Kitchen Basics: Simple Ginger Soy Marinade

My standard summertime 'I can't be bothered' dinner is usually some form of grilled protein and salad. Maybe some fresh bread and butter if the family is lucky. Whilst I prefer marinated meat, I invariably find myself at the butcher just before closing, when the time for marinating anything is long past. My fallback position when this happens is a quick rub. Occasionally I do manage to plan ahead though, which is where this Simple Ginger Soy Marinade comes in handy.

This marinade is great on chicken, but will also work well with pork, fish or even tofu. I like a good ginger kick, which is what this marinade delivers. However if you are not a fan, reduce the amount to your liking.

I usually make marinade on demand; enough for a single meal. However I have recently been delving into the world of freezer cooking, and have had a few lightbulb moments of late.

It takes limited effort to double or even triple a marinade recipe. All of the required sauce bottles and condiments are already on the bench. Scaling up the recipe requires only a few extra spoonfuls, and no additional dishes. To test the theory, I placed two jars in front of me and measured ingredients into each. Suddenly I had enough marinade for two meals.

The additional batch(es) of marinade can be frozen in small containers, making them simple to defrost and pour over my chosen protein. However, a much better idea is to place your chosen meat in a freezer safe container or freezer bag, pour over the marinade and freeze the two together.

Freezing meat in marinade is not something that had previously occurred to me, yet makes perfect sense. I can pull the whole package out of the freezer, and defrost it in the fridge whilst I go about my day. Come dinnertime, all I need to do is make the salad. Life just got a whole lot easier.

Kitchen Basics: Simple Ginger Soy Marinade