For many inexperienced home cooks, the thought of preparing a sumptuous meal for the family can be daunting, but as Chef Seeto explains, once you know the basics, all you need is a little imagination.
IF there is one consistent criticism I hear from tourists and frequent restaurant goers, is that the food we serve in some restaurants is still bland and tasteless, however restaurants and cafes are not alone in this critique.
Lack of flavour is also seen at the annual Moffat Salon Culinaire cooking competition where young chefs work so hard to prepare and present their food, only to miss out on a medal because the main component on their dish had little to no taste.
While some roadside barbecue stands hide their tasteless meats by overloading their barbecue packs with tomato sauce. I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot of aspiring cooks just don’t understand the very basics of marinating or how to get more flavour into the meat without relying on drowning it with sauce.
Whether it’s laziness, lack of time, lack of knowledge or outright shortcutting, learning how to use marinades, brines and rubs is an essential skill in any kitchen.
Changing the way we eat
For many families, salt, lemon, chilli and tomato sauce are still a mandatory addition to the kitchen table as this is how people have been brought up to eat for many generations.
Think about how most people prepare lovo meats; rarely marinated or seasoned before being buried resulting in well cooked but tasteless meats.
The same lack of seasoning can also be seen in some Indian home cooking where meats are not seasoned, relying on the gravy or salt at the table to bring the dish together. It was the same growing up in Australia in the mid 1970s, where we’d reach for the salt and pepper shaker every time we ate more bland British foods like a roast or steak.
It wasn’t until we learned to add the flavour during the cooking process did we begin to forgo the table salt and pepper. Australia’s immigration of Chinese, Italian, Greek and South East Asian migrants helped introduce a whole new world of flavours and cooking techniques into Aussie cuisine which was then mainly British.
The bland “meat and three veg” of the past was dead, replaced by the exotic spices and marinating techniques of its new immigrants.
With Fiji fast becoming a regional hub with travel opportunities to so many destinations to try their foods, I wonder how long it will take for Fijians to change the way they cook and eat?
Marinades to deepen
flavour and texture
One of the simplest ways to flavour food is to marinate it. Just like a sponge, meats and seafood will absorb the sauce you place them in adding flavours that seep deep inside the food that you just cannot get without marinating.
Marinades typically consist of an acidic ingredient like vinegar, lemon juice, wine or yogurt, plus oil and spices. The acidic ingredient helps softens the meat, allowing it to absorb the flavours of the sauce.
Marinating works on all kinds of meat, as well as fish, tofu and spongy vegetables like eggplant, cauliflower, beans, mushrooms and zucchini.
Depending on what you are marinating, the marinating times will differ.
Poultry marinade
In general, chicken straight out of the package is quite tasteless with some sort of seasoning or flavour infused. You really need to marinate for at least two hours to get any decent penetration of flavour and overnight is always best if you have space in the fridge.
Piercing the chicken with a fork, or cutting it into smaller pieces will help it absorb marinade. And if you can find ziplock bags at the supermarket, these are ideal to use as they trap the marinade, air and meat inside the sealed bag for even better results.
There are endless marinade recipes for chicken but some of my favourites are the ones with citrus fruits, garlic, ginger, chilli and almost any fresh herbs.
One of the secret ingredients for fried chicken is to soak the bone-on chicken in buttermilk which helps impart flavour as well as tenderise. It’s hard to find buttermilk in Fiji but cows or coconut milk with lemon juice will do the same trick.
Beef marinade
Marinating beef is best suited for the tougher steak cuts like flank, skirt and round where they are to be slow roasted or stir-fried and not eaten as a full steak. These cuts can usually marinate up to 24 hours but if you have an expensive grass-fed or grain-finished porterhouse, eye fillet or rib-eye — don’t spoil it by marinating!
If you are spend thrifty like a Chinese restaurant owner, you’ll probably want to use a cheap cut of beef for stir-fry dishes. In this case, you will need to use a time-honoured recipe of bicarb soda, soy, wine and white pepper to turn tough meat into a velvety soft texture that will have your guests thinking its expensive tenderloin fillet from overseas!
The Chinese beef marinade uses the bicarb’s aeration properties to open up the fibres which then absorbs the liquid back inside the meat to help break down the toughness.
Fish marinade
Fish and shellfish should marinate for only 30 minutes to an hour; any longer and the flesh might start to cure and go mushy. Like a good steak, fish rarely needs to marinate but if you choose to use fresh herbs like dill, mint and coriander, and use citrus zest (the skin) not juice otherwise you’ll end up with kokoda!
Wet brine
A brine is a liquid solution of herbs, spices and aromatics that adds flavour and keeps bone-in meat tender and juicy. It’s a no-brainer way to turn a regular roast chicken into something extraordinary — and, not to mention, a smart way to guard against accidental overcooking.
You can brine whole chickens or broken-down birds; those pan-roasted thighs would surely benefit from it. A liquid solution of salt, sugar, and water is probably what you think of when you hear the word “brine”.
In addition to salt, sugar, and water, you can add herbs, spices, and aromatics, like chopped onion and garlic, to add flavour. The key with wet brines is twofold: You must first bring it to a boil and stir to allow for the ingredients to completely mix — the sugar needs heat to dissolve. Do this in a pot large enough to hold the chicken. After that, you’ll need the patience to let it cool completely.
Adding raw poultry to lukewarm liquid is a major food safety issue. The warm brine will raise the temperature of the meat, bringing it into the “danger zone” that invites bacterial activity.
So, wait! Once the brine is completely cool, submerge the bird in it and store the entire pot in the refrigerator. You can leave your chicken in the wet brine for up to two days but the liquid will need at least 12 hours to work its magic.
Dry rubs
There are times when a wet marinade can be a bit messy, so dry rubs are another way to infuse flavour without messy and sticky sauces, especially on the barbecue. Dry rubs are a mix of spices and dried herbs and they are rubbed into the meat before cooking. They come in a wide range of flavours.
There are barbecue rubs, chilli, curry and masala powder, jerk seasoning, and many more.
A good rub is like a good orchestra, it has a range of instruments to play all the notes in harmony.
The first is sugar. Sweetness is a common addition because it is a flavour enhancer, it helps browning, and with crust formation.
The next ingredient is the savoury aromatics like herbs, spices and garlic.
And finally, spicy. Hot pepper sensations are often found in dry rubs because they add excitement, but go easy, not everyone likes it as hot as you do. Black pepper is common, so are dried chillies, ginger, horseradish, mustard powder and even those black seeds inside pawpaw.
One golden rule with dry rubs — do not add salt as it will dry the meat out. Always season with salt during the cooking process, not during marinating.
