BASIC CHINESE MEAT MARINADE

UPDATE 11/2021

I've decided to update this post after my return from working in several kitchens in some wonderful New York City restaurants.  The original marinade was made for one pound of meat since that is usually the amount needed for a particular dish.  From my experience in NYC, I learned that the chefs made their marinades and sauces in bulk every week and this was such a time saver.  I decided to incorporate a few of the restaurant techniques into my home cooking to save time and be more efficient with meal prep.  Check out my Chinese Cooking 101 Series, Part 2.

If you understand the basics behind a Chinese marinade, you can use this for any meat,  and it will result in tasty, tender meat dishes, guaranteed. There are a few things you should understand. I use this basic marinade for chicken, pork, beef and even turkey.  Other ingredients can be added to suit your taste.  This marinade is a little too heavy for light, white fish.   There are a total of seven ingredients for this basic meat marinade.

Tips to making basic meat marinade.

Salt and sugar  

The combination of salt and sugar, in the right proportions, creates a natural flavor enhancer.

Pepper

In general, I prefer using ground white pepper in my marinade.  Black pepper, although tasty, results in black specks on dishes that are light in color.  For Cantonese cooking, the lighter sauce is more popular rather than the "brown sauce".  However, this is purely for aesthetic reasons!

Cornstarch:  My mother always told me to add cornstarch into every marinade. I never knew why. Over the years, I realize that cornstarch is both a binder and thickener.  So, when you add cornstarch to the marinade, the liquid ingredients will adhere to the meat while frying and the sauce will thicken and "stick" to whatever you are stir frying.

When making the marinade in bulk, see video, do not add the cornstarch to the marinade as it will clump due to the hydrophobic properties of the starch.  Instead, the cornstarch is added separately when marinating the meat.

Alcohol: (whiskey or rice wine)  Alcohol is an acid.  Acids break down protein.  In a sense, the alcohol will tenderize your meat.  The alcohol also adds flavor to the meat.  I love the subtle taste of whiskey in the meat so I often use whiskey instead of rice wine.  

There are various forms of rice wine.  From Shaoxing to Mirin and Sake.  Mirin and Sake are Japanese rice wines that have different flavors.  Shoaxing wine comes from Shaoxing, a city in China's Zhejiang Province known for rice wine production.  This rice wine is made by fermenting rice, water and a little wheat.   If you don't have Shaoxing wine, you can use other rice wines.   Click here for an extensive guide on Chinese Cooking Wines.

Soy sauce:  There are so many brands and tastes of soy sauce out there and they range in price.  I recommend that you use "premium" soy sauces as dipping sauces or accompaniments and a "good" soy sauce for your marinade.

Sesame oil: This is optional, but I like the smell and taste of sesame oil.

Tips:  If there is excess marinade in your meat, DO NOT pour all the liquid into the frying pan / wok as this will end up boiling your meat instead of frying / browning your meat. Instead, scoop out just the meat with a slotted spoon and leave the leftover marinade until the end when you will add it to produce the sauce. 

For more sauce, add 1/2 cup of water to the marinade just before adding it to the stir fry.