Juicy meat steak ... Drooling from the mere mention. But even such a simple and unpretentious dish in cooking can be easily spoiled by overdoing it on a fire or using the wrong marinade.
Since steaks are prepared from various types of meat, for each type it is necessary to choose your own marinade.
So how to pickle a steak to experience the pleasure, and not the disappointment of the dish?
Types of Meat Marinades
Before pickling a steak, you need to choose the right marinade for it. After all, it not only forms the taste of the dish, but also performs a number of other functions, for example, softens meat fibers, etc.
Each marinade has a base - a liquid component. In addition to it there are spices that add taste. Here is what is most commonly taken to make steak marinade:
- Soy sauce. It not only fats meat, but also softens its muscle fibers. For this reason, it is most often used for beef steak. Soy sauce goes well with grated ginger, onions and garlic or lime juice.
- Olive oil. It envelops steaks, preventing them from burning, and also reveals the true taste of spices.
- Balsamic vinegar. The main thing with him is not to overdo it, otherwise the meat will turn out sour. Perfectly softens meat, and also goes well with many types of spices.
- Mustard softens the meat, gives it piquancy and pungency of taste. It is combined with soy sauce and honey.
- Red wine. It requires the right proportions and a certain type of seasoning. But, if done correctly, the marinade will turn out great.
- Mineral water is used to make meat juicier and softer.
The secret to delicious steak
Choosing meat for steak, it must be properly marinated. Those who have already marinated meat more than once have identified several subtleties of this process, allowing to achieve the best result.
- It is better to soak the steak in the marinade in a bowl of glass, ceramic or clay. Many chefs are sure that aluminum dishes spoil the taste of meat.
- If you intend to use onions, then it must be cut into small pieces so that it gives its juices as much as possible.
- As for the time of pickling, it depends on the quality of the meat, as well as on the selected marinade. As a rule, only 60 minutes is enough. But some stretch the process for several days.
- You should not combine wine with vinegar and lemon juice in one marinade. It is better to choose one of the following.
- You need to choose a steak this way: the meat should be fresh and have fatty veins that will add juiciness when frying.
Grill marinade
Properly marinating a grill steak means securing a delicious and tasty lunch for yourself. There are a great many marinades for grilling: sour, spicy, sweet, etc. Here are a few of them:
- 4 tbsp. l sesame oil, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tbsp. l balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp. l brown sugar, dried basil and sesame seeds, a pinch of white pepper. All mixed and soaked in a mixture of meat. It will be enough a couple of hours for the marinade. And after that you can listen to the grilling of an appetizing piece of meat.
- Kefir marinade is suitable for pork. 0.5 liters of kefir of any fat content, salt and pepper to taste, a mixture of Provencal herbs and other spices. First, the meat is rubbed on all sides with salt and spices. Then they put it in a bowl and pour kefir so that it covers the steak. Soak for 2 hours. After a couple of hours, sprinkle the meat with Provencal herbs and send to the grill.
- Tomato marinade. 3 large tomatoes, 3 medium heads of onions, a mixture of herbs, a bunch of fresh basil, ground red pepper, salt. Everything needs to be mixed. In the finished marinade, steaks are steeped for 4 hours. Then the meat is fried on the grill.
Delicious Pork Steak Marinade
How to pickle pork steak so that it turns out not only tasty, but also juicy? You need to choose the right marinade.
- Simple marinade: finely chopped fresh cilantro, parsley, basil, oregano, add a few needles of rosemary and pressed garlic. The resulting mixture is poured with two tablespoons of olive oil or kefir / yogurt / Ayran. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice. Steak is immersed in the marinade for a couple of hours.
- The second version of the marinade for how to marinate pork steak for frying in a pan in a whip. Mix 200 ml of dry red wine, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, add a teaspoon of ground pepper mixture, bay leaf, a pinch of nutmeg, 3 onions, cut into half rings. Pour the steaks obtained with the marinade for an hour, and then fry in a pan.
How to marinate beef steak?
Beef is considered more healthy than pork. However, its fibers are more rigid. Therefore, for it you will need a marinade, which will soften the flesh of meat.
- Wine marinade: 150 ml of dry red wine, 55 ml of olive oil, 80 ml of soy sauce, salt and ground peppers to taste. In the finished marinade, beef steaks are steeped for a couple of hours, and then fried.
- Lovers of marbled beef steaks should use the following marinade for a gourmet dish: mix half a cup of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of Worcester sauce, 3 large tablespoons of finely chopped white onion, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 4 cloves of pressed garlic, 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard and 2 dessert tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Steaks are in the finished marinade for 12 hours - this time will allow to achieve a more saturated taste.
How to marinate a turkey steak?
A turkey steak is no worse than beef or pork. A correctly selected marinade will brighten its taste.
- Mix lemon juice (40 ml), olive oil (80 ml), cumin (5 g), lemon zest (10 g) and 3 cloves of garlic. In a fragrant marinade, the turkey is soaked for 2 hours, and then fried in a pan or baked in the oven.
- The second option: 150 ml of kefir, 3 garlic cloves, 20 grams of dried dill, 1 bay leaf and black ground pepper - to taste. In the prepared sauce, steaks from turkey are soaked for 2 hours.
- The third option: 3 tbsp. tablespoons of Dijon mustard, 80 grams of sour cream, 40 ml of lemon juice, a little coriander and white pepper. A couple of hours in the marinade - and turkey steaks can be easily fried.
- The fourth option: 4 tbsp. l olive oil, half a glass of dry white wine, a third glass of soy sauce, 10 grams of a mixture of different peppers, 2 garlic cloves and a head of red onion. All ingredients are mixed together, and then turkey steaks are placed in the finished marinade. Only 30 minutes are enough to soak.
Fish steaks
Fish steaks are the most delicate dish that true gourmets can appreciate. Having correctly marinated the fillet of red fish, namely this variety of fish is considered the best for steak, you can easily get a gourmet dish.
Here are some recipes for fish steak marinade:
- A simple marinade for fatty fish is prepared from 3 tbsp. l olive oil, a spoonful of lemon juice or lemon rings, white pepper and a sprig of thyme - to taste. Soaking for 20 minutes will be enough to get a rich taste.
- For lovers of sweet taste in dishes, the following marinade for salmon steaks is suitable as a dominant. It is prepared from a tablespoon of liquid honey, the same amount of vinegar or white wine, 3 cloves of garlic, passed through a press, herbs, dried peppers and a spoonful of olive oil. Enough soaking for 10 minutes in the marinade, and the dish will turn out delicious.
- Another option: mix 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 100 ml of white wine. Ground paprika and salt are added according to individual preferences. For 20 minutes, put the fish steaks in the marinade, and then fry them. You can even grill.
- The most popular marinade for salmon and other types of red fish is prepared from: grated ginger root, lemon juice and olive oil. 20 minutes soaking, and you can send steaks to the grill or to the oven.

Conclusion
So, the answer to the question of how to marinate a steak deliciously is marinade. It is a correctly selected, prepared and seasoned sauce for soaking meat that will reveal all its taste. And options for possible marinade sauces were presented in the article.