Marinating (Meat)

Note

The marination described here refers to the preparation step for ingredients before cooking, not the production of finished products such as cured meat or pickled sausages.

Marinating

Marinating meat before cooking is a common method to allow the meat to absorb flavors in advance. Generally, the subject of marination is raw meat. Depending on the requirements of the dish, you can determine the size of the cuts yourself.

For example, with fried chicken nuggets, chicken breast is placed in a bowl for marination after being cut into dice-sized pieces.

For example, with roasted whole lamb, lamb legs, half a leg, or a whole leg of lamb do not need to be cut; they can be marinated by coating the surface with a large amount of seasonings.

Depending on the dish, the seasonings and auxiliary ingredients selected for marination can be of any kind. Sometimes, to achieve different flavors, the auxiliary ingredients may also need to be pre-processed.

Basic Concepts of Marinating

This section introduces the marination process for standard flavors.

Generally, the larger the amount of meat (e.g., marinating 5 kg of chicken wings at once) or the larger the volume (e.g., a whole leg of lamb), and the heavier the desired flavor, the more seasonings and auxiliary ingredients are needed.
Generally, the longer the planned marination time, the less seasonings and auxiliary ingredients are required.
During marination, the marinade should be evenly distributed over all surfaces. For sliced or shredded meat, use your hands to mix thoroughly. For a whole leg of lamb, use your hands or a brush to spread the marinade evenly on the surface.
Stir-fried or fried meat usually requires pre-marination. Stir-fried meat should maintain a tender texture, and cooking often involves high heat for a short time. Since short cooking times do not allow for deep flavor penetration, pre-marination helps compensate for this lack of flavor.

Marinating Techniques

Fine shreds and thin slices: Since the meat texture is delicate, handle it gently. Form your fingers like the claws of a claw machine and lightly mix the marinade. Then gently stir in one direction.
Shreds, slices, and chunks: Use the same technique as above, but apply slightly more force.
Chicken legs, wings, etc.: First, make a few cuts on the surface of the ingredients. For chicken drumettes and legs, you can poke through-holes with a knife. Then, mix the marinade in a bowl first, and coat the ingredients evenly in the marinade bowl.
Leg of lamb, etc.: Generally, poke through-holes in the thicker parts of the meat. After mixing the marinade, spread it evenly over the surface of the ingredients.

Marinating Containers and Time

Choose a container that can hold both the ingredients and the marinade, such as bowls, plates, or trays. This is open marination, which generally takes a shorter time, commonly 0.5 to 2 hours. (Roasted) leg of lamb can also be marinated this way, but it requires a longer time.
You can choose a sufficiently large food-grade sealed bag for marination. This is sealed marination, which generally takes a long time, such as overnight marination or marinating ribs that are difficult to flavor. Common times range from 4 hours to overnight. In this case, reduce the amount of ingredients slightly to prevent the final dish from being too heavy or salty.

