Good morning. We’re curious —

COOKING PROTOCOL 🤯

Reverse marinating

Marinades have a few drawbacks:

1. Advance planning is required.

2. It can be wasteful: only a small fraction touches the meat, and the rest gets thrown out.

3. The added moisture to the meat inhibits browning during cooking (or worse, burning, if the marinate contains sugar).

This is why we recommend dry brining or mayo-marinating instead of the standard liquid marinade.

But what if you want the flavors of a very specific marinade recipe? Enter reverse marinating, where you apply the mixture to the meat after cooking!

• By brushing on a marinade after grilling, you can retain more of the delicate aromas or bright flavor.

And you can get better browning on the meat during cooking, and then moisten it with the full flavors of the marinade afterwords.

As a bonus, the marinade isn’t contaminated with raw meat juices, so it can serve as a sauce. Use extra to dress veggies, rice, or whatever you have on the plate.

For ultimate flavor, we recommend a 2 part, before-&-after marinade technique:

• A mayo marinade for cooking and then a vinaigrette to be spread on after cooking, which solves for both great browning and a hit of added freshness.

RECIPE RECOMMENDATIONS ✅

Try it for yourself…

Check out our best marinating recipes:

FOOD TRENDS 🚀

Shokupan sandwiches

What’s up with all of the Japanese style sandwiches on my feed?

Novelty: Japanese sandwiches have taken over the internet; largely because of influencers traveling to Japan and finding them in convenient stores like 7/11, which is intriguing to American audiences who have very different offerings at their gas station stops.

• Additionally, the sandwiches are cut to reveal cross sections of ingredients, which makes them visually appealing, especially on social media.

Universally loved flavors: These simple sandwiches are made from shokupan, a Japanese milk bread. The taste is sweet or lightly savory and the texture soft, fluffy, and creamy.

• The bread is the perfect vehicle for both sweet and savory fillings: egg salad, fruit & cream, cucumbers and mayo, etc.

Easy to replicate: They are easy to make if you have shokupan on hand. Like many Japanese foods, the beauty in these sandwiches is in their simplicity. Get your hands on some fluffy milk break, choose 1 or 2 fillings to highlight, and experiment for yourself.

If you can’t find shokupan at your bakery, you can make your own with our recipe here.

READER Q&A 🧠

Should I skim my stock?

Answer: Skimming off stock is not always necessary, but depends on what type of dish you are making with the stock. If you want a light & clearer broth, you should skim off the fat or scum. If you want stock with richer texture, you don’t necessarily need to.

• Any residual impurities left in the stock will get emulsified into the liquid as it boils. This is what makes stocks cloudy and complex instead of clear and clean tasting.

So really, it’s a matter of visual and flavor preferences. If you’re using the stock to braise, deglaze, or make a dark sauce, it might not matter. If you want a soup with a clear, clean stock, or if you are making a delicate sauce, the extra skimming might be worth it.

Have a culinary question? Reply for a chance to be featured and get your question answered.

WINNING READER SUBMISSION 🏆

Braised short ribs

This week’s dinner winner is Jordan L., who made braised short ribs with parmesan polenta. Amazing work.

Reply with your best home-cooked food photos for a chance to win & be featured!

EXTRA HELPINGS 🍽️

A read: I've Reviewed Restaurants for 12 Years

In a minute or less: The Best Way to Grate Garlic

What we’re watching: Kimchi 3 Ways

Food science: Broiling 101

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