This is my favorite barbeque marinade, which
is a favorite in the Pacific islands. This marinade is great for pork,
country ribs, chicken or beef shortribs. Let the meat marinade for about
3-hours. Note: Chicken takes longer to marinade because of the skin. So the
chicken needs about 3-hours to marinade for a good flavor, but you can use
less time for the beef and pork if you want. The longer the time for
marination, the more flavorful your meat will be.
This recipe is for about 5 lbs of meat.
Marinade Ingredients:
-
2 cups Kikkoman's soy sauce
-
5 Tablespoons of sugar
1 cup pure water
1/2 white or yellow onion, diced fine
2 inches of ginger, peeled and diced fine
1 entire bulb of garlic (pictured to right), peeled and diced fine
1 teaspoon of black pepper
Combine all the ingredients into a large bowl. You can also do an all night marinade if you'd like. You may want to adjust the amount of ingredients to suit your taste after the first go.
1 teaspoon of orange
zest is also something that you might want to add for a twist. Using a
grater, just scrap the orange skin off of an orange. It has a very strong
orange aroma that adds flavor to all kinds of recipes.
Barbecue Techniques
I've learned a few barbeque techniques over the years that most people don't know. A lot of people just dump their charcoal into the barbeque, like I used to do; but a better method is to make a pyramid so that the heat can center within the pyramid. This way you won't have to reignite your charcoal a dozen times to make it go. Also, you don't need to cover the entire grill. In fact, it's best not to so you can move food to the sides when it is almost done to prevent burning. Also, a lot of people burn their food because the heat is too high. A lower heat and a longer time to cook makes the meat more juicy. Never poke your meat with a fork or knife because it'll let all the juices out. Cooking low and slow makes meat more juicy.
Keep a little spray bottle handy with water, so if the juices in the meat catch fire you can gently spray the fire away (or you can just move the meat to the sides of the grill until the fire settles down). Another method is to place the barbeque lid over the meat to smother the fire. Keep the bottom vents open and the top vents closed. This helps make the meat juicier and also more flavorful from the smoke. The key is not to have the heat too high. I used to put way too much charcoal in my grill, which produced way too much heat and dried out the meat. Just make a pyramid in the middle, almost to the underside of the cooking grill. Turn the meat often.
And believe it or not, an electric fan is great for getting a stubborn fire going. Fire needs air and a fan provides forced air.
Enjoy!
