It is a very healthy cut of meat, with almost no fat. According to The Other White Meat, USDA studies show that pork is leaner than skinless chicken breast per serving.
It is also incredibly tender! The tenderloin is comparable to the filet mignon.
Because they turn out great, with every recipe I try, I love eating pork tenderloin (whether I am dieting or not)!
I found a wonderful recipe that I want to share with you all!
This recipe reminded me some delicious Thai Peanut dishes, so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did!
Indonesian Pork Tenderloin, I found the recipe on Pinterest from Tide and Thyme
You'll need...
- 1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)
- 1/4 cup apricot preserves
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/4 cup orange juice (for thinning out the marinade, do not put in the zip lock bag)
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Combine preserves, garlic, coriander, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, peanut butter, lime juice, crushed red pepper and black pepper in a small bowl. Whisk well to combine, paying attention to break up the peanut butter. Place pork tenderloin in gallon sized Ziploc bag and pour the marinade on top. Squeeze out the air, and seal, using your hands to squish bag and distribute marinade evenly. Place in refrigerator and let marinade for at least 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours. (I ended up marinading it for about 3-4 hours).
Preheat oven to 425. Heat the vegetable oil in large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the pork tenderloin, and sear on all sides, until it’s nicely browned – about 7 minutes or so. Place the entire skillet into the preheated oven, and cook until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees – about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.
( I don't have an oven proof skillet, so I seared the meat in a skillet, and put the tenderloin on a cookie sheet. I also don't have a meat thermometer, so I just put it in for about 20-25 minutes and it was fine. It was still incredibly tender!)
While the pork is in the oven, pour the marinade into a small saucepan. If it seems too thick, add a splash or orange juice or water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute, then turn off heat (I was paranoid, so I boiled it for 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly) . Pour sauce over the sliced tenderloin and sprinkle with chopped cilantro for garnish.
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We all LOVED it! It was so tender and delicious! The flavor was really permeated throughout the whole tenderloin and it was SO, SO heavenly! :)
I doubled the recipe, because my package had two 1 pound tenderloins in it. We have quite a bit of marinade left over, so I'm planning on using it as a pasta sauce for some Thai rice noodles. I will cut up some of the pork tenderloin and put it in my pasta. Yum!
Enjoy!
-Anita
