Green Tea BBQ Marinade Recipe

Is anyone else looking for a recipe to grill up something savory and delicious for Father’s Day? I was inspired by a new product at Trader Joe’s that uses rosemary, balsamic vinegar, and beef tri-tip. Unfortunately, TJ’s didn’t make it gluten-free, so it won’t work for our family, but the list of ingredients gave me a place to start. To enhance the smoky-grill flavor, I substituted smoked salt for regular salt and added in a dash of Spanish smoked paprika for a Mediterranean flair. Then I added half a teaspoon of Yu Ceremonial Grade Matcha (or Yu Hojicha, for a roasted note) to boost the umami up over the top. I used top round and marinated it for 36 hours, and it was pretty tasty! I think this would work really well with flank steak, tri-tip, or any ‘good for marinating’ cut of beef. Marinades are great for making a leaner and less-expensive cut of meat taste amazing.

There is also a reason beyond flavor to marinate. High-heat cooking of muscle meat forms heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), compounds that were mutagenic in laboratory experiments; the National Cancer Institute says no federal guideline sets a safe amount, and its practical advice is to keep meat off direct flame, turn it often, avoid long cooking at high heat, and trim the charred bits. Marinating is where green tea comes in: a 2010 University of Porto study in Food Chemistry (Quelhas and colleagues) found that beef marinated in green tea for six hours before pan-frying formed up to 75 percent less of one HCA, PhIP, and tasters could not tell a two-hour marinade from the plain steak. It was a small study of pan-fried, not grilled, beef, so I take it as one more reason to marinate, not a health promise. You’ll notice the marinade also carries olive oil, vinegar, garlic and rosemary, so the green tea has company.