A 40 guest dinner party kind of depends on it. I can’t for love nor money find my copy, and I need to make the recipe in it for Chinese pork tenderloin (quick-roasted with five spice powder). If any kind sweet soul would post it, I’d be forever in your debt. (Also, it’s incredibly good, so there’s that.)
Alas, I’m at work and my Quick Recipe is at home. I’d hoped to find it for you on the Cook’s Illustrated web site, but didn’t have any luck. : (
I’ve never heard of it, but it sounds great. I have a brand-new container of five-spice powder burning a hole in my apron pocket too.
Found it, thank God! (Any Internet stalkers will have noticed that I also have the world’s worst sinus infection at the same time I’m doing dinner for 40, so this was a Big Problem!)
This is the Most Awesome Pork Ever. I HATE pork and I love this. (This is, um, also how I burned the shit out of my fingers and had to spend some time in the ER, if anybody remembers that as well. A very SDMB recipe.)
1 1/2 tbsp five spice powder
Salt
2 pork tenderloins (in other words, which confused me, one package at the grocery store) about 1 lb each, trimmed of silverskin but not fat, and patted dry
4 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
Heat oven to 425. Combine 5 spice powder and 1 tsp salt in a bowl and dry rub it on your loins. (Yeah, baby!) Heat the oil in a big ovenproof skillet and brown the tenderloins - brown for a minute to a minute and a half, rotate a quarter turn, brown, etc, until they’re browned all over. Put it in the oven and cook until 135 to 140 (15-18 minutes). Remove the skillet from the oven.
THE SKILLET IS HOT NOW. STICK A POT HOLDER ON THE HANDLE OR SOMETHING SO YOU REMEMBER THAT. DO NOT TOUCH THE HANDLE. TRUST ME. YOU WILL FORGET. THE PAIN IS UNBELIEVABLE.
Stick the meat on a cutting board and cover it with foil. If you need to go to the ER for a few hours now, it’ll be fine. In fact, I’ll be doing this a few hours before the guests arrive tomorrow. Very forgiving, this recipe.
Mix the honey, soy sauce, hoisin, and 1/2 cup water in a bowl.
Put the empty skillet on medium high heat, add the other 2 tsp oil, and cook the ginger and garlic for 30 seconds. Add the sauce mixture and cook, scraping up the fond, until syrupy (3-4 minutes). Put the pork back in, roll around, and cut crosswise into little medallions.
I like to double the sauce, myself. Personal preference.
This is the most moist, tender, sweet, awesome pork you will ever have. Also, it’s quick and (assuming you followed my advice about not flash-frying yourself) very foolproof.
ETA - the leftovers also make a fantastic stir fry - just stirfry whatever veggies you have lying around, throw in whatever stir fry sauce you like, bottled or homemade or whatever, and cut up some of the pork and throw it in and mix it up until it’s warm. Heavenly.