Pork Tenderloin – Perfect Pork for Beginners
When it comes to protein for the main meals that “everyone” should know how to cook, fried chicken may be the most popular, at least in the United States. However, this is not the easiest meat to learn and not even my favorite (although I love this bird marinated in the lab ). This, my friends, is a pork tenderloin.
Pork tenderloin is ideal for people who are just learning how to cook meat. It’s naturally gentle, fairly cheap (though not the cheapest), and has an extremely favorable balance of minimal effort and high reward. It is the perfect protein for your evening meal.
Tenderloin – not to be confused with the larger, softer pork loin – is fairly small, about a pound or so, enough for 2-4 people, depending on how many non-meat items you serve with it. If you live alone, enjoy the leftovers: Thin slices of cold pork make great sandwiches.
As the name suggests, the pork tenderloin is tender but lean, which means you can overcook it if you’re not careful. Fortunately, there is an easy way to avoid this. Just use a little technique known as reverse whisper. If you’ve read my other two blogs about pork tenderloin (which focused on marinades), you know that all it takes to reverse-grill meat is to roast the tenderloin in a low-temperature (250 ℉) oven for about 50 minutes or whatever. it was not. it is necessary that the temperature drops 15 degrees below the target, and then bring it to this temperature using a sear on the stove. You will need a kitchen thermometer, but anyone who cooks meat should have one anyway. You can use this method for pork chops too, but I love the simplicity of making one large piece rather than several smaller pieces. (Although there are a few large pork chops, the ones you’ll find in most grocery stores are usually suitable for one person.)
If you have time, pickling the tenderloin will take it to amazing places, but it doesn’t have to. My favorite marinades – it is one ingredient – or miso, or Shio koji – but this weekend I fried one on a slow fire with salt, pepper and a small amount of sodium glutamate, and then finished it with a lot of brown oil, and all passed. Whether you marinate or not, the procedure is the same.
Plain seared pork tenderloin with toasted butter
Ingredients:
- 1 pork tenderloin (about a pound or so)
- What marinades, rubbing, or seasonings do you like
- A couple of teaspoons of olive oil (if you haven’t used the marinade)
- 4 tablespoons butter
Marinate the pork if desired, then remove the marinade by rubbing or patting with paper towels. Preheat oven to 250 ℉. If you haven’t used the marinade, drizzle the pork with a little olive oil, grate and season generously with salt and pepper (and a little MSG, if you have one). Place the tenderloin in a roasting pan and cook in the oven until it reaches the core temperature, which is 15 degrees below what “cooked” pork should be, rotating about halfway. (I always cook my tenderloin to 135 ℉, so I take the tenderloin out of the oven when the thermometer reads 120 ℉, which takes about 50 minutes, so I turn it 25.)
Remove the tenderloin from the oven and set aside while you heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. Once the butter is really frothy, add the tenderloin and fry on all sides, turning every 30 seconds or so, until you get a nice color. The butter will turn nice and brown with the pork. Transfer the tenderloin to a plate or serving platter, pour the browned butter over the pork and let it rest for five minutes before serving.