The ready to cook marinades have made life tremendously easy as we get the satisfaction of a warm home-cooked meal, without having to slog as much as the older generations had to.
Marinades, or meats cuts dunked in specific spices, are often available both at superstores and at modern meat shops like Fipola. Though all clean and ready to be cooked, there are few basic points that one needs to remember while picking up your choice of the marinade and cooking them.
Chicken marinades: One of the most popular marinades as poultry is considered to be one of the healthiest meat, Chicken is also incredibly easy to cook.
- Raw marinades are to be cooked as soon as they reach home: Pick up the marinade as the last errand on your way back home. This gives the meat, less time out of refrigeration. Cook and consume it immediately. It is not advisable to refreeze it after thawing.
- Extra marinades to be removed for barbecue: The marinade if cooked on a pan or stir-fried can make a gravy or even a spicy dip. But using it raw is a huge “no-no”. Don’t use the marinade as a sauce unless it has been cooked to perfection.
- Pat them dry to get crispy skin: To get the golden crispy skin on your chicken fry, pat it dry of the marinade before dipping it deep into the boiling hot oil. The same goes for the golden sear that everyone loves on the pan-cooked chicken. Heat the pan really well and drizzle it with few drops of oil before putting the chicken in.
Meat marinades-: Tastiest of all, meat has a flavour that goes well with both highly flavourful spices or with the minimal of them.
- Score them or make thin slices: Though good butchery like Fipola keep their marinade cuts into bite sizes or as slim as possible, not everyone adheres to it. So even if you do procure meat from grocery or supermarket, make sure the marinated meat is cut in small portions.
- Basting them is a must: Meat has lesser moisture and so need to be basted especially if grilling. Many a time marinades are not as moist as they lose water over time.
- Flip them over: The external surface often gets charred easily. so it is important to flip them on both sides so that the meat is cooked well and evenly.
Seafood marinades-: Undoubtedly the largest range of varieties from the humble mackerel to the most exotic deep-sea lobsters, seafood has always found a place in every culture.
- Marinated seafood should be stored only in plastic or non-metallic containers: Many kinds of seafood release different kinds of salts that react with the metal so it is advised to store the seafood in non-metallic containers.
- Defrosted marinades should be used immediately after thawing: Many marinades have already been frozen for quite some time before you bought them. Established suppliers like fipola maintain an expiry date well ahead of the time, the meat gets bad but not all are as scrupulous. The sea food has the lowest threshold and starts rotting very soon especially in room temperature. Also once thawed, refreezing almost always takes away the flavour.
- Don’t consume the marinades raw : Many cultures eat seafood either raw or slightly cooked. Both are not advisable without bringing it to at least a boil, or 160 degrees F. The marinade which has come in touch with the raw meat needs to be cooked before consumption.