3 days Ago By [email protected] (Emily Monaco)
It does not take a lot of work to improve a steak: With just a handful of ingredients, a quick steak marinade does double duty on both flavor and texture. We spoke to Matthew Kreider, Executive Chef of , who is a big fan of this method, noting, nevertheless, that one size does not fit all when it comes to marinades. "I do not marinate every cut of steak," he cautions, noting that steaks like ribeye, which are already marbled and flavorful, do not need the added help.
Instead, he recommends taking advantage of the flavoring and tenderizing power to like flank, skirt, or sirloin. In addition to which steaks you marinate, it is essential to be wary of how long you marinate them for. "I would marinate a steak eight to 24 hours to get the flavors to really penetrate the steak," counsels Kreider, noting that more is not necessarily more when it comes to marinating steak.
"Too long or too much of a marinade, and you've got a steak that either doesn't taste or feel like a steak any more," cautions Kreider. "Restraint goes a long way." To build a good steak marinade, it is essential to balance several different categories of ingredients, each of which contributes a different flavor and may have an effect on the steak's ultimate texture.
Here are the ones Kreider recommends for the perfect formula. Salt Salt, according to Matthew Kreider, is "extremely important in the marinating process." Not only does salt add essential flavor to the steak, but it can help other flavors penetrate more deeply.
This is due to the fact that salt naturally draws moisture out of meat. When salt is included in a liquid marinade, this characteristic leads the steak to reabsorb liquid around it, to replace lost moisture. As it soaks up the more flavorful marinade, the steak is seasoned from the inside out, resulting, according to Kreider, in "a more uniformly seasoned product.
" When crafting the perfect steak marinade, regular table salt is a great place to start. But if you are feeling creative, it can be fun to experiment with other . Consider opting for with mineral-rich sea salt with its bright, briny flavor, or even flavored salts like smoked salt.
These will lend even more dimension to your marinade — and thus to the resulting steak. Soy sauce While regular table salt is a nice ingredient in some marinades, if you want to boost the flavor profile even more, consider opting instead for soy sauce. Brewed from a combination of soy, wheat, salt, and water, soy sauce is a naturally fermented product with a deep, .
Umami, which some translate as "savoriness," is a welcome addition to steak, making the beef taste even beefier than it would alone. In marinades, soy sauce does not just up the flavor; it also by weakening the muscle proteins, making soy sauce-based marinades perfect for tougher cuts like flank steak or skirt steak. And while run-of-the-mill soy sauces are pantry staples in many homes, is starting to become even more popular, adding an even richer flavor to your marinade.
Consider combining soy sauce with ingredients like ginger, rice vinegar, and palm sugar to create Asian-inspired steak marinades perfect for a stir fry. Citrus juice In addition to salt, acid is another category of ingredients that work particularly well in meat marinades, according to Matthew Kreider. "Acid helps tenderize and break down the protein structure of a steak," he explains.
The reason this works so well is a matter of science. making them softer, resulting in a cut whose toughness basically dissolves before you even have a chance to put blade to steak. According to 2003 research published in , while all acids can help tenderize tougher cuts like shin beef, citrus juice is the most effective, lending a "significant tenderizing effect" when used in a formula of 31% orange juice, 31% lemon juice, and 38% distilled water.
The marinade both weakened muscle proteins and broke down collagen, resulting in a far more tender steak — and the combination of citrus juices adds loads of bright flavor to steak marinades. But be forewarned: Kreider notes that more definitely is not more when it comes to acidic marinades. "Make sure not to leave it marinating too long," he cautions, "or it could break down the steak too much and give it an off texture.
" Vinegar Vinegar is another option for an acidic marinade ingredient, and with so many different kinds to choose from, it is easy to change up the flavor profile. Matthew Kreider loves using apple cider vinegar, which has a fruity, slightly fermented flavor, not dissimilar to kombucha. It is also less acidic than most vinegars, at just 4% to 5% acidity, as compared to 6% to 7% acidity for wine.
Opting for a less acidic vinegar means that you run a slightly lower risk of "cooking" the meat and denaturing its texture. If you want to opt for more flavorful sherry vinegar, with its woodsy aromas, be aware that due to its 7% to 8% acidity, it is even more essential to make quick work of the task. Balsamic vinegar, made with grape must leftover from winemaking, is another great option, with a more muted 6% to 7% acidity, not to mention a lovely depth of flavor and a touch of sweetness.
