Ginger Honey Barbecued Pork Tenderloin

Memorial Day signals the start of the summer party season. Having lived in the Midwest and now the Northeast, I have become accustomed to the unpredictable weather of the first weekend of summer. It can be either 50 degrees and drizzling or 95 degrees with 100% humidity. Do to the fickleness of the weather, I tweaked a couple recipes to come up with an entree that can be either roasted in the oven or cooked on the grill depending on if the weather cooperates or not.

Ginger Honey Barbecued Pork Tenderloin combines two of my family's favorite flavors: smokey barbecue sauce and gingery teriyaki sauce. As we would not be eating dinner until after No Thank You Boy's lacrosse game, I made the pork tenderloin, ginger honey barbecue sauce and Very Veggie Fried Rice (recipe to follow in the next blog post) in the late afternoon after getting home from cooking for my #1 client. The menu lends itself well to reheating so it can easily made well in advance of dinner time.

After returning from the lacrosse game (a 7 - 1 win), I quickly reheated the pork, barbecue sauce, and rice on 70% power in the microwave for about a minute and a half. Dinner is served!

"I love the ginger in the rice," said No Thank You Boy. And as so not to break his streak of avoiding anything green, he added, "But I wouldn't mind less vegetables and more rice."

I had to deter My Oldest from eating all the fried rice way before dinner time. She declared, "I could eat this meal every day. The pork is so tender."

Not really having any complaints about the meal was My Middle One. She did comment though that she would like to see a few more steaks in our meal rotation. Mooooo!!

The Husband was feeling a little under the weather. He was quarantined to his room, but surfaced for a bowl of fried rice after his afternoon of eating chicken noodle soup.

Next time I make this recipe, I will definitely grill the pork tenderloin for an added layer of smokey flavor. Also, I will triple the barbecue sauce recipe. Having a container of it on hand for slathering on chicken and even salmon would be nice. If you will be roasting the pork in the oven, make sure to line the baking sheet with foil. The baked-on sauce will reek havoc and you will end up throwing the baking sheet out instead of trying to chisel off the black gook.



Let's hope for warm temperatures and sunny skies for this weekend. Fire up the grill!


Ginger Honey Barbecued Pork Tenderloin

The pork tenderloin can be grilled instead of roasting in the oven. Grill until the internal temperature is between 135 and 140 degrees. Watch for flare ups. The sauce will burn because of the sugar content.

serves 5

olive oil
2 pork tenderloins, about 2 pounds total weight
Chinese 5-Spice seasoning
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.

To prepare the ginger barbecue sauce, in a small saucepan combine honey, teriyaki sauce, barbecue sauce, ground ginger, and garlic powder. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 - 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Set aside.

Heat a large saute pan to medium high and add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Season tenderloins with the Chinese 5-Spice. Brown on all sides in the saute pan. Place tenderloin on the foil lined baking sheet. Brush the tenderloin with some of the ginger barbecue sauce. Roast tenderloins in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until a thermometer registers about 135 - 140 degrees. Remove from oven, place on a cutting board and tent with foil. Let pork rest for about 10 minutes.

To serve pork, slice into medallions about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick and drizzle with the remaining barbecue sauce.

Print recipe