This Secret Ingredient Will Give You the Best, Most Flavorful Marinade

It takes chicken, pork, and even seafood to the next level!

A marinade really has the opportunity to change the course of a meal. It can take bland and boring to tasty and tender. So when it comes to adding ingredients to your meat marinade, you want the best flavors and the best tenderizers to create that game-changing experience. That's why you should always have a can of ginger beer at the ready.

That's right, the carbonated beverage that you most likely associate with mule cocktails is the secret ingredient you've been missing to make the perfect marinade.

"Ginger beer has such an intense spicy flavor—not spicy like heat, but spicy in a way that ginger can be," said food blogger Dan Pelosi, also known as GrossyPelosi, in an interview with Allrecipes. "It adds a ton of flavor to the meat, but also, because it's carbonated, it tenderizes it. A little bit of bubbles makes the meat more tender, so it's a win-win."

How Ginger Beer Works as a Marinade

We know that to have a delicious marinade, you want acid, oil, and seasonings. Ginger beer checks off two of those boxes. Not only does ginger beer contain citric acid and carbon dioxide (a.k.a. the bubbles) that break down the meat to tenderize it, but it's also brewed with real, fresh ginger to add a spicy seasoning that hits your palate at full force.

Much like the way it lends a spicy, lightly sweet flavor to a Moscow mule, ginger beer will do the same for a marinade.

While you could also use ginger-flavored soda to get a similar result in a pinch, ginger beer is the preferred marinade ingredient. Ginger beer is fermented, which means it has a much stronger flavor than traditional ginger soda, which is typically made with ginger-flavored syrup.

How To Use Ginger Beer in a Marinade

Pelosi says that ginger beer is great to use in marinades with meat that needs a kick of flavor—such as chicken, pork, and even seafood.

When it comes to actually marinating with ginger beer, the longer you can marinate your meat, the better. Pelosi recommends overnight if you can—depending on the protein.

The recipe possibilities are as endless as your imagination. Try incorporating ginger beer in your favorite marinade recipes or take a marinade that calls for regular beer and swap in ginger flavor. The same goes for marinades with other bubbly beverages, like lemon-lime soda or cola accents. You're sure to get a unique spin with a ginger punch.

In addition to the actual ginger beer marinade, Pelosi says that adding another component of ginger flavor is a great way to pull a dish together.

"I think it's nice to let the flavor that you literally brought into the meat also be complemented by a secondary element," he said. "You can take the ginger beer and create a sauce from it. It already has such a kick of fresh ginger, but adding a little bit more fresh ginger and then other flavors, like I think lime is the perfect complement to it."

If you want some more inspiration, you can try GrossyPelosi's Ginger Lime Pineapple Sticky Wings recipe, which uses ginger beer to make a delicious sauce and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

GrossyPelosi's Ginger Lime Pineapple Sticky Wings

• 1 1/2 cups ginger beer

• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar

• 2 limes, juiced and zested

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

• Sriracha to taste (optional)

• 4 pounds chicken wings

• 1 whole pineapple, sliced into ½-inch thick pieces

• 4 scallions, chopped into 1/8-inch pieces

• Sesame seeds, for garnish

1. Combine ginger beer, grated ginger, light brown sugar, lime juice, and lime zest in a saucepan over high heat.

2. When the liquid is heated through, add 1/4 cup of it to a bowl with the cornstarch and stir until the cornstarch is dissolved.

3. Add the cornstarch liquid back to the pot and stir until the sauce is bubbly and thick.

4. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to cool slightly. Add vinegar, kosher salt, and sriracha, and adjust the taste to your liking.

5. Heat an outdoor grill to 450 degrees F (230 degrees F) and grill the wings for 8 minutes on each side, until golden and crispy. Grill the pineapple at the same time until it's charred to your liking.

6. Toss the grilled wings and pineapple in the sauce until evenly coated. Top with scallions and sesame seeds before serving.

Read the original article on All Recipes.