Oven-roasted pork tenderloin and plums, with a spiced orange plum sauce.
Pork tenderloin and roasted plums with a spiced soy-based sauce, loaded with citrusy flavors from the Timut pepper, ginger, and Cara Cara orange.
This recipe is simple, but it has two ingredients that can be hard to come by, Shaoxing wine and Timut pepper.
Shaoxing wine is a dry rice wine often used in Chinese cooking. It can be found in Asian markets, wine shops, or online. If you can’t find Shaoxing where you live, substitute any dry rice wine or sherry.
Timut pepper is a Nepalese seed husk from the prickly ash tree. It comes from the same family of trees as Sichuan pepper and has a similar flavor profile and mouth-numbing quality. So, Sichuan pepper is an easy replacement. If you can’t find either, a combo of black pepper and coriander seed can be used.
Pork tenderloin comes almost ready to cook out of the package. But sometimes, it has a small piece of silverskin at one end. The silverskin is tough and chewy so, I trim it off. To do this, insert the tip of a sharp knife under the middle of the sinew, blade facing away from you. Hold the pork with the opposite hand so that it doesn’t move around. Push the knife away from you to the end of the silverskin. It should be free from the pork on one side. Place the knife under the sinew facing the opposite direction. Hold the free end of the sinew with the opposite hand. Push the knife forward to completely release the silverskin. Discard the silverskin then your pork is ready to cook.
When making this dish, I like to use the plums as a roasting rack for the pork. The pork is cooked raised out of the sauce, but the sauce can absorb any drippings from the pork. The pork can be cooked directly in the sauce, but it will discolor the meat’s exterior.
Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Plum Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin cleaned 2 large loins
- 4 plums halved and pitted
- 2 inch ginger sliced
- 1/4 cup cara cara orange juice 1/2 an orange
- 1/4-1/2 orange zest strips
- 1/2 tsp timut peppercorn or sichuan peppercorn
- 1 star anise
- 1/2 cup shaoxing wine
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup chicken stock or beef stock
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- salt and pepper as needed
- 2 tbsp oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pat the tenderloins dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil to the pan. When the oil shimmers, add the pork to the pan. Sear all sides of the pork until golden brown. Remove the pork from the pan and add the plums cut side down. Add the peppercorns, anise, ginger, and zest to the pan, then the wine. Stir in the soy sauce, stock, orange juice, and brown sugar. Arrange the plums in the middle of the pan and place the pork on top of them. Cook the pork in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until it reaches 130 degrees.
- Remove the pork from the pan and set it aside to rest. Place the pan back on the stove over medium-high heat. Flip the plums skin side down. Simmer the sauce until it has reduced by half and has thickened. Place the plums on a serving tray. Strain the spices from the sauce. Slice the pork against the grain into several pieces and add to the serving tray. Drizzle the plums and pork with the sauce and serve.
