Many housewives are happy to cook a variety of beef dishes, well aware of how useful it is. But when it comes to kebab, they choose not her, but any other meat. It is all about persistent conviction: tasty kebabs will not come out of beef, when roasting on coals it will turn out dry and tough, one might even say inedible. However, this statement is true only if you choose the wrong meat on a shish kebab or make the marinade unsuitable for it. By choosing and marinating beef for shish kebabs correctly, you can cook a tasty dish that is as juicy and pleasant to taste as it is from other types of meat with a more tender structure.
How to Marinate Beef
When cooking beef kebabs, the most important thing is to marinate the meat correctly. Otherwise, the kebab will be completely dry, it can not be chewed.
- Start by selecting the meat. Frozen beef on the kebab is not good. You need to choose fresh or chilled meat.
- For a shish kebab, a knuckle, a tenderloin, a piece from the back foot will do.
- If there is a possibility, it is better to give preference to veal: young meat when cooking on charcoal is more tender, and it cooks faster. The lighter the meat and the less fiber there is, the better.
- Cut the beef into shish kebabs needed across the fibers into medium sized pieces. The best option is pieces of two matchboxes placed on top of each other.
- Before marinating the beef can be slightly beaten off with a kitchen hammer, then the kebab from it will be softer.
- In order to pickle beef, you need products with a fairly high level of acidity: vinegar, wine, lemon juice and the like. Such soft marinades, like mineral water or soy sauce, in the case of beef may be powerless.
- The acid reacts with aluminum, resulting in the formation of harmful substances. For this reason, marinate beef in an aluminum dish is unacceptable. Not a good choice would be a wooden tub. The best choice is glass or ceramic, enamelled containers and stainless steel utensils.
- Marinating beef must be long enough. It usually takes from 6 to 12 hours, depending on the marinade chosen and on how young and tender you came across meat.
- You should not immediately add salt to the marinade: it tends to draw out liquid from the products. To prevent the beef from becoming too dry, salt is added to the marinade shortly before the kebab is cooked, in about 20-30 minutes.
- Beef will marinate better if the load is set on top.
You should not buy beef, marinated in the store, because it is difficult to determine how good quality meat is used for this and how good the marinade is for it. Moreover, the marinade recipes are not so complicated that you can not make them at home, even if there is no culinary experience.
Marinade for beef with kiwi
Composition:
- beef - 2 kg;
- Kiwi - 3 pcs .;
- lemon - 2 pcs .;
- vegetable oil (refined) - 50 ml;
- onions - 0, 25 kg;
- sugar - a pinch;
- salt, pepper - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash the beef. Blot with a kitchen towel. Remove the film, but fat, if it falls, leave. Cut across the fibers into layers about 3 cm thick. Beat off with a culinary hammer, placing the pieces in a bag so that the splashes do not fly in all directions. Pepper and chop the beef into pieces suitable for kebabs.
- Peel the onion from the husk and cut it into rings, preferably not too thin. Put in a bowl with meat, mix.
- Wash the lemons, cut it in half, squeeze out the lemon juice. Mix it with vegetable oil.
- Pour over the beef mixture. Mix everything well so that the marinade covers each piece of meat.
- Cover the meat with a plate, put a jar of water on top. Put it all in the fridge for 6-8 hours, better for the night.
- In the morning, wash and peel the kiwi, cut into pieces and turn into a mash with a blender. Add some sugar, mix.
- Put the kiwi puree into a container of meat, mix. Leave at least another hour, better for 2 hours.
Immediately before stringing the meat on the skewers, salt it and mix. Kiwi contains a lot of fruit acids, which soften meat very well and prevent protein folding during heat treatment. For this reason, kebabs from beef marinated in kiwi puree are always soft and juicy.
Marinade for beef with vinegar
Composition:
- beef tenderloin - 2 kg;
- onions - 0, 5 kg;
- seasoning for kebabs - 40 g;
- table vinegar (9 percent) - 50 ml;
- vegetable oil - 50 ml;
- mineral water (with gas) - as required.
Method of preparation:
- Wash tenderloin and dry with paper napkins. Cut into pieces suitable for kebabs. For softness, these pieces can be repulsed.
- Grate the pieces of beef with barbecue seasonings.
- Peel the bulbs, cut them into rings about 2-3 mm thick. Put to the meat, mix.
