HOW TO SEASON MEAT FOR COOKING

What makes a meat at your favorite restaurant better than yours? It is not the environment nor the plates. It probably is due to something the chef knows which you may not know. And what’s that? The secrete is how to season meat properly for the cooking, and that’s what you are going to learn from this article.

The spices! The kind of spices you use, the relative amounts of each spice and the time of marinating are very important in obtaining a delicious succulent meat. Different kinds of meat need to be handled differently but above all else, they follow a similar pattern.

Suggested reading: A beginner’s guide to spices: how to bring flavor to your cooking

COMMON SPICES USED TO COOK MEAT

The most common spices used in preparing meat are pepper, garlic and onion. Paprika, thyme, ginger and oregano also have their special places. Depending on personal preference, cumin can also be a good resort when seasoning meat. These ingredients are often mixed together with oil and vinegar to form a marinade. The meat is then dipped in for at least 30mins for the flavours to settle in.

Note that we did not mention salt. As we know, salt is the ever present ingredient in almost every food we prepare so there really was not even a need to mention it. Because we know you already know that.

HOW DO I SEASON MEAT AT HOME?

So what can you do when you want to season your meat at home?

• Take some fresh onions and ginger in a 1:1 ratio, peel, wash and put in your blender
• Add some garlic cloves in a ratio of 1:2 in relation to the onion and ginger
• Also add in some pepper (cayenne or any other kind of pepper would do depending on the flavor and hotness level you want)
• Toss in some salt, a little bit of water (or vegetable oil) and blend into a smooth paste
• Add this paste to your meat and allow to marinate for at least 30mins

After this, the sky is your stepping stone – fry, steam, or grill your meat till it cooks. There are different guides for cooking methods and temperatures. But a little bit of personal judgement is also fun.

Suggested reading: Top 7 most popular spices in the world

THE BOTTOM LINE

Note that the above mentioned spices are some of the basic ingredients needed to marinate meat. You can add oregano, cumin and other spices too. This is not a one-stop-shop guide. It is an opinion which is based on several meat cooking techniques tried. And it is useful guide for beginners.

You can also use the powder variants of the spices mentioned, especially if you are grilling your meat. But this is not a requirement. In case you do not know the exact blend of spices to use or you simply don’t have the time for it, there are numerous spice blend options available on the market. You can also check out our Jala Spice Meat Mix. It’s very convenient, fresh and purely natural.

Now, you can zoom into that meat with confidence. But moderation is key in everything.