Marinades

Over the years of my freakish experimentation in the kitchen, combined with the advice from some of my cooking friends, I have learned the art to making your own marinades. The key to marinades is simple- a balance and contrast of all flavors.

For marinades, you want to include ingredients that contrast the others and hit each spot on the taste buds. For me, that would be sweet, salty, tart, savory, cleansing and spicy. An example of each in that order: sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, and Thai red pepper. Get it?

As long as you use a balance of each component and taste along the way, you will be amazed by the homemade marinades you can create that will be cheaper, preservative free and much tastier than those store bought sauces. Try out an experimental blend of your own and let me know how it turns out! If you are not feeling creative, here's one to try that is painless and works well as a stir fry sauce-

In a blender, combine

-1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 cup soy sauce
-1/2 cup cooking or rice wine
-1/2 cup water
-1 1/2 inch piece of ginger
-4 or 5 cloves of garlic

Liquefy on high speed until all solids are broken down into the liquid and dissolved.
Pour into saucepan and cook down until liquid is reduced and to a thick, desired consistency of sauce. Use sauce on anything-marinade, stir fry veggies, braised tofu, dressing, etc. Enjoy! Write back to me for the results!

Happy Cooking,

-Dita