The perfect barbecue sauce/marinade
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The photo below is the braised pork spare ribs we had for dinner on Sunday evening. To braise means to cook in very little liquid. It is my ideal alternative to marinating and grilling or roasting. When I don’t have to time to marinate meat overnight in the fridge, I prefer to simmer it in marinade. With a few tricks, the texture of the cooked dish can be comparable to roasted meat.
But the most important thing to remember when braising meat is to use the most flavorful ingredients so that everything is absorbed by the meat while cooking. What does that mean?
Think barbecue marinade. You can use bottled marinade, powdered marinade or, if you like more control, you can make your own.
What is a perfect barbecue marinade? Well, I suppose the answer will vary from one person to the next. For me, that means a delightful balance between saltiness, spiciness, sweetness and tanginess.
Let’s dissect all that.
To achieve saltiness, we can use salt, soy sauce or even patis. To make the marinade spicy, we can use chopped chili peppers, pepper flakes, whole peppercorns or freshly cracked peppercorns, or ground pepper. We add sugar to make it sweet and we add a sour ingredient like lemon juice, kalamansi juice or vinegar to add a tangy flavor.
The trouble with salt is that it does not add any color to the marinade. Patis, on the other hand, will give it a pungent odor. When I make barbecue marinade, I always go for soy sauce.
Chopped chili peppers, chili flakes, peppercorns or ground pepper? While pepper is aromatic, it does not have the bite of chili peppers. Pieces of peppercorn in the sauce is not something I find attractive either. I’d go for chopped chili peppers, four to five pieces per kilo of meat are usually enough or, if unavailable, chili flakes.
What about sugar? Is it sugar or bust? Actually, if you substitute honey or even pancake syrup, you’ll come up with a thicker and shinier sauce. A thick shiny sauce coating the meat really looks fantastic.
Lemon or kalamansi juice, or vinegar? My first choice is always lemon juice. I even grate the rind and add it to the marinade. Kalamansi juice is great too but squeezing a dozen or more kalamansi can be tiresome. Vinegar is always a last resort because it doesn’t smell good. And if the vinegar you have a permanent stock of is native vinegar, well…
Now, if you intend to braise the meat in the marinade, or if you want to simmer the remaining marinade after grilling the meat so you can have a dipping sauce on the side, there are ways to “extend” the marinade. To “extend” simply means adding more liquid. The most popular extender is soda — 7-Up, in particular. Many swear that soda is a great meat tenderizer. Whether or not that’s true doesn’t make all that much difference to me because I choose my meat well. If you use good meat, there’s really no need for a tenderizer.
Another popular extender is pineapple juice. I prefer pineapple juice over soda because it gives meat that nice cured flavor. Like ham.
So, if you mix all the ingredients that will give you saltiness, spiciness, sweetness and tanginess, is it enough to make a great barbecue sauce or marinade? Nope, it will still taste flat. You want to add body to the sauce or marinade. How do you do that? Herbs help. But it can also be something as simple as adding lots of chopped onions and finely minced garlic. Finely grated ginger will add a piquant and very Oriental flavor to your barbecue sauce or marinade.
If you want to add herbs, try rosemary. If you want an even more complex explosion of flavors, try ground coriander seeds. The possible combinations are endless.
If you’re experimenting, try using less rather than more. You can always add but you cannot subtract. Remember too that, often, the most satisfying barbecue relies, first and foremost, on the quality of the meat. No matter how good your sauce or your marinade is, you cannot hide bad meat.
I hope all that encourages you to ditch bottled marinades in favor of concocting your very own. 
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13 Responses to “The perfect barbecue sauce/marinade”
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in the absence of vinegar, calamnsi, lemon, and hot sauce, my younger sister tried worcestershire sauce. it actually tasted good, but she said the taste was harder to control.
too bad the cooking gene missed me
great recipe!
Gail, re worcestershire. Yeah, it would be harder because it is already salty and kinda sweet at the same time.
re cooking gene HAHAHAHAHA pwede pa yan !
thanks, alacook.
am surely sending this article to my brother who fancies himself to be Bobby Flay in the future. … You made a very good deconstruction of the bbq sauce .. makes me think I can actually try making one for my family.
indeed, you are a kitchen goddess, connie!
Wish we could get Kalamansi here in the States. Worchestershire is great because if you use Lea & Perrin’s brand the predominant ingredient is tamarind. Soo, why not just use tamarind liquid as a souring agent?
i just tried today for our dinner,and it came out delicious, i used concentrated calamansi which i brought yesterday, it taste good also and i combined with the juice from the crushed pineapple which i used for your tuna recipe, we both enjoyed them, my kids said they re both delicious,i am so thankful that i ve discovered your site, keep on going
Question Ms. Connie, when you simmer it in marinade sauce, should the sauce be the same level with the meat? Coz’ i’m having that problem whenever I need to simmer, If i put so much liquid to cover all the meat while boiling, i always end up throwing a lot of the sauce, on the other hand, if i put, let’s say, just half level with the meat, meats in the bottom of the pan, of course, gets tender first so my only option is constant stirring. Any advice?
krznya, of course you can make your own.
Easy enough, right?
Della-Jane, well, why not? If you do, hope youd let us know how it turned out.
Stephanie, oh you made the tuna spread too?
Joy, no, start with just the marinade. Add water little by little (1/2 c. at a time) if the liquid dries up before the pork is done.
Use a wide shallow pan so that the meat can be arranged in a single layer.
Comment to #5 message(DElla-Jane) Too bad she might not be from northern California, there are lots of kalamansi here, maybe you can ask somebody to mail you some.
discourage you to use bottles hahaha… very true when i cook many asked whats the recipe. to be honest i shoot back imagination.
i normally would just add what ever i find but never without soya sauce.
those pork just want me dash to supermarket now… we are kosher at work opps//
hi sha, re IMAGINATION. How right you are! hahahaha that’s really all it takes. And maybe some guts hahahaha
Ms. Connie,
Is it safe and wise to reuse marinades for one more time?
thanks
I don’t recommend it, brandy. Bacteria multiply fast in a warm environment and, once taken out of the fridge, it’s preferable to use the marinade (for basting or as a reduced dipping sauce) at once.