Spicy Grilled Pork Tenderloin Recipe

A good lazy Sunday should involve sleeping in, sweatpants all day long, and more time spent on choosing a wine than making dinner. Pork tenderloin is a perfect protein for a lazy summer dinner.

Now this recipe is spicy. No, I mean S-P-I-C-Y, don’t underestimate me here please. If you don’t like spicy food than I highly suggest you reduce the quantity of sambal oelek in the recipe as that is what produces the heat.

This particular tenderloin I butterflied before marinating it. I find I can get a crisper texture on the outside because there is more surface area against the grill. Incidentally, after much debate on the wine, we selected a gewürztraminer. It paired very well with the fiery pork.

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(serves 2)



1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon sambal oelek (*very spicy, for medium heat use 1/2, for mild use 1/4)

1 pork tenderloin

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Stir together ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, mustard and sambal until well combined. Transfer to a plastic bag or marinating container. Remove any silver skin from the pork. If desired, butterfly the pork by cutting it almost all the way through so that you can open it up like a book and end up with a uniformly thick flat piece of meat. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper and then transfer it to the marinade. Marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours. Remove the meat from the refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling. Heat your grill to high and oil it well. Add the pork to the grill, and grill for a few minutes before flipping. After flipping pour any excess marinade on top. Flip again after a few more minutes. Continue grilling, flipping regularly until the pork is 140F in the thickest part. Remove from the grill and tent with foil. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with scallions and then slice against the grain.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes