I promised you some more marinade/grill recipes so I hope you’ll enjoy this Grilled Asian Peanut Pork Tenderloin recipe. The first time I had peanut sauce that I really remember was at a little Asian bistro in the Marina District of San Francisco. I could have drunk it, it was that good! Not too long after, I went to a cooking class conducted by James Beard nominated writer Hugh Carpenter of Napa, California. He is the inspiration behind many of my marinades and wok recipes (which I haven’t shared with you. Yet.)
The marinade/sauce in this recipe is an adaptation and amalgamation of several of his recipes from his “Hot” series of cookbooks (Hot Barbecue, Hot Wok, and Hot Chicken). If you ever get a chance to attend a class of his, I highly recommend it.
The marinade/sauce can be used for many dishes including today’s pork tenderloin. I’ll be sharing another one with you in a day or two!
Makes 4 servings, each 338 calories, 19 grams fat, 4 grams carbs, 36 grams protein for 4 oz pork and 2 tsp sauce
Ingredients:
½ cup chunky peanut butter
2 TBSP rice vinegar
2 TBSP lite soy sauce
2 TBSP sesame oil
5 drops or more sriracha (hot sauce)
1 TBSP finely chopped garlic
1 TBSP finely chopped ginger
2 TBSP finely chopped cilantro stems
1 lb pork tenderloin
Trim fat and silver skin from pork. Mix together all remaining ingredients. Place ¼ of the sauce and pork in zip lock storage bag and marinate for at least an hour and up to 8 hours. Place the rest of the sauce in the fridge in a sealed container.
Prepare and light grill (we use a gas grill); when ready, lightly oil grate with canola oil. Remove pork from marinade (discard) and pat lightly to remove excess (you still want it damp). Let meat come to room temperature while grill heats. Take 2 generous tablespoons full of sauce from refrigerator and allow it to come to room temp.
Cook pork on direct high heat for 2 minutes, turn over and cook an additional 2 minutes. Turn the grill to medium and move to indirect heat, cooking for an additional 14 minutes or until meat thermometer reads at least 140 degrees. I like to cook it a little longer, closer to 150 degrees. I like my pork med-well; hubby likes his medium so I generally eat the pieces more towards the ends and he eats the middle pieces.
Remove pork from grill and let it rest 10 minutes. Slice and serve with peanut sauce. If you like a thinner sauce, mix in a tablespoon each of soy sauce and rice vinegar to thin to desired consistency.
Have you attended any cooking classes? Who was the chef/instructor?
A big "Mahalo" to Mr. Eat Little Eat Big for the photos taken with his fancy camera!
Printable Recipe
