Japanese Pork Tenderloin

3 lbs Pork Tenderloin
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 cup Shoyu
1/2 cup Sake
10 tbsp Mirin
2 Limes, sliced thin
To Taste Salt

Rub pork with crushed garlic and salt, and leave for 15 minutes.

Roast the pork @ 350-400 until desired doneness is achieved.

Meanwhile, stir together shoyu, sake, mirin, and lime slices in a container that is large enough to hold the pork. When the meat is cooked, immediately put it in the sauce, and leave it to marinade for at least 2 hours, but overnight is best.

Remove pork from the marinade and wipe it with paper towel. Slice it in the very thin sashimi style. Strain the marinade. I like to drizzle a little of it over the pork. Serve cold.

What is Shoyu and Mirin? I don't to Japanese style very often, but this looks pretty good and very different.

Hi Joe,

In traditional Japanese foods, there are 3 essential ingredients or tastes... Shoyu, Mirin and Dashi. It is the combination of these that adds subtlety and depth of flavor in traditional Japanese foods.

There are two types of traditional Soy Sauce, Shoyu and Tamari.

Shoyu is the soy sauce that is made of soybeans, roasted wheat, sea salt and koji spores. It is used to ENHANCE the existing flavors rather than impart a distinct flavor. For good brands of Shoyu, I would use Kagisa or another high quality shoyu.

Btw, Tamari is a soy sauce that is made from the liquid released when making miso. It is always wheat free and has a richer & stronger taste. It is generally used in soups or stews because it's taste will hold up over a long cooking period.

Mirin is traditional sweet rice wine. I used the Mikawa Mirin It has a mild sweetness that balances most dishes. Before the days of white sugar, mirin was the only way to sweeten Japanese food. It is great in sauces, broths and vinagrettes. Also, it is very useful in sautes and stirfries when added very late to keep it's sugar from burning. When most americans try to make Japanese food, they don't use Mirin and, subsequently, the taste is off.

While not used in this recipe, I still decided to add a little definition or description of Dashi since it is an essential ingredient in many Japanese foods.

Dashi is the traditional stock that is extensively used in Japanese cuisine. There several different versions or styles of dashi but basic is made from Konbu (seaweed), Katsubushi (dried bonito shavings) and water.

Anyway, I hope that I answered your questions and have fun with the recipe!

Spyro

Thanks for the description. Who would have thought I'd learn about the complexity of Japanese soy on a BBQ forum?

This recipe moved up to my must try list. I love pork tenderloin and I love experimentation. Now its just a matter of finding some Shoyu and Mirin. Shouldn't be too difficult. What kind of shelf life does this stuff have?

Do you use this dish as an appetizer or main course. What do you usually serve it with?

Shoyu's shelf life is about the half-life of uranium.

Mirin should be refrigerated after opening.

I use this dish as an appetizer because it is easy to prepare in advance. I recommend plenty of a good Japanese Ji-Biru (micro brew) and some Edamame.

You could always serve it with a main course of teriyaki chicken or beef, some rice and a nice salad with miso vinagrette.

Or you can serve it with another favorite of mine, Teriyaki Tri-Tip Sandwich (on a crusty french roll & topped with Asian coleslaw).