy sauce, thyme with sesame seeds, and the Tabasco with sriracha, and it's an Asian marinade. Play around and find your own blends. Recipe: Marinated Beef And Kale Stew (Cookthink) Recipe: Chimichurri Marinade (Cookthink) Reference: What does emulsify mean? (Cookthink) Reference: What does umami mean? (Cookthink) Reference: What is sriracha? (Cookthink)