Commonly Used Marinating Ingredients

Light soy sauce: Provides a savory, salty base flavor with a distinct soy aroma. Suitable for almost all types of meat.
Dark soy sauce: Has a less intense saltiness but is excellent for coloring. Used to enhance color and aroma. Should generally be used sparingly to avoid a strong fermented bean odor. Suitable for almost all red meats (used less frequently) and can be used in larger amounts for items like pork liver.
Table salt: Provides saltiness but lacks the savory soy aroma when stir-fried. Suitable for all types of meat.
White (granulated) sugar: Adds sweetness (in large quantities) and can enhance the tender texture of meat (in small quantities). Suitable for all poultry and livestock meats, but less commonly used for fish and seafood.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and the unique texture of brown sugar, with a slightly heavier flavor profile than white sugar. Suitable for almost all meats (typically results in a darker meat color or dish color).
Oyster sauce: Enhances savory, salty, and sweet flavors. Generally used for red meats.
White vinegar / Rice vinegar: Adds acidity. Used less frequently.
Aged vinegar / Fragrant vinegar: Provides acidity while also enhancing the aroma and color of the dish. Fragrant vinegar is particularly suitable for dark-colored fish (especially grilled fish).
Cooking wine: Removes fishy/gamey odors and enhances aroma. Suitable for almost all types of meat. However, usage requires caution:
Cooking wine has a strong flavor that can easily overpower the natural aroma of ingredients. For ingredients with mild odors, consider omitting cooking wine. Examples include beef, fish, and chicken.
For chicken, Baijiu (Chinese white liquor) can be used as a substitute.
For beef, ginger and scallion water can be used as a substitute.
For white-fleshed fish, simply cleaning off blood traces and mucous membranes is usually sufficient to remove odors; adding cooking wine is not recommended.
Yellow wine (Huangjiu): Removes odors and enhances aroma, with effects superior to cooking wine and a more complex aroma profile. Generally used for white meats (poultry/pork). Can also be used for red meats, but the effect is comparable to cooking wine.
Five-spice powder / Thirteen-spice powder: Adds aroma to meats and serves as the simplest compound spice blend. Five-spice powder primarily adds aroma, while Thirteen-spice powder has a distinct, recognizable flavor. When marinating with these spices, control the quantity. Suitable for almost all meats, but less commonly used for fish and seafood.
Chili powder: Comes in many varieties. Excluding chili types, it can be categorized by grind fineness into chili powder/powdered chili flakes, chili pieces, etc. Besides adding spiciness to meat, it also adds color to the dish. When marinating with chili, avoid excessive amounts. Suitable for almost all meats requiring a spicy base flavor, but cooking time should be slightly controlled to prevent the chili from becoming bitter or the color from turning too dark.
Cumin powder / Fennel powder: Generally used as ground powder for marinades rather than whole seeds, as this allows the meat to absorb flavors more easily. Suitable for almost all red meats and chicken.
X Pepper powder: Adds pungent, spicy, aromatic, and biting flavors to meat. Use in moderation to avoid overpowering other flavors.
Black pepper powder: Pungent and spicy. Suitable for almost all red meats.
White pepper powder: Pungent and aromatic. Slightly milder than black pepper, highlighting aroma. Suitable for almost all meats.
Sichuan peppercorn powder: Pungent and numbing/biting. Has a distinctive aroma of Sichuan peppercorns, making it highly recognizable. Suitable for almost all meats.
Doubanjiang (Fermented broad bean paste): Adds fermented bean aroma, saltiness, and spiciness to meat. Suitable for almost all red meats.
Scallions, ginger, and garlic: Scallions and ginger remove odors, enhance aroma, and eliminate off-flavors; garlic adds pungency and aroma. Scallions can be cut into segments or slices as needed; ginger is generally sliced, and peeling may be required in some scenarios; garlic can be sliced or minced. If you do not want scallions and ginger to appear in the final dish or prefer a lighter flavor, place chunks of scallions and ginger in a bowl with a small amount of water, squeeze out the juice, and use the scallion-ginger water to marinate the meat. Garlic is generally not added directly. Suitable for all types of meat.
Seafood sauce, shrimp paste, etc.: Adds umami and saltiness to meat. Seafood sauce tends to be sweeter, while shrimp paste has a heavier, stronger flavor. Suitable for almost all meats, but usage scenarios are limited.
Fermented black beans: Adds the aroma of fermented beans and saltiness to meat. Suitable for almost all red meats, but not commonly used.
Cornstarch (Shengfen): Refers to starch. Shengfen is a crucial ingredient for velveting (coating meat). The thicker the coating or the smoother/tenderer the desired texture, the more shengfen is required. Suitable for almost all meats. Shengfen can be used as a simple frying batter (often requiring the addition of flour, etc., as needed); in this case, it is generally not added during the marination stage.
Cornstarch, potato starch: Have the highest viscosity.
Sweet potato starch: Has slightly lower viscosity.
Oil: Adding an appropriate amount of oil during marination creates an oil seal, which locks in moisture and flavor. If marinating in an open container for a long time (e.g., in a bowl), oil sealing significantly prevents the meat from drying out or becoming tough. Suitable for almost all meats. When stir-frying after oil sealing, slightly reduce the base oil; for deep-frying, there is no difference.

