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Marinate grilled meat without using salt, marinate with this seasoning for tender, fragrant, and flavorful meat that won’t dry out.

The order of seasoning for grilled meat will also affect the taste of the dish.

11 March, 2024

Grilled meat is a dish that many people love. The meat is marinated and then grilled to perfection, releasing an irresistible aroma that is hard to resist. One of the secrets to flavorful grilled meat is the marinating process. The meat needs to be marinated for a certain period of time for the flavors to penetrate the meat before grilling. This will result in a more flavorful piece of meat.

However, many people encounter the problem of dry and tasteless grilled meat, even though they have marinated it with various spices for a long time. The reason may be that the marinating process was not done correctly. To help the flavors penetrate the meat and prevent it from drying out, you can follow these small tips.

Choose the meat

To have a flavorful grilled meat, you need to choose fresh meat. It is best to buy meat that has a natural bright pink color. Press your finger on the meat and it should feel firm and springy, with a dry surface.

Avoid buying meat that has a pale color, yellow fat, white spots on the meat, or a strange odor. Also, avoid meat that feels soft, wet, and lacks springiness when pressed.

You can choose any part of the meat for grilling, depending on your preference.

You can choose different parts of the meat to make grilled dishes according to your preference. The rib-eye steak (the meat near the rib bones) is suitable for serving with broken rice. Grilled beef tenderloin will have a crispy texture. Grilled pork belly will have a rich and fatty flavor, as it contains both lean meat and fat.

Prepare the meat

Before marinating the meat, you need to rinse it thoroughly. You can rinse the meat with diluted saltwater mixed with a little lemon juice to remove dirt, excess blood, and eliminate any unpleasant odor. Then rinse the meat again with clean water.

Pat the meat dry with a clean towel before marinating. For rib-eye steak, you can use a meat tenderizer, a rolling pin, or other tools to flatten the meat, which will help the flavors to penetrate faster.

You can also lightly score the surface of the meat with a knife (without cutting it apart) or use a fork to poke holes in the meat to allow the flavors to penetrate better.

You can marinate the meat as a whole or cut it into pieces before marinating. If you marinate the whole piece of meat, you should marinate it for a longer time to ensure that the flavors penetrate the meat.

Marinate with spices

Normally, people would add all the spices to marinate the meat at once. However, this can cause the meat to become tough and dry when grilled. Especially, you should not marinate the meat with salty seasonings such as soy sauce, fish sauce, or salt from the beginning. The reason is that salt draws out moisture, which will leave the meat dry and tough.

When marinating grilled meat, pay attention to the order of adding the spices.

The first spice to marinate the meat with should be sugar. You should marinate the meat with a moderate amount of sugar for about 3-5 minutes (you can replace sugar with malt, honey, or condensed milk). After that, marinate the meat with spices like shallots, lemongrass, minced garlic…for a few minutes. Then, add fish sauce, salt…to marinate the meat for a few minutes. Finally, marinate the meat with sesame oil or cooking oil.

Marinating the meat with sugar first helps retain the moisture inside the meat, keeping it juicy and preventing it from drying out when grilled.

For shallots, garlic, lemongrass…you can grind them and extract the juice. Using the juice to marinate the meat will prevent these spices from burning when grilled. You can also use powdered shallots, garlic, lemongrass to marinate the meat.

Adding cooking oil or sesame oil to marinate the meat helps prevent it from drying out and gives it a shiny and attractive appearance (especially when using sesame oil).

Frequently asked questions

The duration depends on whether you marinate the whole piece or cut it into pieces. For whole pieces, a longer time is needed, whereas smaller cuts will absorb flavors faster.

Choose fresh meat with a natural bright pink color. It should feel firm and springy to the touch, and have a dry surface. Avoid meat with a pale color, yellow fat, or strange odors.

Yes, it depends on your preference. For example, rib-eye steak is great with broken rice, while beef tenderloin offers a crispy texture, and pork belly provides a rich, fatty flavor.

Rinse the meat thoroughly with diluted saltwater and lemon juice to remove dirt and unwanted odors. Pat it dry, then use a meat tenderizer or rolling pin to flatten it, aiding in faster flavor absorption.

Start with sugar (or malt, honey, condensed milk) for 3-5 minutes, followed by shallots, lemongrass, and garlic. Then add fish sauce and salt, and finally, sesame or cooking oil. This order ensures moisture retention and prevents the meat from drying out.

Salt draws out moisture, leading to dry and tough meat. Adding it later in the process helps retain the meat’s natural juices and prevents it from becoming dry during grilling.