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Red Wine & Fish Sauce Jerky sounds a little weird, doesn’t it?! It tastes a little weird too! Ha.
This recipe intrigued me because I had fish sauce for the first time about 3 years ago. I HATED fish sauce when I first tried it. But having a soon to be wife that is Vietnamese and LOVES fish sauce, I had no choice but to keep eating it. Well, 3 years later, I really enjoy fish sauce.
Do I use it on everything? Hell no, but Vietnamese dishes such as sliced pork and rice get a healthy coating. So when I saw this Jerky recipe on a blog called Vietworldkitchen.com, I just had to try it! I already had ALL THREE ingredients at the house, so after reading the recipe, I had a pound of London Broil marinating in about 30 minutes.
I used a Pinot Noir for the red wine as my Fiance already had a bottle at the house. This is a little more of a fruitier wine than say a Hearty Cabernet Sauvignon. If I was to remake this jerky I would go with a good yet inexpensive Cab wine such as a Robert Mondavi.
My oven was set at 180 degrees and this jerky dried for a total of 5 hours. A wooden spoon was used to keep the oven door slightly open. You can read more here about making jerky in an oven if you have never done it before.
So how did this one taste? It was good, but a little too much fish sauce for my taste (and smell). It wasn’t the taste that really threw me off, it was the faint smell of rotting fish every time I brought a piece to my mouth. The taste was rather mild and pleasant, but the smell got me every time!
I would probably not make this recipe again, but I did love the idea of using wine for jerky. Not only can it add a new taste, but it also really gives the jerky a delicious looking red color normally only found in cured jerky. That is what trying new recipes is all about. I love finding new ingredients and methods of making beef jerky. Even though Red Wine & Fish Sauce Jerky will not be my favorite jerky of all time, I will never forget this recipe every time I use red wine in future recipes.
Here is a link that will take you to the original Red Wine and Fish Sauce Beef Jerky Recipe. If you love fish sauce, this is a recipe to try! For those of you that have never had fish sauce…. You might want to scroll on and try one of the many other recipes found on this blog. Have fun and enjoy!
Red Wine & Fish Sauce Jerky
Ingredients
Lean Beef
- 1 lb London Broil
Marinade
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Optional
- 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1
Instructions
- Pick you favorite type of beef and trim all visible fat. Place the meat in the freezer for 1-2 hours to partially freeze. This allows for easier slicing and a more consistent width.
- Add the red wine, fish sauce, and black pepper in a container or zip lock bag and mix together.
- Remove beef from the freezer and slice against the grain between ⅛"-1/4" thick.
- Add sliced beef to the container of marinade and shake well to evenly coat the meat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours.
- After marinating, remove and dry the strips with paper towels. Place sliced beef on a rack in the middle of the oven.
- Turn oven on to the lowest temperature setting available and prop the door open with a wooden spoon. (170 degrees is ideal, no higher than 200 degrees)
- Dry jerky for 4-12 hours. (cooking time will vary on thickness of jerky)
- Jerky will be finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half. Allow to cool for several hours before storing in an air tight container.
We liked this one a lot more than we thought we would. A lot more.
Did you try backing the fish sauce down to maybe 2 TBSP? I like fish sauce so I am going to try it. Thanks again.
Doug
Having a Filipino wife, I was just sitting here thinking about using fish sauce in my next batch of jerky. Your blog came up first when I researched the concept. Thanks for the info.
No problem. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
This is a household favorite. Thanks very much.
No problem! Thanks for stopping by!
what about red wine and garlic and French herb, such as boeuf bourguignon (y)
Do you have recipe for fish jerky?
I do love Beef Bourguignon, could be a good jerky! I do not have any fish jerky recipes on the site yet. I will try to get some up in the next couple of months.
Dude, you have found my secret ingredient. I am a marinade minimalist – especially for expense – so I started experimenting with it and tamarind paste a year ago as a way to develop a substitute for worcestershire sauce (the anchovies are the secret) in my “standard” marinade. As you’ve found, more is often better until you get to OMG too much. Just push it on small batches and keep notes. Mostly it is has been great on asian variations and complex recipes but I like this idea. Simplicity, fish essence and Italian are great combinations.
It can definitely be overpowering if you are not careful!