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05/21/08 |
            
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Ginger mint marinade Yields 2 1/2 c. 2c. sake 1 T. mirin 1.5 in. ginger, peeled and julienned 15-20 mint flowers 5-10 fresh mint leaves, rough chop 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin 1/2 t. shichimi togarashi salt to taste Combine all ingredients but garlic in blender or food processor and blend until only fine particles are left. Add garlic slices and pour over chicken or pork. Allow meat to marinate at least two hours, overnight is desirable. Grill meat, using marinade to baste if you want.
Note from GG: I've got a ton of mint growing outside my house. In addition to its intrinsic culinary uses, I also use it to hide the catnip from my cats, as they will eat catnip plants down to the ground in a matter of days. One thing that I didn't know about herbs and the like before entering culinary school is that their flowers are completely edible and sometimes have more flavor potency than the leaves. It was with this in mind that I devised this marinade. Little did I know how well ginger and mint complement each other. It's almost as if they join forces to become one flavor, with the mint adding a refreshing kiss to the end of ginger's bite. Just fabulous. Plus the sake yields a mild flavour to the mix, so nothing really overpowers anything else. (If the garlic had been pureed with everything else, that would have been a different story.) Nevertheless, this marinade still needs some work. The flavours are almost *too* subtle for even something as mellow as chicken. I tried reducing the leftover marinade into a glaze or sauce for the finished product, but that turned out to be just terrible. There's a piece missing here, and I just have to find out what it is.
This site was last updated 05/21/08 |
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