marinate

Imagine you're getting chicken ready for the grill. You do not just put it straight on the heat. First, you let it sit in a tasty liquid with things like lemon juice, oil, herbs, and spices. This adds flavor, and it can also help make some foods, especially meat, a bit softer.

This is often done with meat, but vegetables, fish, and tofu can be treated this way too. Sometimes the food sits for just 30 minutes, and sometimes for several hours. It is a simple step before cooking, but it can make a meal taste much better.

To marinate means to let food sit in a seasoned liquid before cooking. That liquid often includes oil, acid, salt, herbs, spices, or sauces such as soy sauce or yogurt. People do this to add flavor and, in some cases, to help make the food more tender.

You will hear this word most often with meat, poultry, fish, tofu, and vegetables. A cook might leave beef in a mixture of garlic, oil, and vinegar, or let tofu sit in soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil. The outside of the food takes on the flavor first, and with time some of that taste moves further in. With meat, an acidic or salty mixture can also change the texture, though too much time can make delicate foods mushy instead of better.

The time depends on the ingredient. Fish and seafood usually need only a short time, while chicken, beef, or thick vegetables may sit much longer. Some foods are left for 20 to 30 minutes, and others for several hours or overnight. After that, they are usually grilled, roasted, fried, or baked.

The word is mostly used in cooking, and it usually suggests a planned step before the real cooking begins. When someone says they marinated the food, you can picture it resting in a flavorful mixture, getting ready to taste richer and more interesting when it finally reaches the pan, oven, or fire.