Marinade the holidays | Stories from Asia

End-of-year revelry or celebrations for the coming new start, people just can’t help but revolve it around food. Rather than struggling to get into a booked out restaurant with exorbitant holiday menus, invite the people who matter most into your home for a casual get-together where you can reminisce, joke and relax at your leisure—no pesky waiter trying to clear your table and get you out the door!

As for the food, it doesn’t have to be stressful if you plan ahead of time. Marinating, for instance, can be done up to 24 hours ahead of time so you needn’t struggle in the final hours when guests are at your doorstep.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you’re dealing with marinades.

Flavor balance

Weber experts believe that the key to make a great marinade is balancing the ingredient combo, usually made up of an acid (like wine, lime juice, soy sauce), fat (like olive oil) and flavoring (like fresh spices, herbs and garlic).

Anything goes

You can pretty much marinate anything, yup, even vegetables. Hard vegetables like carrots and potatoes need to be soaked for at least 30 minutes or overnight, while tender vegetables like tomatoes and broccolli only take about 10 minutes in the marinade.

Say no to metal

Ziplock bags, bowls, containers, plates—you can marinate using anything except for metal bowls or dishes. Most marinades contain acid which, when in contact with the metal, will react with it and give food a metallic taste, ugh!

Don’t reuse marinade

Marinade that has come into contact with meat shouldn’t be reused, or needs to be boiled to kill off the bacteria before you can use it as a sauce. The safer way to go about it is to set aside part of the freshly prepared marinade for later.

Keep it in the fridge

Don’t let your dish marinate out on the kitchen counter at room temperature, unless you like your meat with a side of bacteria. Always store it in the fridge covered while you wait for the marinade to work its magic.

Watch the time

While marinating meat with acidic ingredients tenderizes it, be careful not to soak meat for too long as it might reverse the process and actually make the meat tougher. Weber recipes always come with a recommended marinating time!