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Jug of biermarinade with onion rings and aromatics beside a braai
Gert

Biermarinade

The classic South African beer marinade: lager, oil, onion, lemon and a handful of aromatics, mixed in two minutes and poured over whatever the fire is getting tonight.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings: 1 batch
Course: Sauce
Cuisine: South African
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 175 ml beer any lager does the job
  • 100 ml oil
  • 1 onion, cut into rings
  • 1 sprig parsley
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 6 peppercorns
  • 1 clove garlic, bruised flatten it with the side of a knife
  • 30 ml lemon juice
  • 30 ml lemon zest, grated as the original has it; zest of about two lemons

Method
 

  1. Mix everything together. That is the whole method, and it has never needed a second step.
  2. Pour it over the meat in a non-metallic dish or a zip-seal bag, turn to coat, and let it stand in the fridge before braaing.
  3. Keep the onion rings when you drain the meat; grilled over the coals they are a reward for whoever tended the fire.

Notes

Our take on the biermarinade that does the rounds on South African Facebook and in family braai books since the dawn of the kettle braai. One batch covers about 1 kg of meat, our estimate. Our rule of thumb on time: two to four hours in the fridge for chops and steak, and no longer than overnight, because the lemon starts doing the cooking for you. The beer is a flavour, not a technicality; most of the alcohol cooks away over the coals.