- Pour in the beef oil, mix.
- Dilute vinegar with a glass of mineral water. If it is not, you can use the usual boiled water, although the mineral allows you to pickle beef a little faster.
- Pour the meat with marinade, stir well. Add some water if necessary.
- Set the oppression from above and put the meat container in the fridge. Marinate it for 8-10 hours.
This variant of the marinade can be considered classic, although oil is not always added to it. However, to give up this ingredient is still not worth it, because with it initially lean beef becomes softer.
Marinade for beef with mayonnaise
Composition:
- beef pulp - 1 kg;
- mayonnaise - 0, 4 l;
- lemon - 1 pc .;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- salt - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash and dry the beef. Cut it into pieces weighing 40-50 g.
- Skip garlic through a special press and mix with mayonnaise.
- Wash the lemon, cut it in half and squeeze the juice out of it.
- Mix lemon juice with mayonnaise, mix.
- Put mayonnaise into pieces of beef. Mix well so that the sauce covers each piece of meat.
- Place dishes with meat in the refrigerator overnight.
Marinated beef in mayonnaise should be 8-10 hours. Then the kebab from it will turn out tender and juicy.
Marinade for beef with kefir
Composition:
- beef - 2 kg;
- lemon - 1 pc .;
- kefir - 0, 5 l;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- a mixture of peppers, salt - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Prepare the beef by washing it off, peeling it off from the film, drying it with napkins and cutting it into pieces of the desired size.
- Finely chop the garlic with a knife, mix it with ground peppers and place in a container with meat. Stir to seasoning evenly.
- Wash and dry lemon. Cut it, squeeze the juice. Grate the zest. Mix the zest with lemon juice.
- Pour the kefir into the juice, mix. Pour this mixture of meat.
- Stir beef, cover with a plate and refrigerate for 10-12 hours.
In kefir, it makes sense to hold beef a little longer, since this marinade is not too sour. If you take the meat out of the marinade earlier than 10 hours later, the kebab may not be soft and juicy enough, so it’s best not to risk taking the meat for a sufficient amount of time.
Marinade for beef with lemon
Composition:
- beef - 1, 5 kg;
- lemons - 2 pcs .;
- olive oil - 150 ml;
- garlic - 4 cloves;
- black ground pepper - 5 g;
- salt - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash the meat, wipe dry, slice.
- Squeeze juice out of lemons. Add a lemon zest to it. Pour the pepper.
- Skip garlic through a press, add to lemon juice.
- Pour oil into the juice. Mix thoroughly.
- Pour marinade over meat. Stir and put in the fridge.
It is necessary to pickle meat in a lemon marinade for 10-12 hours, under the press - 8-10 hours.
Marinade for beef with wine
Composition:
- beef - 1, 5 kg;
- dry red wine - 0, 2 l;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- hot peppers - 1 pc .;
- onions - 0, 3 kg;
- salt - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Cut beef into pieces of 40-50 g.
- Finely chop the garlic with a knife.
- Peel onions, cut into not too thin rings. Spread it out and put it to the meat.
- Pepper wash and cut into rings, removing the seeds from them. Put to the meat.
- Pour wine into meat container, mix everything up.
- Put it in the fridge by placing a load on top.
Marinating beef in wine for kebabs should be 8-10 hours. In this marinade, it is sharp, it must be borne in mind.
Marinade for beef with pomegranate juice
Composition:
- beef - 1 kg;
- lemon - 1 pc .;
- pomegranate juice - 0.5 l;
- vegetable oil - 20 ml;
- onions - 100 g;
- fresh coriander - 20 g;
- ground coriander, black pepper, salt - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash meat, blot with a napkin, slice.
- Chop cilantro with a knife. Mix with coriander and pepper. Pour this mixture to the meat, mix.
- Chop the onion into small pieces, add to the meat, stir.
- Squeeze juice out of lemon, mix it with oil and pomegranate juice.
- Fill the mixture with meat. Stir. Refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
Do not forget to salt the beef before cooking.
Instead of pomegranate juice, you can use the juice from sour apples, as well as pineapple juice. The rest of the recipe will be identical. The pickling time will remain the same.
Properly marinated beef roast on skewers also need to properly. Do not forget to turn the skewers more often and sprinkle the meat with marinade.
Beef kebabs with spicy ketchup, adjika, fresh vegetable salad are served.