This, Kreider says, "can help balance out the acids and salty products we usually use to season steaks." Mustard Mustard is yet another acidic ingredient that can help improve the texture of your steak. Dijon mustard in particular is typically made with the white wine vinegar typical of the surrounding region of Burgundy, France.
But acidity is not the only thing that mustard brings to a marinade. It also contributes a lovely depth of spicy flavor, which becomes a bit more muted once cooked, for a perfectly balanced marinade. The acidity and spice of the mustard also do double duty to naturally bring out the sweet, caramelized notes of the steak.
One other benefit of using mustard as a marinade ingredient is its paste-like texture. When cooked, mustard can help form a crust on the outside of the steak, paving the way for a crispier exterior. It is no wonder relies on Dijon mustard as the secret ingredient, resulting in a steak with phenomenal texture and a touch of a welcome tang.
Honey Sugar is a welcome addition to many marinades, whether it be simple table sugar or a fruit juice marrying sweetness and a touch of acidity. Not only does sugar provide balance for salty and acidic ingredients, but, as Matthew Kreider explains, it also makes it easier to achieve optimum caramelization of the crust of your steak. Honey in particular can lend a host of different flavors to a steak marinade, depending on which type you choose to use.
Mild clover honey lends just a touch of floral sweetness, while buckwheat honey is rich in a pleasant natural bitterness nearly reminiscent of molasses. Whichever honey you opt for, however, it is important to remember not to use too much of it. "A high sugar content makes burning a steak much easier on a hot cooking surface," explains Kreider.
If you have opted for a sweeter marinade, pay special attention to your steak as it cooks, and do not hesitate to reduce the heat if needed to keep a pleasantly charred steak from turning into one that is pretty unpleasantly burnt. Date molasses When it comes to adding a sugary note to marinades, Matthew Kreider prefers to choose sugars that add far more dimensions than just sweetness. "Try to use a sugar with a real flavor profile instead of just granulated white," he counsels, noting that some of his favorites include fig molasses, date molasses, and palm sugar.
Palm sugar is made from the sap of palm flowers and is a staple of Southeast Asian cuisines, with a slightly caramelized aroma. It may also be marketed as jaggery. Fig molasses is a sweet, dense syrup beloved in Calabria, where its intense fruity flavor offers a balance of sweetness and bitterness.
Date molasses, common in the Middle East, has a similar rich, fruity flavor. And as an added bonus, unlike honey, all three are vegan. Other unrefined sugars that can be fun to play with in steak marinades include maple syrup and coconut sugar, both of which similarly bring more complexity than mere sweetness to the table.
After all, you don't want your steak to taste like a dessert. Pineapple juice Pineapple juice isn not just a marriage of sweet and acidic flavors. It is also a common marinade ingredient in dishes like thanks to the natural presence of the enzyme bromelain, which breaks down connective collagen into smaller segments.
The result is far tenderer meat, so using pineapple juice in marinades for tougher cuts like flank steak and skirt steak is a great move. Consider combining it with smoked chipotles in adobo sauce, Mexican lager, and guajillo chiles to create a play on an al pastor marinade perfect for making al pastor-style beef fajitas. Be aware, however, that once pasteurized, pineapple's bromelain is far from as active.
Shelf-stable pineapple juice, in other words, will tenderize meat far less than the juice of fresh pineapple. That said, one 2020 study in showed that dehydrated pineapple also had good tenderizing effects on cheap beef cuts like silverside, so using dehydrated pineapple in steak marinades is another means of achieving the same improved texture. Flavorful oils Another essential element in any steak marinade is fat, though not all fats are as well-suited to marinades, according to Matthew Kreider.
"You need to use a flavorful fat that maintains its viscosity at a low temperature," he says. In other words, look for fats that are fluid at room temperature, like oil, rather than solid, like lard or butter. This keeps the marinade from solidifying too much while the steak marinates in the fridge.
