A DARN GOOD MARINADE

This recipe is a love letter to Oyster Sauce. I’ve avoided you my whole life Oyster Sauce. I thought you were going to be gross and kinda stinky, but you’re not! You smell and taste amazing and you make everything taste better. I’m sorry I’ve avoided you for all these years, even though I’ve probably tried you a thousand times when I’ve eaten out. Thank you for making all of my kabobs taste delicious!

This recipe may sound like an unusual Italian-Asian fusion of flavors, but it works somehow. It doesn’t taste Italian or Asian to me, just really good. I use coconut aminos due to a soy allergy in our family, but you can use reduced sodium soy sauce instead. And if you’ve never tried Good Seasons Italian Dressing, you should! It tastes good on a salad and makes a great marinade. This recipe (minus the salad dressing) would make a nice brown sauce for stir-fry.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bottle prepared Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
• 2 tbsp. Oyster Sauce (I prefer Lee Kum Kee Panda brand)
• 2 tbsp. Coconut Aminos or Reduced-Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
• 1 tsp. Shao Xing Wine*

DIRECTIONS:

Use half of the salad dressing and mix with the remaining ingredients. Baste on anything you’re grilling. If cooking more than 6-8 kabobs or the equivalent amount of meat & vegetables, then double the marinade recipe, using the whole bottle of dressing. I use this on steak, chicken and vegetables. Marinate up to 24hrs before grilling.

*You can find Shao Xing Wine at your neighborhood Asian grocery store. It’s cheap (I found a 750ml bottle for $1.99) and it really makes a difference, especially in Asian cooking like fried rice.