Butterflied Korean Pork Tenderloin

Crafty Lady 13's Note:

Pork tenderloin is lean and juicy when properly cooked but has a fairly mild flavor. Combine it with assertive seasonings like soy, ginger and garlic in a Korean-style marinade, and the results are bold and delicious. Time does not include marinating time.

• Total Time: 18 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

Pork

• 2 (1 -1 ¼ lb) pork tenderloins
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 4 green onions , sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon molasses

Garnish

• 1 tablespoon sesame seed , toasted
• ¼ cup green onion , diagonally sliced
• lime wedge

Directions:

1. Make a long cut in center of each tenderloin running the length of the meat, stopping about 1/4 inch from bottom. Spread open; gently flatten with heel of your hand. Place each tenderloin between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness.
2. Place tenderloin in 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish. Combine all remaining pork ingredients in small bowl; pour over pork, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate 16 to 24 hours, turning occasionally.
3. Heat grill. Remove tenderloin from marinade, shaking off excess; discard marinade. Grill, covered, over medium-high heat or coals 5 to 8 minutes or until pale pink in center, turning once. Remove pork. Cover loosely with foil; let stand 10 minutes.

Reviews

[Captain's Lady]

I wanted to make this and kept forgetting to marinate the tenderloin so I took the recipe and tweaked the end result. Smaller pieces don't need to marinate quite so long! I cut the pork tenderloin into 1 inch chunks and marinated them for approximately 20 minutes. Quickly sauteed them in the pan (in two batches) until they were cooked through and served it over jasmine rice with a peanut sauce drizzled over it all. Excellent!

[JustJanS]

The pork cooked up perfectly pink and juicy following your directions. I made 2 servings and decided I wasn't going to buy molasses for that so used golden syrup instead. It seemed to work just fine. I marinated it for 25 hours and was a bit worried we would only taste it (the marinade), but it was remarkably subtle (and VERY flavourful). We ate this over rice with an Asian style salad on the side. Yummmm.

[TeresaS]

Excellent! The pork was so moist and juicy. Packed full of yummy flavors. I cut the recipe in half and it worked perfect. I didn't change a thing...well I did use low sodium soy sauce but that's it. I served it with Cabbage and Sesame Slaw and Sweet Potato Biscuits and some leftover rice pilaf. What a yummy dinner. Thanks for posting. Made for "Top Favorite of 2009" tag game. :)