This sesame pork roast is a family favorite at Casa de Carne for the left overs more than for the actual meal. I've made this so many times that I have lost the original recipe, but here is the most recent version:
Ingredients for the marinade
2 1 cups soy sauce (I use low sodium, I've found over the years that using low sodium soy sauce for marinades helps cut down on the salty bite, leaving all the other flavors to do their work_
3/4 to 1 tbsp dark sesame oil (or the hot pepper version if spice is your thing) (this is also a to taste kind of ingredient, more can sometimes equal too much of a good thing)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of fresh ginger root grated finely (ginger powder in a pinch, to taste)
dash of red chili powder
dash of red chili flakes
splash of lime or lemon juice
pinch of brown sugar (up to 2 tsp if you're using full strength soy sauce, helps cut down on the bite)
Combine all ingredients in a gallon zip lock bag and slosh them around to mix
I usually go for a center cut of pork tenderloin, but any meaty tenderloin cut will do here. Trim most the fat from the meat, but leave a little on for self basting purposes. Toss the meat into the marinade and let it soak overnight.
While the oven is heating remove the meat from the marinade and discard the liquid. Pat the roast dry with a couple paper towels and toss it into the oven. I keep a digital meat thermometer in the roast, and when the temperature hits about 135 I take the roast out of the oven and glaze it with a mixture of equal parts honey and brown sugar. I've found that coating the whole roast in sesame seeds after glazing helps keep the honey stuck to the outside of the meat, and not burning to the bottom of your roasting pan. Throw the whole works back into the oven 'til the thermometer reads 160 (or your preferred doneness level), remove the roast and let rest under a foil tent for at least 5 minutes, 10 if you can be patient, and then carve it up in thin slices. The preparation method is almost fool proof, but be warned, the glaze can burn pretty quickly and can be a bear to clean off your pan. As an alternate cooking method, I've had great success with this roast on the grill (with some apple wood chips added, the smoke marries perfectly with the salty and spicy marinade.... stoopid burn ban).
After eating this meal I dream about the roast pork sandwiches, spicy goat cheese and pork pizza with grilled onions and roasted poblano, and stir fry with a hoisin / chili sauce that will be made the next day or so.
As I was saying above, pork rules.
Well, technically, pork fat rules.
BAM!!
But, yea, this looks awesome.
Question -- two cups of soy sauce (even low-sodium) sounds like an awful lot. It's not too salty? Since you are marinating in a bag, would one cup be enough liquid? could you cut with a little water? Or would you say that as-is, the pork only has a subtle salty, soy flavor anyway?
Do what you gotta do, doc. Recipes are made to be tweaked.
Yeah, on second thought, 1 cup should probably be right. What the hell do I know, I just pour a bunch* into a ziplock bag and away I go. The over all character of the meat is salt + sesame oil + honey glaze for that rare mixture of savory and sweet. Like I said in the post, I've been making this for a long time and have fine tuned it for my taste. I probably only use a cup of soy sauce, 1.5 tbsp of sesame oil (I tend to use a mixture of half dark and half hot chili infused), and then whatever spices are on hand. This is a pretty fool proof recipe because, you know, I'm a bit foolish.
*bunch = about enough to submerge the whole cut of carne when the air is pushed out of the ziplock.
I just pour a bunch* into a ziplock bag and away I go.
that's pretty much the hallmark of a good cook. My measures are all ballpark figures anyway 🙂
I love pork.
For a moment there I thought you left out an infinitive. But I second that emotion.
My infinitive split.
that sounds spectacular, meat. i gotta try that.
since this seems the spot for it, my ginger ale came with mixed results. i used the maximum recommended amount of ginger, but i still think it could have used a bit more (jane disagreed; there was plenty of ginger she said). the taste was just fine, but it definitely needed more carbonation. i'm not sure if i used the wrong yeast or what, but i let it sit until the bottle was pretty firm. maybe i'll give it a little extra next time.
tonight's project: takuan-zuke (pickled daikon, though much more fast and dirty than the repository mentions)
You gotta let it go until you are deathly afraid it will burst, hj.
will do, cap'n.