It’s the irony of being a cookbook writer: you always look forward, not back. That is, you’re always thinking about new recipes—not those favorite dishes you created for cookbooks past.
I recently had a chance to revisit two such dishes at this year’s Barbecue University: Pac-Rim rotisserie chicken and Thai grilled beef salad. Both owe their electrifying flavor to a traditional Thai seasoning that has become my new favorite marinade. Lately, I’ve been putting it on everything.
A Traditional Thai Marinade
The genius of this marinade is how it counterpoints flavors. First, there’s the salt in the soy sauce and the umami funk of Asian fish sauce. Lime juice makes it tart, while fresh ginger and chiles crank up the heat. Garlic and fresh cilantro give it pungency. Brown sugar adds the right touch of sweetness. The backbone of the marinade is fresh lemongrass—one of my all- time favorite flavorings. This stalk-like Southeast Asian herb has a haunting floral lemon flavor, without the fruit’s acidity. A spoonful of curry powder pulls it all together.
You’ll need to know about 2 special ingredients—both of which are available at most supermarkets. Fish sauce is made from pickled anchovies—think soy sauce channeling bouillabaisse. One good brand is Red Boat, but if unavailable, just use more soy sauce.
Lemongrass will be found at Asia markets and in the produce section of most supermarkets. (Look for it among the packaged fresh herbs.) But don’t worry if you can’t find it. A couple teaspoons of freshly and finely grated lemon zest (the oil-rich outer rind) will give you a similar citrusy zing.
What’s so incredible about this marinade is its versatility. The stuff goes with everything!
Use it to marinate skirt steak for an outrageous Thai grilled beef salad. Soak pork chops or tenderloin in it to make sort of barbecue you find at street stalls in Vietnam. It’s delicate enough to serve as a marinade for white fish, like snapper, sole and mahi mahi. It’s powerful enough to stand up dark fish, like salmon and mackerel. A 10 minute soak in my new favorite marinade gives you some of the tastiest shrimp on the planet. Did I mention how it transforms grilled tofu into something you’d actually go out of your way to eat?
My new favorite marinade may sound complicated on account of the number of ingredients. It isn’t. Just throw the ingredients in a blender or food processor and give them a whirl. The flavor pays off big time!
Steven Raichlen’s Favorite Marinade
Makes:
About 1 cupTakes:
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and rough chopped
- 3 tablespoons rough chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 inches fresh ginger peeled and rough chopped
- 2 stalks lemongrass trimmed and rough chopped
- 2 tablespoons sugar (white, brown, palm—your choice)
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page
Method
- Chop. Finely chop the solid ingredients (garlic, cilantro, ginger, lemongrass, sugar, black pepper, and curry powder) in a food processor or blender.
- Puree. Add the liquid ingredients (vegetable oil, lime juice, soy sauce, and fish sauce) and puree until smooth.
High quality websites are expensive to run. If you help us, we’ll pay you back bigtime with an ad-free experience and a lot of freebies!
Millions come to AmazingRibs.com every month for high quality tested recipes, tips on technique, science, mythbusting, product reviews, and inspiration. But it is expensive to run a website with more than 2,000 pages and we don’t have a big corporate partner to subsidize us.
Our most important source of sustenance is people who join our Pitmaster Club. But please don’t think of it as a donation. Members get MANY great benefits. We block all third-party ads, we give members free ebooks, magazines, interviews, webinars, more recipes, a monthly sweepstakes with prizes worth up to $2,000, discounts on products, and best of all a community of like-minded cooks free of flame wars. Click below to see all the benefits, take a free 30 day trial, and help keep this site alive.
Post comments and questions below
1) Please try the search box at the top of every page before you ask for help.
2) Try to post your question to the appropriate page.
3) Tell us everything we need to know to help such as the type of cooker and thermometer. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50°F so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can’t help you with time and temp questions. Please read this article about thermometers.
4) If you are a member of the Pitmaster Club, your comments login is probably different.
5) Posts with links in them may not appear immediately.
Moderators