Roasted Sesame Pork Tenderloin

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If there is any cookbook that I could see myself spending a year (or quite possibly years) cooking my way through a la the film Julia and Julia (a fictional account of a woman cooking her way through Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”) it would be the classic “Joy of Cooking” by Irma Rombauer, Marion Rombauer and Ethan Becker. This was probably the first cookbook I owned, if not the second, and it is a dense collection of classic, no-nonsense, tried and true recipes. There are no photographs and only the occasional illustration to show the cook, for example, what a leek might look like. But each and every recipe is one that you can confidently prepare for the first time for an audience, knowing that it will hit the mark.

A fully revised version of “Joy of Cooking” has been recently released, boasting 600 new recipes and more than 4,000 favorites revised and updated. If my husband is reading carefully…I would be excited to curl up with this on Christmas morning. Doesn’t everyone drop gift hints in public blog posts?

But back to my current well-loved copy, the recipe that my book’s red ribbon bookmark lives on is that for Roasted Sesame Pork Tenderloin. I have been making this exact version for literally decades and it always delivers, juicy, delicious meat. The longer you marinate it, the better, but the minimum of two hours still works just fine. Feel free to omit the sesame seeds if you’re not feelin’ it. Enjoy!

Note: I’ve adjusted the cooking time/temperature from the original recipe because over the years conventional wisdom has shown that serving pork at a lower temperature is not only safe but delicious. I will include both directions in the recipe below so that you can do what works for you.

Roasted Sesame Pork Tenderloin
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Roasted Sesame Pork Tenderloin

Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 1/4 c soy sauce
  • 1/4 c hoisin sauce
  • 1/4 c honey
  • 2 Tbls brown sugar packed
  • 1 Tbls toasted sesame oil
  • 1 Tbls grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp garlic minced
  • 2 pork tenderloins trimmed
  • 1/2 c sesame seeds

Instructions

  • Combine all of the ingredients except the pork and sesame seeds, in a large bowl and whisk until the honey and sugar dissolve.
  • Place the tenderloins in a large, heavy ziplock bag and add the marinade. Seal the bag (removing the air) and turn to coat the meat evenly.
  • Place marinating pork in the refrigerator for at least two hours or up to 24 hours.
  • Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 500F.
  • Spread sesame seeds on a plate.
  • Remove meat from marinade, drain off the excess and roll in the sesame seeds to coat.
  • Remove to a rack in a shallow baking pan and rest the tenderloins until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat reads 140F (check meat at 12-15 minutes). The temperature will continue to rise out of the oven. Note: Original recipe instructs you to cook until 150-155F (20-25 minutes)–too long in my opinion.
  • Let pork stand for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
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