Choosing a fat is yet another opportunity to add more flavor to your marinade. Toasted sesame oil works wonderfully in an Asian-style marinade, paired with ginger and soy, while an olive oil infused with garlic, herbs, or chile is an opportunity to pack the marinade with loads of flavor with minimal work. Kreider says he usually chooses "a nice olive oil," steering clear from extra-virgin's low smoke point to keep the marinade from burning once the steak hits the heat.
Yogurt One ingredient that marries the essential characteristics of both acidic and fatty marinade ingredients is yogurt, which is one reason it is such a common marinade ingredient in India. that the lactic acid in yogurt is far gentler than the acetic acid in vinegar or the citric acid in citrus fruit, making it far less likely to denature the proteins in the meat. This also means that a yogurt-based marinade, unlike one containing lots of citrus juice or vinegar, can safely be used overnight.
The added benefit of using yogurt as a marinade base is its thickness. It adheres far better to the surface of a steak than liquid ingredients like oil, meaning that even more of the aromatic ingredients like spices or garlic cling to the meat as it cooks. You will see such pastes used to make tandoori-style kebabs, for instance, but the neutral flavor of yogurt means that any aromatic blend of ingredients can easily take full advantage of this technique.
Consider seasoning yogurt with or a for rich, tender steak with an ultra-flavorful crust. Garlic Once you have a base for your marinade, you can have loads of fun adding aromatic ingredients. "This is where you can go wild," says Matthew Kreider, though members of the pungent allium family are a great departure point that never disappoint.
Alliums include onions, chives, scallions, and garlic, the latter of which is unsurprisingly a common steak marinade ingredient. Garlic adds a lovely savory quality as well as a distinctive sweetness to any dish in which it is used, particularly marinades. Depending on how the garlic is prepared, it may have slightly different characteristics.
Whole, raw garlic infuses a marinade with subtle pungency, while already roasted garlic is lovely and sweet. Be careful of using chopped or sliced garlic in a steak marinade, as the small pieces are more powerful than whole cloves, and they also run the risk of burning, which could give an acrid flavor to the entire dish. Herbs and spices Herbs and spices are common in Matthew Kreider's favorite steak marinades, and with such a host of different combinations, it is not hard to see why! When it comes to fresh herbs, err on the side of the more robust, woodsier choices like thyme and rosemary, which can stand up to the beefy flavors of steak and run less of a risk of oxidation than delicate herbs like basil.
Spices are also an excellent addition to marinades, according to Matthew Kreider, who toasts his spices first to ensure they showcase the full depth of their flavors. Here once more, there are loads of choices and flavor profiles to explore. Kreider loves fennel and coriander, a combo he deems "a winner," but try other common pairings like cumin and coriander or a mix of black, pink, and green peppercorns.
You could even opt for pre-mixed spices in a pinch, like Indian garam masala or to make your homemade marinade even easier. Worcestershire sauce was invented in England by two chemists in the early 19th century. Soon, the rich, tangy sauce became beloved around the world, featuring in everything from American Bloody Mary cocktails to Japanese stir fries to , a type of beef jerky.
And when it comes to marinades for steak, is a phenomenal ingredient for many more reasons than one. The condiment unites many of the base categories of ingredient recommended by Matthew Kreider in concocting any steak marinade, with acidity coming from the vinegar and tamarind and sweetness from the molasses and the sugar. But Worcestershire sauce does more than just that.
This sauce is also seasoned with garlic and anchovies, which add both pungency and a phenomenal depth of flavor. They also up the umami, that moreish, savory note one associates with foods including meat. In other words, Worcestershire sauce can make beef taste even beefier.
Cornstarch Most of the marinade ingredients cited thus far are used with the dual goal of improving both the taste and texture of a steak. But while cornstarch is relatively tasteless, its power in improving the texture of meat is well worth its inclusion in this list. Cornstarch is a common ingredient in stir-fries, where it helps keep the small pieces of meat from growing rubbery or dry.
It is typically used as just one ingredient in a batter in which the pieces of meat are marinated before being fried in oil. The technique, known as , Kenny Leung, executive chef at the New York Cantonese restaurant YAO, told the Takeout, while also tenderizing it and contributing a rich, silky texture to the resulting sauce. Velveting batter typically sees cornstarch combined with alkaline ingredients including egg white and baking soda, which help the muscle proteins from constricting while cooked.
The resulting meat is far tenderer than it might be had this marinating step been skipped. Recommended.
