A kebab marinade is usually a mixture of seasonings, salt, acid, and in some cases vegetable oil. Marinate pieces of kebab before cooking to give them a special flavor and softness. However, marinating meat correctly is a real art.
The taste, consistency and even the color of the shish kebab largely depends on what it was soaked in before cooking. Many people marinate meat in kefir, vinegar, mineral water, lemon juice, beer, wine, and other liquid ingredients. A good marinade is designed to soften muscle fibers. Such a shish kebab will acquire a unique taste and aroma, and it will cook much faster. It should be noted right away that there is no single correct way of pickling. Everyone chooses the ingredients for the marinade at their own peril and risk, relying on the advice of friends or on their own experience.
In the Caucasus, they believe that it is possible to do without liquid additives at all. It is enough to grate the meat with salt, red and black pepper, add onions and bay leaves and put under a press for 1-2 hours
Traditional barbecue marinades
In Soviet times, many people used vinegar as the main ingredient for marinades. And even now, many people generously add acetic acid or essence. However, the chefs insist that this should never be done. The vinegar makes the meat tough. In addition, the strong enough vinegar aroma does not allow you to feel the true taste of meat.
Mayonnaise marinade has become traditional for a long time. It even seems to someone that only in this French sauce it is possible to marinate the shish kebab correctly. It is advisable to choose a low-calorie, low-fat mayonnaise in the store. Classic varieties such as "Provencal" with a fat content of 67% have a fairly thick consistency, are slowly absorbed, and therefore significantly increase the soaking time. If you decide to marinate the kebab in mayonnaise, add this sauce and immediately stir the meat with your hands for 2-3 minutes, as if "whipping".
You can add a few drops of vegetable oil to the mayonnaise marinade, then the kebab will turn out to be even more juicy
Pink sauce or as it is also called "ketchunez" is a mixture of equal proportions of ketchup and mayonnaise. In most cases, such a sauce is an excellent addition to a ready-made kebab, but it can also become a marinade. It costs no more than three to four hours to soak a kebab in a pink sauce.
One of the popular kebab marinades is mineral water. However, water without gas will have no effect, and if you pour a carbonated mineral water, then carbon dioxide will break the fibers. Such a kebab will turn out to be dry and not too tasty.
Original marinades for barbecue
In the Caucasus, meat is often marinated in white wine. But not at all in the one that is served on the table during the meal. When the grapes ripen, part of the harvest is used to make a special wine designed to enrich the taste of the future barbecue. If you have not been able to get such a wine, do not be upset. You can take ordinary white wine (always dry). A kilogram of meat requires about 300 grams of liquid. A kebab soaked in such a marinade turns out to be very juicy, fragrant and tender.
Even if you do not like spicy, take the risk of marinating the meat in Dijon mustard. It is quite tender in itself, but it will give the meat a slight pungency. Marinade with Dijon mustard is almost the only one that does not require spices. It is enough to add the onion.
A very tasty kebab is obtained if the meat is marinated in pomegranate juice. It is better to pour the juice over the meat overnight and put it under a press. You can fry in the morning.
The simplest marinade option, which for some reason is neglected by many, is lemon and onion. Moreover, you should take exactly the same amount of onion as you took meat. The onion should be cut into rings or half rings. First, a layer of onion is laid in a saucepan, then a layer of meat, then onion again, and so on. In this case, the lemon is simply squeezed out from above. Surely the experiment will be very successful if you grate the onion and lemon (to make it easier, you can freeze both ingredients slightly), add to the container with meat and mix. You need to salt such a kebab half an hour before the end of soaking.
