Contents
How to marinate beef for barbecue? Video recipe
Beef shashlik is cooked much less often than pork or chicken. Culinary experts are afraid that the meat will turn out tough or “rubbery”. Our expert reveals the secret of a delicious juicy kebab.
– In order to cook the right beef kebab, you first need to choose the right meat. It is best to use the lumbar spine where there is little fat to keep the meat dry. As for the marinade: I think that marinating beef in something is wrong. In order to make a delicious kebab, we need beef, salt, black pepper and a lot of onions. To make the meat tender and juicy, you can add mineral water.
The sequence of actions should be as follows. We cut the meat into pieces 2 cm thick, about 4 cm thick, because beef kebab is best done in Medium well roasting. The meat is mixed with onions, salt, pepper and massaged. It is necessary to massage the meat for forty minutes, no less: that is, we mash the onion, juice is released, which is mixed with salt and pepper, and a certain marinade for beef is already obtained. Add the mineral water after the beef has absorbed the taste of onion, salt and pepper. Add mineral water and, if desired, you can add spices for the barbecue. True, I myself do not do this and do not like it.
Beef kebab must be fried over an aggressive fire. This is an incorrect wording when they say that you need to cook over low heat so that the marinade does not burn. Don’t make the marinade burn, and you should be fine.
The correct kebab is always best cooked on a skewer so that it closes on all sides. Aggressive fire affects meat literally within 3-4 minutes. Then move the coals to the side and cook the kebab over low heat. Why is this done? In order to create a crust, and the juice remains inside the meat. Then we cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes, constantly turning, and you will get a wonderful kebab.
Cooking time for meat that has been marinated for 10-17 hours is 15-20 minutes. This is sufficient, provided the coals are hot.
How else can you make beef kebab – the secret of marinade
If you are still determined to marinate meat, you need to keep in mind that cooks divide all barbecue marinades into two groups. The first is suitable for tender fish, chicken, soft pork. These marinades impart a sophisticated flavor to the product without being absorbed deep into the fibers. Kefir, sour cream, mineral water, soy sauce are most often used for these marinades.
The second group is suitable for denser meats, which can become tough and rubbery when cooked on skewers.
These marinades usually contain so-called aggressive preservatives:
lemon acid,
vinegar,
Red wine
It is these ingredients that penetrate deep enough into the meat fibers, making it softer and looser.
Lemon and apple juice concentrates soften the meat, so they are often added to the marinade when cooking beef or lamb kebabs.
To marinate beef you will need:
meat (tenderloin) – 1,5-2 kg,
vinegar 9% – 2-3 tablespoons,
spices for barbecue – 1-2 tbsp. l.,
onions – 2-3 heads.
Chop the onion finely so that the pieces are 2-3 mm. Add vinegar and spices. Pour this mixture over the beef, stirring with your hands until all the pieces are in the marinade. The poured meat should be refrigerated for 3–6 hours. Remember that the utensils for marinating kebabs must be glass or earthenware. Beef absorbs all flavors and can get an unpleasant aftertaste when placed in a metal bowl.
If you don’t eat vinegar or don’t like kebab, which tastes sour, replace this ingredient with dry red wine or cognac diluted with water 50 to 50. Both for the marinade you need 1 glass. In addition, you will need:
a mixture of red and black pepper – 1-2 tsp,
garlic – 1 head,
onions – 2-3 heads.
Finely chop all ingredients and mix with red wine. Grate the pieces of meat with the mixture and leave for 6-8 hours. Better yet, prepare a semi-finished product the day before so that the beef is properly soaked. The maximum time spent in the marinade is 18 hours. After that, the meat becomes very sour, because it is too saturated with fruit acids.
The choice is yours: use the marinade or heed the advice of our expert, who prefers to do without vinegar or other harsh ingredients. Try to cook a kebab according to the recipe of an experienced chef and, perhaps, just such meat will become your signature dish.
Why is marinade with the addition of vinegar so popular?
– If you look closely, many are trying to get the original taste of Soviet barbecue that they remember. Perhaps their parents did this. But here we must turn to the knowledge that we have, – says Dmitry Garifulin. – Vinegar has never been used in the Caucasus to make barbecue. Sumac was used – this is a vinegar tree or shrub. The flower of this tree is harvested at a certain time – if I am not mistaken, from mid-August to mid-September. Harvested, and then used to marinate meat, make teas. Sumac, plus everything, is an antiseptic and a natural flavor enhancer. This is the “vinegar” that we feel in the Caucasian kebab.
The spice is very difficult from the point of view of search, it should be taken only from the “ancestors”, negotiated with friends, and brought from the Caucasus. All spices of this format, which are called sumac and are sold on the market, are most often 90% fake, with the addition of some sour fruit or a mixture of rose petals with barberry. Such spices will not give the opportunity to get the result we would like.