#marinades

Flavor Enhancer Base

Components - Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Oil 

Oil is usually Olive except for the sweet Asian marinades, in which case, Sesame or Peanut

Optional add-in: Onion of some kind (powder, shallot, spring, red, yellow/sweet - doesn't make a huge difference other than spring is "sharp" and onion powder is more "umami"). Essentially always OK to omit - final product will be fine without it. 

Acid + Sweet

Components - Blend of Booze,Vinegar, and Sweetener or a blend of citrus juices

Mojo, Souvlaki, Carne Asada/Fajitas - Citrus Blend. 

It really doesn’t matter which citruses as long as you aren’t too heavy on the lemon, in my experience. I tend to buy Orange and Lime for that reason. Basically you don’t want too much acid without the sugar to balance it, and lemon is very acidic and tart. 

Booze-Vinegar-Sweetener

Usually this is a sweet wine or liquor, plus sugar/honey/maple/molasses, plus a vinegar (rice, wine, balsamic, or cider)

General rules: 

Safe in almost everything: 

Vinegars: Rice, sherry, cider

Booze: Mirin, Sherry

Sweet: White Sugar, Honey

Pair “dark and earthy” with other “dark and earthy” flavors and sweeteners

Pair “light and fruity” with herbal or fruity flavors and sweeteners

Flavor Profiles (this also applies to most sauces and dishes in general, even without marinade)

Three types:

1. High Herbal, Low Umami - variations: Alone, with Spicy

Sweet/Vinegar is neutral (sherry/rice) or light (citrus/white wine) combos, and not dark (red wine, balsamic, etc.)

Alone: Mojo, Souvlaki, Carne Asada

with Spicy - Cajun, Spanish, Puerto Rican

Spices tend to be Fruity-Herbal, possibly supplemented by spice/earth. Too much earthy flavor will overpower the sweet/vinegar combo (e.g. don’t use too much chili powder - use cayenne or paprika instead, don’t add tons of dark soy, don’t dump in a bunch of cinnamon). 

2. High Umami, Low Herbal - variations: with Smoky-Sweet, with Spicy

Sweet/Vinegars are either neutral or dark combos. Not usually white wines or citrus.

Examples: most Asian stuff - Char Siu, Bulgogi/Galbi, Teriyaki, etc. Also most Chili and BBQ flavors.

Essentially all of these can be spicy or not as desired. 

Umami usually Soy and/or Pepper based (smoked paprika, Chilis/Chili Powder, liquid smoke, etc.)

Spices tend to be earthy-sweet, less herbal. Cumin, Chilis, Ginger, Allspice/Clove, Cinnamon, Star Anise, etc.

3. High Tannin Herbal-Umami, Low everything else

Umami comes from Mushrooms or Mushroom powder and Liquid Aminos; supplemented by earthy herbal flavors (Bay, Thyme).

Because these recipes use both Herbal and Umami, too much sweet or smoky or spicy will feel overpowering.

Recipes in this category generally use Bay Leaves, Red Wine, and/or Balsamic Vinegar

Prime Examples: Pot Roast, Duck a l’Orange, Balsamic-glazed pork/chicken dishes

One Warning - there are a couple flavors to be careful of/know about

Weird Common Flavors to be careful of: 

- Bay Leaves - avoid except for high herbal and umami situations. Usually overpower everything else, so they need to be the star. 

- Coriander - another strong flavor that tends to overpower things. It's OK it small amounts, in most things, but easy to overdo.

- Oregano - this is a weird one and goes in almost everything, except for *very* sweet items (mostly the sweet Asian stuff like teriyaki, char siu, etc.).

- Marjoram - If you want something to taste more Slavic/E. European and less Mediterranean, substitute this for Oregano, and add a dash of coriander. It’s one of the biggest differences in the flavor profiles. 

It’s simpler than you think… (or, debunking old bad cookbook advice):

It really doesn’t matter which meat you marinade to a given set of flavor profiles!

Example: “Mojo” steak instead of chicken? Basically just Carne Asada. 

Example 2: “Char Siu” Chicken instead of Pork? Basically just Teriyaki. Beef? Pretty simple knock-off Bulgogi/Galbi marinade. 

Are there slight differences? Sure. But they are pretty small, and for home cooking it’s going to taste good, regardless! And you will learn those differences - and what you, personally, like and don’t like - through trial and error.

If you follow these general principles, almost any marinade will be solid and enjoyable. And the difference between most marinades of the same “type” is fairly minor. 

A good example is Mojo vs. Souvlaki

Both are Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Onion, Olive Oil, Oregano

Souvlaki - add: White Wine Vinegar, W. Wine/Sherry, some Coriander

Mojo - add Citrus, especially Orange/Lime juice, some Cumin

Heck, want to make a Polish-inspired marinade? Take either one and use Marjoram and Coriander instead of Oregano and Coriander/Cumin.