If there’s a choice between pork chops and pork tenderloin in our house, the tenderloin almost always wins. Pork tenderloin stays much more moist- or maybe it’s just me who can’t cook a pork chop without drying it out?- and it’s so easy to prepare either with a simple marinade or dry rub.
In this recipe, the pork is marinated in a delicious combination of honey, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and a few other seasonings. The recipe calls for marinating the pork for at least 8 hours. Unfortunately, I didn’t read that part until about 3 hours before dinner time so my marinating time was much shorter. Even so, the pork was really flavorful, and I’m sure it would have been even better with a longer soak in the marinade.
One year ago: Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
Honey Ginger Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 tsp. freshly minced ginger root
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tbsp. ketchup
- 1/8 tsp. onion powder
- 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 pork tenderloin (3/4-1 lb.)
Directions:
- In a small bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients except the pork. Place the pork in a shallow dish or ziplock bag and pour the marinade over the top. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to one day, turning occasionally.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Transfer the pork to the skillet, reserving the marinade. Brown the pork on all sides and then transfer to an oven-safe baking dish (or, brown the meat in an oven-safe skillet). Pour a little of the reserved marinade over the pork and bake in oven until pork registers 155 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. The baking time will depend on the size of the pork tenderloin, between 25-40 minutes. After removing from the oven, let pork rest for 10 minutes before slicing. (The internal temperature of the pork will continue to rise to 160 while it rests.)
Source: Adapted from Elly Says Opa!, originally from Gourmet.
