Teriyaki-Glazed Roasted Pork Tenderloin

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving spend with friends and family, surrounded by love. At our house, we are enjoying that brief lull between Thanksgiving and the madness of Christmas. The tree has been trimmed, and today we’ll show our support of the small shops in search of the perfect presents to wrap. With a little luck, the cookies and candies and all the goodies planned will become a reality.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of Thanksgiving left-overs. Don’t get me wrong, the family loves my Stuffing Stuffed Meatloaf following turkey day. However; there’s only so much stuffing-stuffed dishes and turkey soup one can handle. It’s time to move on to other things, however brief, that have no connection to the holiday season.

This delightful Pork Tenderloin recipe is actually a simplified adaptation of a recipe I had created last summer for the grill, I just never got around to snapping a few photos and writing the post. Shame on me – but I promise to share it with you just as soon as it’s warm enough to cook outdoors again. Here the in central valley of California, we went from an unusually mild summer to a brief fall, and then plunged head-long into a chilly cold winter. And rain is at long last in the forecast.  Thank God, because we sure can use the water. Lord knows, the farmers could use a break. I just pray that the rain isn’t too much for the burnt out areas and all those displaced families. Wow, I didn’t mean to sound so glum. I just worry about those who have lost so much during the fire season. Especially the families of Paradise. My prayers go out to you.

Teriyaki-Glazed Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Teriyaki Marinade
¼ Cup Garlic, crushed
¼ Cup Ginger, diced
1 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Cup Sugar
¼ Cup Sesame Oil
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Dice ginger, set aside. Crush garlic with the blade of a knife. Set aside.

Place Soy Sauce, Sugar and Sesame Oil into a sauce pan. Gently warm over low heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Add ginger and garlic, give a quick swirl and remove from heat. Prepare pork for marinade.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin
1 1/2-2 Lb Pork Tenderloin
1 Recipe Teriyaki Marinade (above)

Poke a few small openings into the pork to allow marinate to seep into meat.  (The tip of a sharp knife will do, you don’t want to openings to be so large that the natural juices of the pork can escape. Just a few tiny slits on the top and bottom will do the trick). Place tenderloin in a resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade into the bag, seal closed and turn bag several times to coat the meat in the marinade. Refrigerate overnight.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a rimmed baking pan with foil. This will make clean up easier as the teriyaki glaze can make a big mess. Center a V-shaped rack the foil-lined baking pan.

Dissolve cornstarch in water to create a thickening agent to transform the marinade into a glaze, set aside.

Remove tenderloin from marinate. Place tenderloin on roasting rack and let roast rest on counter for about 15 minutes to create a more evenly tempered meat for better roasting.

In the meantime, pour the marinade into a sauce pan, add cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil. Lower heat and allow to simmer until marinade reduces to a thicker “glaze”.

Ladle some of the thickened glaze over tenderloin, reserving about half of the glaze for serving. A basting brush is great for spreading the glaze all around the roast. Keep the remaining glaze warm until ready to serve. It will continue to thicken as it simmers, which is perfect. Just give it a quick stir every now and again.

Roast teriyaki-glazed tenderloin for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from oven, add about 1/4 cup of water to pan, cover with foil and let “steam” in juices for about 10 minutes longer.

Remove roast from oven, leave covered and let rest for 5 minutes prior to slicing.

Transfer to serving platter, slice into medallions and pour on the remaining teriyaki glaze for added yummy flavor. Serve and enjoy.