Seared Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Tomato Sweet-and-Sour Sauce
This dish combines two ingredients that are among my favorites: pork tenderloin and pineapple. Pork tenderloin is one of those unappreciated cuts of meat. And too bad, too. It’s easy to cook, is lean and low in fat, and it doesn’t take long to prepare. Pineapple is one of those fruits that’s commonly used in cooking Asian foods, but not so much with American dishes. And too bad for that, too. It has the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and lends itself to sweet-and-sour dishes. Plus you don’t have to mess with a fresh pineapple if you don’t want to deal with the rather complicated process of peeling and prepping the fruit — you can just use canned pineapple.
A sweet-and-sour sauce with tomatoes and pineapple is a common item in many Chinese restaurants: sweet-and-sour chicken, pork, shrimp, etc. It’s so versatile and so easy to make at home. You can use it to top grilled or pan-fried chicken, sautéed shrimp, or even chicken nuggets. Try this dish at home and you’ll be amazed at how easy it is.
Seared Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Tomato Basil Sauce
Serves 3 or 4
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml.) cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml.) chopped garlic
- 6 Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1 20-ounce (560 ml.) can of pineapple chunks in juice
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml.) sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml.) vinegar
- 1 pork tenderloin
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml.) salt
- ¼ cup (60 ml.) chopped basil
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 ºF (176 ºC).
- In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and sauté garlic until it begins to turn golden.
- Add tomatoes, stirring until the tomatoes start to soften.
- Drain the can of pineapple, reserving half of the juice, and add the pineapple and juice to saucepan.
- Add sugar and vinegar, stir and simmer for 10 minutes, covered.
- Turn off heat and keep sauce covered.
- Heat a cast-iron or oven-safe skillet over high heat.
- Pat dry the tenderloin with a paper towel and evenly salt the tenderloin.
- Place the tenderloin in the pan and sear it 2-3 minutes on each side, turning the tenderloin in the pan.
- Place the pan and tenderloin in the oven and cook for 4-5 minutes. Test pork with a meat thermometer. When the pork reaches 150 ºF (65 ºC), remove from oven and set on a dish, cover with foil and let sit for 2 minutes.
- Reheat the sauce over low heat, slice the tenderloin into medallions and arrange on a serving dish, pour the sauce over the pork, sprinkle with the chopped basil and serve.
Enjoy!
— Vic
Print 
PDFCategory: Pork
About the Author (Author Profile)
Victor Panichkul is a journalist and writer by training; a cook, wine lover and photographer by passion; and a lover of the outdoors since moving to Oregon more than 10 years ago. He is a native of Bangkok, Thailand.
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Comments (0)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
There are no comments yet. Why not be the first to speak your mind.