What are the ways to marinate chicken for maximum flavour?
If you want to enhance the flavour of meat then marinate - a quick and easy way to bring out the taste and improve the texture of the meat across a range of dishes. This time-honoured tradition is simple to do – to marinate meat takes just a few minutes and simply means soaking the meat for several hours in a marinade which you can make yourself – there are literally hundreds of recipes.
What can be used to marinate meat?
The usual ingredients of a meat marinade are:
- an acid to tenderise
- spices or seasoning
- oil as a base to glue all the ingredients together and to add moisture
Most of the normal ingredients used to marinate the meat you will already have in your kitchen cupboards. Here are some of the most popular:
- Coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass, purple basil or chiles if you like something hot
- For an Indian marinade, experiment with yoghurt, lime juice, turmeric, coriander or mustard seeds
- For an oriental twist, mirin, ginger or shiso
- For Mexican flavours use a combination of lime, garlic, cumin or achiote paste
- For a taste of North Africa, experiment with honey, lemon juice, onion, cardamom and cinnamon
Your choice of ingredients will depend on how you want to marinate the meat to enhance flavour and should be relevant to the dish that you are going to cook.
Make the marinade the evening before and soak the meat overnight or for just a few hours before you cook it. Marinating adds flavour and helps to seal in the moisture in the meat whilst also tenderising it for tasty dishes.
You can buy readymade marinades but they are so quick and easy to make, there is really no need to do this. Always try and combine ingredients that work well together and will complement the planned dish. There are lots of recipes online and Arkenz ltd has some tasty marinade suggestions on their website.
To marinate meat is to unlock the flavour and maximise the taste & texture of whatever dish you are cooking. Arkenz ltd can help you marinate meat with our handy recipe suggestions alongside our meat box delivery service. There is more information available on our website www.tariqhalalmeats.com
