Pork tenderloin is one of my favorite everyday proteins. It's healthy, quick-cooking, and can absorb the flavors of a marinade super-fast (30 minutes is plenty of time). In thisnew recipe, I use a fiery Asian-inspired marinade to infuse the pork, then pan-sear the tenderloins and finish cooking them in the oven to achieve the perfect doneness.
Brussels sprouts roast alongside the pork, turning caramelized and sweet in the intense heat. Finish the vegetables by tossing them in a funky Vietnamese-style vinaigrette, and you've got a weeknight meal with amazing depth of flavor.
Here are a few insights we scored along the way:
You don't need to marinate meat for hours
An intense, chile-spiked marinade infuses the pork with flavor and juiciness in record time. Even better, most of the ingredients come straight from the pantry. Be sure to score the fiery Asian chile paste called sambal oelek, which adds heat to the pork. Bonus: the leftover marinade becomes a quick pan sauce!
Learn this cooking technique and you can cook any meat or fish the right way. Start your protein in a hot pan with some fat, get it browned on all sides, then let it finish cooking in the oven. Use an instant-read digital meat thermometer to nail your desired temperature. I personally prefer to serve pork tenderloin on the pink side of medium, so I pull it at an internal temperature of 140°F (the temperature will rise about 10 degrees while resting). For medium, remove it from the oven once the internal temperature reaches 145°F.
Roasted vegetables love a vibrant dressing
Caramelized Brussels sprouts are always tasty, but tossing them in a vinaigrette after roasting really makes them shine. Here, we use a fish-sauce-based vinaigrette inspired by the Vietnamese sauce called nuoc cham.Fish saucebrings a savory depth element to many Asian dishes, and you can find it in the Asian section of most supermarkets. Our vinaigrette balances the funkiness of fish sauce with acid, sweetness and heat from lime juice, honey, and a little chile pepper. Finely chopped peanuts add richness and texture, and a sprinkle of chopped mint adds a bright finish to the plate.
