Saucy Asian Pork Tenderloin
Jackpot! Saucy Asian Pork Tenderloin in the Crockpot!
Saucy Asian Pork Tenderloin?!? How much better can it get? I love the crock pot (or slow cooker or crockpot – whatever name works for you!) and I love pork tenderloin (it’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s the other white meat!) I love Asian food so much that lunch pretty much every Saturday is Chinese take out. So this recipe is a total jackpot.
A lot of recipes that I look at for Asian inspired meals say they’re easier and faster than takeout. Then you look at the recipe list and realize you’re going to have to take out a loan to cover all the items you need. So it might be easy but takeout would be way, way cheaper. This recipe only has six ingredients, and I’m willing to bet most are in your pantry.
If you’ve read any of my crockpot recipes, you know I am NOT a fan of precooking, and I don’t do it here either. The only prep you need to do is a little trimming on the pork tenderloin before you plop it in the slow cooker.
The glorious slow cooker. I love mine – there’s another recipe chugging away in my favorite crock pot in the kitchen right now. And I don’t think that there is ever a bad season to use one – winter time might be the first thing that comes to mind, but keeping the kitchen cool during the summer is a special talent of the crockpot.
If you don’t have a crock pot, it’s a glorious time to get one!
Unless you want one that’s brown. I couldn’t find even ONE of those.
Asian Pork Tenderloin is another dump and go recipe. “Cook the Story” has a good little tutorial on How to Trim Pork Tenderloin if you want a guide. Remove the silver skin from the pork, and put it in a sprayed slow cooker.
I’m not too picky about a little bit of fat – it adds flavor, but you can take off all of it if you like. Then stir together the marinade in a small bowl.
You can combine the ingredients in the crock pot first, instead, then add the pork tenderloin.
I usually turn the Asian Pork Tenderloin over about halfway through cooking to make sure it gets flavor throughout.
Once it’s cooked through, remove it from the marinade/sauce and add the cornstarch/water mixture to the crock pot. Turn the crock pot to high and let it cook until it thickens, about 15 minutes. If you don’t want to wait, you can pour the marinade in a small saucepan and add the cornstarch/water mixture over medium high heat. It should take just a few minutes to thicken up.
Add sauce and sprinkle with some garnish as desired.
We like it served with rice – I went all out and made fried veggie rice while the sauce was thickening. (Leftover rice, sauteed onion, carrots, peas and a couple dashes of soy sauce.) But Asian Peanut Noodles would be great too.
Asian Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 2 each Pork Tenderloin (about 1#'s to 1-1/4#'s each)
- 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
- 1/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Powdered Ginger
- 1 tbsp Corn starch
- Green Onions for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- Spray crock pot with cooking spray, and turn on high heat. Add pork tenderloin to slow cooker.
- Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in small bowl, and pour over tenderloin.
- Cook on high heat for 4-5 hours, or low heat for 6-8 hours, until meat thermometer inserted into pork center reaches 160 degrees.
- Remove pork from pot to cool before slicing. Mix cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water. Add to crock pot, cover and turn to high heat. Allow sauce to come to a bubble and thicken, about 15 minutes. Serve sliced pork with sauce spooned over top.
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