Wednesday 10 October 2012

Recipe - Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Sauce.

Sometimes I like to get a bit experimental in the kitchen. Some recipes are banished to the bin, never to see the light of day again. Ocassionally though, I come up with a gem, like this delicious pork with a sweet pineapple and ginger marinade. I served it with sweet potato fries (there are awesome recipes for getting your sweet potato fries really crispy on Pinterest, go and take a look), and stir-fried green beans, bell pepper, and onion. This recipe is quick, simple, and delicious. Give it a try the next time you're having some pork.


Ok, first of all, this is enough to give a piece of tenderloin big enough for 2 hungry adults a good soaking. If you want to do it for a family, you may need more marinade, but all amounts are easy to adjust.

Pineapple Marinade

1 cup pineapple juice 
1 heaped tsp of grated, fresh ginger
2 tsps dark soy sauce
2 tsps barbecue seasoning
Tobasco to taste (I used about 8 drops)

Mix together in a dish that's suitable for holding your pork. Put pork in, and make sure it's mostly covered (doesn't need to be totally submerged). Refrigerate and marinade for at least 4 hours. You may want to turn the pork half way through, for maximum tenderness and flavour saturation.

Take the pork out of the fridge a little while before you want to cook it, and pre-heat your oven to 180 celsius (around 360 fahrenheit). How long it will take depends on how big your piece of pork is. The bit I used took about 35-40 minutes. You're sensible, you won't serve people half-cooked pork, I have faith in you ;) Remove pork from marinade and place in a suitable oven dish. Cook. Take out of the oven, cover in tin foil to keep warm, and let it rest while you do the sauce and veggies.

Place the marinade in a small pot, and bring to the boil. Mix about 2 tsps on corn starch with a little water to make a smooth paste. Stir this into the marinade to make a thick, glossy sauce. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. This stops the sauce from being TOO sweet.

Slice the onions and bell pepper, and stir fry along with the green beans. I used frozen green beans, and it worked fine. Add a little soy sauce, and a healthy pinch of ground ginger. I also stirred in about a tablespoon of the sauce, so the vegetables were lightly coated and gleaming, but this is optional.

Slice your pork, arrange prettily on a plate, and spoon over the sweet, tangy sauce. An abundant pile of stir fried vegetables, a little mound of crispy, comforting sweet potato fries...

That, my friends, is dinner.




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