What's your favorite way to prepare pork tenderloin?

Based on the description of cutting and the photo (size), is it right to assume Kitty’s is actual tenderloin?

Ha! For that matter, a lot of the rest of America doesn’t know what a BPT sandwich is at all.

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I need to have fat cuts for char siu… I love to use pork belly and neck… :star_struck:

Pork tenderloin: Italian style pan roast, as in this recipe, but you can also use white wine instead of vinegar, and I would recommend cooking for a shorter time, measuring the internal temp until done.

Not directed at anyone, but perhaps a clarification…

What is called pork tenderloin in the US is sold as filet mignon of pork in at least a fair amount of Europe. Its the small (2-3 inches or 5-10cm diameter) muscle that runs along the backbone. It’s very lean and tender and cooks quickly. A whole tenderloin will feed only 2-3 people. (Most of mine are a little over a pound/500g) its also quite a bit more expensive than loin.

Pork loin is the larger back muscle that runs the length of the back (just outside of the tenderloin). Its much larger, but still lean, and a whole loin will feed a small crowd.

They lie next to wach other on the hoof, and are similar, but aren’t interchangeable.

It confused me for a while when I lived in Europe, so just hoping to clarify a little.
know-your-cuts

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Probably true.

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That seems to be mostly a French thing. Germany (and, I believe, GB) refers to the whole pork tenderloin as filet; mignon I’ve only seen used for beef.

LoL that particular photo:


And the editor’s comments

  • I think the visual novelty is what makes the sandwich fun. It’s hilarious to look at, especially when a restaurant uses a standard-sized bun, which most do. When people see that for the first time, their eyes bulge out of their heads. It looks very intimidating.
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A schnitzel on a bun. Hold the bun, plz.

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For this household it is usually part of a quick, easy dinner and a lunch. For dinner it gets a sear, a rub, and up to 130 in the oven. It gets accompanied by equal parts fig preserves and Dijon and has saffron rice and snow peas cooked in a wok with butter and oyster sauce. The lunch is a mock Cubano with pork, ham, Swiss, yellow mustard, dill pickles, and a Kaiser roll, done on a griddle with an outside light spread of mayonnaise and a bacon press.

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Another easy but flavorful one I remembered — use a porchetta spice mix: minced garlic, crushed fennel, black pepper, red chilli flakes, and one or all of sage, rosemary, and thyme, lemon/orange zest optional.

Rub on a whole tenderloin or cut into chunks first to get more coverage, like the pinchos recipe. And if you cook it in a hot pan, the browned bits add a nice dimension.

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This sounds great!

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Apricot, peach, orange marmalade. Rhubarb jam/preserves as is, or combined with any of the forementioned.

A quick prep for marinated, rubbed, or simply seasoned pork tenderloin is to slice an inch thick, sear cut sides over high heat in an oven-safe pan, then put the pan in a 375°F oven for 10 minutes, then let rest in the pan, on the counter, for another 10. Or rather than resting, add to the pan some juice or applesauce, and a spoon of prepared mustard, and make a quick pan sauce. If it needs thinning or extension, some chicken broth or vegetable broth.

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There are several posts that reference dishes made with loin, not tenderloin, and I was shooting for a gentler, more subtle approach than

THeiR (sic) nOt ThE SamE tHiNg

Apparently too subtle.

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I just remembered that when we did a couple (?) of Penelope Casas cookbooks as COTM on Chowhound a hundred or so years ago, there was a pork tenderloin prep called Lomo de Cerdo en Adobo that was so easy and delicious it became part of my repertoire although I see I have not made it since early pandemic days - so long overdue. I slice the tenderloin prior to marinating. My notes also remind me that once I marinated it overnight and then something came up so I threw it all into a ziplock, flattened into a single layer, threw it into the freezer and hoped for the best. It was perfect, thawed and cooked a couple weeks later.

Note: linked recipe calls for “pork loin” in the ingredients but Penelope calls for tenderloin and the picture in the linked recipe is pretty clearly tenderloin.

Another point I have not seen made in this thread, maybe because it’s obvious, is that no matter what the prep it will be tastier if you remove the silverskin first.

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Love Penelope Casas! We should do a thread here on HO??

Count me in! It was ages ago but I remember a number of recipes that had an excellent effort to deliciousness ratio.

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In terms of specifically tenderloin, this is probably my favorite use. Here it really makes a difference vs simply using a cut like loin.

It’s also great as medallions— very easy and quick cut to cook!

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What a great idea! Vitello tonnato is one of my favorite Italian antipasti, and I’ve only managed to make roast beef or roast turkey versions, but this sounds much better!

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@Saregama and @GretchenS – I made this last night and we all loved it. Very easy and very good.

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Glad you enjoyed it, @CCE. It’s a good one for being pretty easy.