Ginger Ale Marinade for Pork Loin ~ Question

thirdeye

I doing a pork loin as a side meat on T-Giving, one of the recipes I'm looking at has this marinade. What does the ginger ale do? Is the sweet or the carbonation the key here?[p]3 pounds center cut boned pork loin roast, patted dry
2 1/2 cups ginger ale
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup sherry
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped ginger
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
6 cardamom seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

gdenby

thirdeye,[p]Supposedly, carbonation is like vacuum marinading. The bubbles' pressure pushes the flavors into the meat. Couldn't say for myself, the few times I've done it, the soda's flavor came out rather strong. I suppose the test case would be to just use seltzer.[p]gdenby

Richard

thirdeye,[p]My best guess is the sweetness, like coke for ham, That's southern for you western folks. Happy T-Day!

Clay Q

thirdeye,
The only thing I can think of is the carbonation helps to blend the marinade and activate the flavors, and ginger ale fits in the Asian-Pacific Rim seasoning mindset. My mindset is...well....weak but mellow right now.
Have a great Thanksgiving, buddy.
Clay

thirdeye

Thanks for the opinions. Some other advice I got mentioned the tenderizing properties of the ginger ale, which I had totally overlooked.[p]~thirdeye~