We’re lucky at Waihi Beach to have a brilliant local butcher, the Waihi Beach Butcher. We love their sausages so much that we bulk-buy a stash to take home at the end of every stay. So our first piece of advice is the simplest one: start with good meat. Get yourself something yum from the butcher, then reach for one of these, our favourite marinades for a long summer of barbecues.
1. Steak: soy and Worcestershire
The simplest marinade on this list, and one of the best. It’s just two ingredients, but they do a lot of work: the Worcestershire brings the umami, thanks to the anchovies, and gently tenderises the meat, while the soy brings the salt.
Mix soy sauce and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce in equal parts. Dredge the steaks in it and let them sit in the fridge for as long as you can manage. Then two things make all the difference: bring the steaks back to room temperature before they hit the barbecue, and once they’re cooked, rest them for at least five minutes before serving, for maximum tenderness and flavour.
2. Snapper and kingfish: lime and fish sauce
The fish version is all about bright, fresh flavour for next to no effort. Mix lime juice and fish sauce in equal parts and give the fish a short marinade, it doesn’t need long, as the lime will start to cure it if you leave it too long.
Pan-fry, then serve in soft wraps with Mum’s summer salsa and a smear of mayo. It’s our family’s favourite summer dinner, hands down.
3. Pork: a punchy homemade barbecue sauce
For pork, we go bigger, with a thick, punchy barbecue sauce that caramelises beautifully on the grill.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup tomato paste
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
Method
Mix everything together into a thick, glossy sauce, coat the pork, and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes, longer if you can. Keep an eye on it on the barbecue, there’s a good amount of sugar in there, so it will catch and char quickly if the heat’s too high.
4. Chicken or fish: crispy lemon (via Donna Hay)
When we want something stickier and more caramelised, we hand over to Donna Hay. Her crispy lemon chicken hits that balance of sweet, savoury, and tangy, with a golden, crisp exterior and a juicy middle, and the same approach works a treat on fish. Rather than rewrite it, we’ll send you straight to the source: Donna Hay’s crispy lemon and garlic roast chicken.
5. Chermoula
Our chermoula earns a second outing here, because it’s a brilliant marinade as well as a sauce. Score the chicken and massage the paste right in, or drop the chicken pieces and the chermoula into a plastic bag, seal it, and mush it all around until everything’s coated. Rest for 30 minutes to an hour, or longer if you’ve got the time, the flavour only gets better.
One last tip
If you’d rather skip the mixing altogether, the butcher always carries a range of marinated options and rubs ready to go. Either way, you’re set for a summer of easy barbecues.
That’s exactly the kind of cooking the bach is made for: good local meat, a marinade thrown together in minutes, and dinner on the deck as the light fades. One Fyfe Beach Bach gives you the kitchen, the barbecue, and the spot to enjoy it, a short walk from the sand. Book the bach for a summer week
Get these going the night before and the hard part is done. Then it is just you, the grill, and a long evening ahead.
Warmly,
Becki
One Fyfe Beach Bach, Waihi Beach
Fire them up on our sunny deck and BBQ at One Fyfe.