Shingle the slices for a nice presentation

Because pork is so lean these days, it has the danger of being a bit dry and flavorless. However, with both a marinade and a thick, reddish, complex pan sauce, this recipe will ensure a flavorful roast and a worthy presentation.

Marinating in Oil, Soy Sauce, and Ginger

I got this dish from a culinary arts textbook, Professional Cooking by Wayne Gisslen, which I’m reading through while I wait to attend school. The sweet-sour apple glaze is based on a gastrique, a mixture of caramelized sugar dissolved in vinegar, which according to the book is “A classic technique to add a balanced sweet-sour accent to a sauce.” The pork is removed from the roasting pan and the sauce is made by adding a bit of tomato paste to the mirepoix and pan drippings and deglazing with chicken stock, and then combining with a mixture of honey and cider vinegar, which has been heated in a saucepan until lightly caramelized.

Presentation: overlap a few pork slices on the plate in a semi-circle, like shingles, and glaze with a couple ounces of the sauce. Goes great with some apple slices sautéed in butter, or braised cabbage. You can also shingle the slices around a mound of mashed potatoes.

Here’s my version of the recipe, which is a bit of an approximation as it’s scaled down from the original, restaurant-quantity version, and changes bone-in pork loin to boneless pork loin. You can mess around with the amounts; I actually used a very small pork loin, about 1 ¾ pounds, so scaled it down further.

3 or 4 pounds boneless pork loin
2 ounces oil
2 ounces soy sauce
About an inch of fresh ginger, finely diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Large onion, diced
Large carrot, diced
5-6 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole
½ tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
2 ounces honey (preferably acacia honey)
4 ounces cider vinegar

Mix together the oil, soy sauce, and seasonings. Marinate the pork for at least 1 hour.

Remove the pork from the marinade, leaving any pieces of ginger adhering to the meat. Place in an oiled roasting pan and place in an oven preheated to 350°F.

After 10 minutes of roasting, add the onion, carrot, and garlic cloves, and continue roasting until the pork is done, about 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes in all.

Remove the roast from the pan and hold in a warm place.

Place the roasting pan on the stovetop. Add the tomato paste and cook for a few minutes, then add the chicken stock. Cook for 15 minutes.

Strain. Reserve the garlic cloves. Skim off any fat.

Combine the honey with the vinegar in a saucepan and cook until lightly caramelized.

Add the strained cooking liquid and cook for a few minutes, then add the garlic cloves. Reduce until the sauce is thickened enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. Strain, pressing the garlic cloves well. Season to taste.

Serve the pork sliced with the sauce around.