MY BEST PICTURE
STORY
Pork tenderloin is cheap, and if cooked right can hold a lot of flavor. This is one of my favorite meals, and I always pick up a pack of tenderloins when I go to the grocery store. It took me about 8 times to finally get the cook on this right, and even now I still over cook it occasionally. For purposes of this post, this one was perfect. Of course.
INGREDIENTS
- 2lb Pack of pork tenderloin (came with a pair)
- 1/2 Cup Soy sauce
- 1/2 Lemon
- 1/2 Cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 Green onion sprouts
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 1 Teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 Teaspoon onion powder
- 1 Teaspoon red pepper flakes
HOW I COOKED IT
I took out a nice zip lock baggie, you know, the kind that can actually withstand liquid inside of it without rupturing. I walked my pork tenderloin package over to the sink and slit it open so that all of the juices would run out into the sink. This was my tactic to not have a huge mess on the counter. Raw pork juices, I heard, are not full of anti-oxidants. After the loins were out of the package I tried my best to remove the “silver lining” that turns out chewy on the top of the pork loin. I placed both loins in the baggie.
I prepped my marinade in a measuring glass and poured my soy sauce in there first. It was a little over 1/2 of a cup to be honest, which was fine. I combined my sesame oil, onion powder, ground ginger, red pepper flakes, and brown sugar and gave it a quick stir using a spoon. Then I added my half of lemon and finely chopped up my green onions to be added to the measuring glass. I gave it a good stir and poured the marinade in to the zip lock baggie. Finally, I crushed my garlic cloves and gave them a good smash before tossing them into the pork/marinade mixture and sealed the bag. I sealed the baggie and squeezed some of the air out to make it more air tight and threw it in the fridge.
After rotating the pork marinade mixture in the fridge after 3 hours, I let it rest for an additional 5 hours bringing my total marinade time to 8 hours. I took the loins out of the fridge and let them sit at room temperature for and hour.
I turned the grill on high and waited for about 15 minutes until it reached 500 degrees. Using the tongs, I took the first loin out of the baggie, while squeezing the baggie around it to sort of scrape the onions and garlic from it. I repeated this for the second loin and achieved an excellent sounding sizzle when I laid them on the grill. I seared each loin on 4 sides for about 2 minutes each side and then threw both of the loins on the top rack of the grill and closed it. I set the timer for 16 minutes.
Using a small pot on the side burner of the grill, I poured in my remaining juices from the baggie. I brought this to a boil and let that boil for about 5 minutes and reduced it down to simmer to thicken up. This way, I created a potent and thick practical sauce for my tenderloins.
After 16 minutes I used a thermometer to see if it had reached 155 degrees, which from what I have read online is a safe medium-well temperature. The loins were not quite there yet, so I closed the grill and let it ride for another 4 minutes. Perfect. I took out the loins to rest for 10 minutes and then Taylor sliced them. She loves slicing the pork loins, which is fine for me since it gave me time to microwave a side of steamed broccoli for the dish. All done, and delicious.
MY HONEST OPINION
This turned out excellent. It was extremely moist, and sort of ate like a nice cut of beef. The flavor was there, and with the sauce reduction it was a perfect combination of flavor. I love this recipe, it was not my first time doing this one.
WHAT I WOULD TRY NEXT TIME
Next time I would add some more spice to the marinade, maybe more red pepper flake or even a couple Thai chili peppers. I would also up the amount of sweetness, or in this case, brown sugar to the recipe. The tough part about adding more sugar, though, is that it will affect the way it cooks on the grill. I will try, and report back eventually!