Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin

It's true. I'm not reinventing the wheel with an Asian marinated pork loin, but it is a classic because it is just so good. Pork was meant to be marinated in a sweet and spicy marinade and grilled to perfection. Again, this is an easy weeknight supper with leftovers that can be tossed into a salad or made into a sandwich. I used classic Asian flavors like soy sauce, ginger, hot pepper, and sake to infuse maximum flavor into the pork, which is basically a blank canvas for you to impart flavors. I always forget about the pork tenderloin because I am almost always either cooking for 2 or 20, rarely in between and tenderloins usually come in larger portions (good for 4-6). When I saw this smaller version at the G&W Chinese grocery store the other day, I knew it would be the perfect size for a special date night dinner...while we watched the Eagles...beat the Cowboys...yeah!
Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients:
pork tenderloin (mine was 1.2 lbs)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbs. ginger (or 1 tsp. ginger powder)
1 hot chili (or 1 tsp. red pepper flakes or sriracha)
1 lime
sake
1. Coarsely chop garlic, ginger, and hot pepper and place into a plastic baggie that is big enough to fit the pork loin. Juice the lime into the bag as well.
2. Add soy sauce and sake and sugar and shake to combine. Put the pork into the baggie and let marinade in the fridge for 30 minutes to all day.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 and turn the flame on the stove top on high to get your grill pan or heavy bottom skillet very hot so that you can sear the outside of the pork. I took my pork out of the fridge about 10 minutes before searing so that it wasn't super cold.4. Sear the meat on all sides until you have a nice crust. About 4 minutes per side.
5. Put meat into an oven safe dish, cover with foil, and cook in the hot oven until the meat reaches 150 degrees, which should take about 30 minutes. Take it out of the oven, cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Slice up and enjoy!

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