LOIN SERVES 6 TO 8 AS A MAIN COURSE, 10 TO 12 AS PART OF A MULTICOURSE MEAL; CHOPS SERVE 6 AS A MAIN COURSE
This is one of the world’s great cold cuts—a savory, moist loin of pork imbued with the flavors of soy sauce and serrano chilis and topped with the tart and dusky flavors of roasted pasilla pepper sauce. It is cross-cultural at its core, leaning equidistant between Beijing and Santa Fe!
Brining, marinating, and then roasting the meat is a simple business that needs, ideally, three days. The sauce should be blended shortly before serving, though the peppers can be roasted ahead. For a weekend party, it would be hard to find a better dish.
Brining meat by submerging it in a seasoned liquid and letting it cure for several days in the refrigerator is a spectacular (and simple!) method used by many chefs to tenderize and season meat. It is easily replicated at home, either with a whole untrimmed pork loin (the ideal) or extra-thick pork chops with the fat left on (good, but second best). If you truly love the flavor range pork offers and are fascinated, as I am, by the alchemy of cooking, then brining is a technique you must try.
Pork brined in this manner likes a thin, protective layer of fat. Warn your butcher in advance so he or she doesn’t denude your meat before you pick it up.
1 untrimmed boneless pork loin (2½ to 3 pounds) or 3½ to 4 pounds extra-thick pork chops with fat left on
BRINE:
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
Finely pared zest of ½ scrubbed orange
2 quarter-size pieces cassia bark or 1 (2-inch) cinnamon stick, crumbled
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon white peppercorns
1½ teaspoons Szechwan peppercorns
2 whole star anise, broken into their 16 points
5 quarter-size coins fresh ginger, smashed
1½ teaspoons dried red chili flakes
2 large cloves garlic, smashed
2 large green serrano chilis, finely minced
⅔ cup soy sauce
⅔ cup Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
¼ cup corn or peanut oil
2 teaspoons China Moon Hot Chili Oil (page 10) or China Moon Chili-Orange Oil (page 15)
2 teaspoons Chinese chili sauce
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
2 to 3 teaspoons corn or peanut oil, for searing
PASILLA PEPPER SAUCE:
2½ cups packed spinach leaves
4 large pasilla chilis, roasted (page 197)
¼ cup packed coriander sprigs
½ teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
½ teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Serrano-Lemongrass Vinegar (page 19)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup rice bran, corn, or peanut oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
If a whole pork loin seems overwhelming, you can use pork chops instead. Buy thick chops, ideally with a hem of fat left on. Brine them for 1 day. Trim off the fat and remove the bone. Marinate, refrigerated, for 8 to 12 hours. Sear and roast as for the loin; however, adjust the timing to the thickness of the chops.
1. For a whole loin of pork, trim away excess fat, leaving a ¼-inch-thick protective layer. With the sharp tip of a boning knife or other small thin blade, carefully separate the slim tenderloin muscle from the side of the larger loin. Cut the loin crosswise in half. For pork chops, see note above left.
2. To brine the pork, combine all of the brine ingredients through the chili flakes with 2 cups water in a non-aluminum saucepan. Heat until the salt and sugar dissolve, stirring occasionally. Set aside to let the mixture cool.
3. Place the pork in a stainless-steel, plastic, or glass container deep enough to hold the pork and still have at least a few inches of room above it. Pour the brine mixture over the pork and add enough cool water to cover. Swish the mixture gently to evenly distribute the seasonings. Cover and refrigerate the narrow tenderloin for 1 day, then remove it from the brine, cover, and refrigerate separately. The 2 large loin pieces are tastiest if left in the brine for 2 days.
4. At the end of the brining time, remove the pork; discard the brine. Pick off any spices that cling to the meat. Trim all 3 pieces of the pork of any extraneous fat and all tough silvery sinew. Trim with care so that the clean muscle is smooth, not ragged.
5. In a bowl, blend all of the marinade ingredients. Scrape the mixture over the pork and massage well into the meat. Seal and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. Turn the meat once or twice to redistribute the marinade. Let come to room temperature before cooking. Drain and discard the marinade.
6. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Move an oven rack to the top third of the oven.
7. To sear the pork, heat a wok or large heavy skillet over high heat until hot enough to evaporate a bead of water on contact. Add 1 teaspoon of the oil and swirl to glaze the pan. When nearly smoking, add the slender pork tenderloin and sear until golden brown on all sides, 1 minute or less. Remove the tenderloin to a flat rack set in a shallow roasting pan. Wipe the pan clean and repeat the searing process one by one with the 2 hefty loin pieces. Be sure the oil is nearly smoking before adding the meat. Also, turn it with tongs (not a fork) so that you don’t pierce it and lose the juices. Each of the larger loin pieces require about 2 minutes to sear. Put the seared loin pieces on the roasting rack without crowding.
8. Roast the pork until an instant-read thermometer registers 140°F when thrust into the center of the thickest portion of each piece, 5 to 10 minutes for the tenderloin, 15 to 20 minutes for the heftier loin pieces. (Timing will differ depending on the depth of the sear.) Check the temperature often so you do not overcook the pork. As each piece is done, transfer it to a rack to cool.
9. Meanwhile, blanch the spinach for the sauce for 5 seconds in rapidly boiling water. Plunge into ice water to chill. Drain well, then squeeze out all excess water.
10. Shortly before serving, complete the sauce: In a food processor, process the roasted peppers and spinach until chunky. Add all of the other pepper sauce ingredients and process until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Seal until ready to use with a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the sauce to preserve its color.
11. Serve the pork tepid or at room temperature, thinly sliced against the grain. Fan the slices prettily and spoon generous amounts of the sauce on top.
MENU SUGGESTIONS: The sliced, room-temperature pork loin with its piquant green sauce appears on many of our Peking Antipasto plates. One favorite combo includes Pan-Fried Scallion-Chive Breads (page 382), Dragon Noodles (page 391), and Turmeric Tomatoes (page 59). Other happy partners to the pork are Wok-Seared New Potatoes (page 424) and a salad of baby greens dressed with either of our vinaigrettes.
Whether you are roasting pork, beef, or lamb in China Moon style, there are several tools that will help you to do it both safely and well:
An instant-read thermometer is the most important tool for this job. It takes the guesswork out of roasting. A nifty gadget with a delicate spoke and a tiny dial, it is often clipped to a chef’s jacket, ready to be pulled out and poked into a slab of this or that. The spoke should be thrust well into the center of the thickest part of the muscle that is being roasted. The dial will record within several seconds the internal temperature of the meat. Particularly in the case of pork, a correct reading of the temperature is crucial to the final flavor, moistness, and healthfulness of the meat.
Larger, old-fashioned meat thermometers are not a good substitute for the instant-read variety. Not only are they slower and perhaps less accurate, but their thick spokes (as opposed to the very thin ones on the instant read thermometer) rob the meat of juice.
For clearest, easiest reading, pull the meat from the oven (and close the oven door behind you), in order to take its temperature. Especially for home cooks who do it rarely, this allows an extra minute to do the job well.
A flat rack for roasting the meat, with a baking sheet or jelly roll pan set underneath it to catch the juices, is also important. This setup allows the heat to circulate evenly around the meat and keeps the meat from stewing in its own juice.
Finally, a pair of kitchen tongs is very helpful for moving the meat about. They won’t pierce the muscle and rob it of moisture, and they make grabbing a big hunk of hot meat a whole lot easier.