Baked Pork Loin with Thai Sweet & Sour Sauce烤猪柳kǎo zhū liǔ

One of my favorite easy dinners has always been this easy baked pork loin – its hearty, rich and delicious, super easy to make, and so delicious. Since pork loin has little fat, it can become tough very quickly when overcooked. Marinating or brining pork loin before cooking will always help to soften the pork tenderloin and keep it from drying out. Searing the pork before baking not only helps to lock in the pork’s juices, but also makes it taste great and give you a perfect crunchy texture. And you can top it with any of your favorite sauces you like.

Serving 3-4

• 500g                             pork loin
• ¼ cup + 1 tablespoons                   olive oil
• 1/3 teaspoon                             sea salt
• 1/3 teaspoon                              ground pepper corn

Thai Inspired sauce

• 1 tablespoon                            olive oil
• 100g                                          French Beans or asparagus, minced
• A half of the Red Bell Pepper, minced
• 2 tablespoons                          light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons                            Lime juice
• 1 tablespoon                             palm sugar or brown sugar
• ½ tablespoon                            corn starch (optional, it helps thicken the sauce)

Method

1. Rinse the pork loin under running water, pat dry with kitchen towel. Mix 1 teaspoon of freshly ground sea salt and black peppercorn, ¼ cup of olive oil in a bowl. Mix well. Place the pork in and have it marinated it for 4 to 12 hours.
   

   
2. Now let’s sear the pork loin. Place one tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over high heat. Once the oil is hot, place into the pork loin over medium heat. Fry till both sides golden. This takes about 6-8 minutes.
   

   

   
3. Pre-heat the oven to 175℃ .  Place the seared pork loin on a baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes. Once done, remove the pork loin out and let it rest for 8-10 minutes before cutting. The resting part is important as it allows residual heat keeps cooking and helps lock the juice in the meat.  The perfect cooked meat looks a little bit pink in the middle, but that’s perfectly all right.
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5. In the meantime, let’s make the sauce. Heat the oil in another frying pan, fry ¾ of the minced beans or asparagus and pepper for 2 minutes over low heat. Add light soy sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Pour the sauce into a bowl.

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6. Cut the pork loin into thick serving pieces and place them into a serving plate. Pour the sauce over the pork loin. Ready to serve.