Several Common Marinating Formulas

Beef: Use a moderate amount of light soy sauce, a small amount of cooking wine, and a small amount of white sugar for marinating. Add salt to taste (for salinity), oyster sauce, and a very small amount of seafood sauce (for Oyster Sauce Beef), or five-spice powder/Thirteen-Spice powder (for Stir-fried Beef with Onions). Use green onions and ginger sparingly.
Chicken (including chicken breast and wings): Use a moderate amount of light soy sauce, a relatively small amount of white sugar, and a small amount of cooking wine for marinating. Add salt to taste (for salinity), five-spice powder/Thirteen-Spice powder (for Fried Chicken Nuggets), or a very small amount of dark soy sauce (for Pan-fried Chicken Wings).
White Fish: Use a moderate amount of salt and a small amount of cooking wine/Huangjiu (yellow wine) for marinating. Add seafood sauce/seafood soy sauce/steamed fish soy sauce (for Pan-fried Ribbonfish), or green onions and ginger (for Baked Skin-on Fish) to taste.
Red Fish: Use a moderate amount of light soy sauce and a small amount of cooking wine for marinating. Add seafood soy sauce/a small amount of steamed fish soy sauce (for Pan-fried Salmon), or brown sugar (for Nordic-style Roasted Salmon) to taste.
Pork Liver: Use a moderate amount of light soy sauce and a moderate amount of cooking wine for marinating. Add cornstarch and a moderate amount of dark soy sauce (for Smooth-fried Pork Liver), or a small amount of sugar, etc., to taste.

Practical Dish Examples

Stir-fried Beef with Onions: Using 150g of beef for one serving. The beef should be sliced, and the final dish should be tender and smooth, requiring stir-frying.
Light soy sauce: 10ml (approx. 2 tablespoons)
Cooking wine: 5ml (approx. 1 tablespoon)
White sugar: 2.5-10g (approx. 1-4 teaspoons, adjust sweetness to taste)
Cumin powder: 5g (approx. 2 teaspoons)
Cornstarch: 10-15g (approx. 1 small handful)
Oil: 10ml (approx. 2 tablespoons)
(Optional) Thirteen-Spice powder: 1g (approx. 0.5 teaspoons)
(Optional) Black pepper powder: 1g (approx. 0.5 teaspoons)
Oyster Sauce Beef: Using 150g of beef for one serving. The beef should be sliced, and the final dish should be tender and smooth with a good coating (slurry). The flavor is slightly sweet, and it requires stir-frying.
Light soy sauce: 5ml (approx. 1 tablespoon)
Cooking wine: 5ml (approx. 1 tablespoon)
Oyster sauce: 10-20ml (approx. 2-4 tablespoons, adjust saltiness to taste; oyster sauce is quite salty)
White sugar: 5-15g (approx. 2-6 teaspoons, adjust sweetness to taste)
Cornstarch: 25-35g (approx. 1 large handful)
Oil: 10ml (approx. 2 tablespoons)
Five-Spice Salt and Crispy Chicken: Using 150g of chicken breast for one serving. The chicken should be cut into dice shapes and requires deep-frying.
Light soy sauce: 10ml (approx. 2 tablespoons)
Cooking wine: 2.5ml (approx. 0.5 tablespoon)
Five-spice powder: 5g (approx. 2 teaspoons) OR Thirteen-Spice powder: 2.5-5g (approx. 1-2 teaspoons)
(Optional) Cumin powder: 1g (approx. 0.5 teaspoons)
(Optional) White pepper powder: 1g (approx. 0.5 teaspoons)
Honey-Roasted Chicken Wings: Using 250g bone-in chicken mid-wings as a single serving. Make several diagonal cuts on the wings. The dish should be savory and sweet, with a prominent sweet flavor, and requires roasting.
Light soy sauce: 10ml (approx. 2 tbsp)
Cooking wine: 2.5ml (approx. 0.5 tbsp)
White sugar: 5-15g (approx. 2-6 tsp, adjust sweetness to taste)
Honey/syrup: 10-20ml (approx. 2-4 tbsp, adjust sweetness to taste. If using 10g or more white sugar, it is recommended to use only 10ml of honey/syrup)
(Optional) Five-spice powder: 2.5g (approx. 1 tsp. Do not use thirteen-spice powder)
Roasted Salmon: Using 200g boneless salmon fillet as a single serving. Do not cut or score the fish; bake in an oven.
Light soy sauce: 10ml (approx. 2 tbsp)
Cooking wine: 2.5ml (approx. 0.5 tbsp)
Brown sugar: 10-20g (approx. 4-8 tsp, adjust sweetness to taste)
Balsamic vinegar/Zhenjiang black vinegar: 2.5-5ml (approx. 0.5-1 tbsp, adjust acidity to taste)
Ground nutmeg: 2.5g (approx. 1 tsp)
Ground thyme: 1g (approx. 0.5 tsp)
Ground ginger: 1g (approx. 0.5 tsp)
Ground rosemary: 1-2g (approx. 0.5-1 tsp)
(Optional) White pepper powder: 1g (approx. 0.5 tsp)
(Optional) Crushed dried chili peppers: 2.5-10g (approx. 1-4 tsp, adjust spiciness to taste)