Makes 4 servings
Pork tenderloin should be called “the cook’s best friend.” It can be braised or roasted, sliced into cutlets and pan-seared or cut into cubes, as it is here, and quickly skillet-cooked in a sauce that’s got more complexity and flavor than you’d expect from anything this easy. The sauce, which lightly coats the meat, gets its creaminess from a small amount of tahini and its sophisticated flavor from spices most closely associated with North Africa. Because of the tahini, a paste made of ground sesame seeds, I like to finish the dish with a sprinkling of the same seeds.
If you don’t have tahini in your cupboard, you can use an equal amount of creamy peanut butter and, if you’d like, finish the dish with chopped peanuts instead of sesame seeds.
Sautéed spinach is delicious with this.
Stir together the harissa or chile powder, ginger, cumin, turmeric and salt to blend. Toss the pork with the spices, coating all sides.
Mix the tahini with 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The tahini will thicken, and that’s fine.
Warm the olive oil in a large skillet — I like nonstick for this — over medium heat. Add the pork cubes and cook for a minute or so, just to brown them on all sides. Pour in the honey, stir to coat the meat and cook for 1 minute. Add the vinegar, quickly followed by the water, and stir to deglaze the pan, picking up whatever bits have stuck to the pan. Lower the heat, stir in the tahini mix and cook for a few minutes until the sauce is smooth and the pork is cooked through. Remove from the heat, stir in the remaining lemon juice, taste for salt and season with pepper.
Turn the pork out onto a serving platter and sprinkle with the cilantro and sesame seeds.
Storing: While you can keep any leftovers in the refrigerator overnight and reheat them gently the next day, the dish is really best just-made.