What to do with a whole pork loin?

[Malkavian]

So typically when I find myself with a whole loin (as happens from time to time) I basically cut it into quarters or fifths, and cut one or two pieces into thick chops, and use the rest as decent sized roasts; if I've access to a smoker one piece may go on there, etc etc......at any rate nothing fancy at all.

I'm thinking to try something different that doesnt involve just chops or a roast, but so far I'm drawing a blank--- for me creativity is usually in the marinate or rub with this sort of thing.

[annecros]

Grind some for burgers, and grill.

Stir fry, lot's of asian applications.

Chili verde.

[jsolomon]

Sounds like your pork needs a cure...

Make sausage, or back bacon.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Barbecue! People have told me it's a waste of the loin cut, but I don't agree. I rub with bbq spice & roast, then pull it. A whole loin doesn't go far here, considering the number of people I feed every weekend, but it's enough for sandwiches and several bbq pizzas. Mmm.

The other night I took a big half loin, cut it into chunky cubes, coated them with egg & cornstarch, then fried them and served with a garlic-orange sauce. My husband, daughter, brother and I demolished it all in one sitting.

I also second the chili verde idea... pork is wonderful in place of beef in lots of spicy dishes. My Puerto Rican friend challenged me to make pasteles once for him, and while those were a lot of work, they were really amazing, too...

Oh, I also like to split, flatten, and make roulades with smaller loins.

Can you tell I'm a pork fan?

[annecros]

The other night I took a big half loin, cut it into chunky cubes, coated them with egg & cornstarch, then fried them and served with a garlic-orange sauce.  My husband, daughter, brother and I demolished it all in one sitting.

Can you tell I'm a pork fan? 

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Hello Sunny,

Pork fan here as well. You have my curiosity, and salivary glands, going now.

I have quite a bit of a leftover fresh ham I smoked for New Years, and this sounds good to me.

I am guessing you coated the pork in a batter made with egg, cornstarch and oil then shallow fried, or did you stir fry? Also, was the garlic-orange sauce sort of a sweet and sour or Hoisin kind of thing? I have fresh broccoli I need to use up, in addition to the leftover pork, and this sounds good to me. I also have citrus, ginger, green onions and garlic.

Thanks in advance,

Anne

[jayt90]

Sounds like your pork needs a cure...

Make sausage, or back bacon.

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Sausage from a loin?

But some of those loin roasts would be good brined and cured in the fridge for a few days, then rolled in peameal and sliced thick for breakfast or lunch.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Hey Anne,

Sounds like you have the stuff to make a similar type of sauce. My recipe for it is on my <a href="http://www.homewitch.net">food blog</a>.

As for the batter/breading, I just tossed barely egg-coated pork cubes with plain cornstarch. I never thought of using cornstarch instead of flour until recently I ran across a recipe that called for it, and suddenly my "fried" meats are a lot more like the kind we've had in restaurants that we've loved. The cubes came out delightfully light & crispy. I wondered about putting some seasoning in the cornstarch, but as it turned out, I'm glad I didn't, because it was about perfect, especially with the sauce. We did eat about twenty pieces, I'd say, out of hand before the whole dish was assembled!

Have fun!

[annecros]

Perfect, answered all my questions and I do have everything I need already on hand to do something in the neighborhood! Thanks again Sunny, and nice blog.

Will let you know how it comes out.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Perfect, answered all my questions and I do have everything I need already on hand to do something in the neighborhood! Thanks again Sunny, and nice blog.

Will let you know how it comes out.

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I can't wait to see how you work with this idea. (That is, truth be told, one of the most amazing things about this forum... the stunning creativity and originality!) And I'm sure you could take better pictures than I did. *grin*

[Davydd]

I know what I would do with a pork loin. Pound it, bread it and deep fry it.

[rama]

if I've access to a smoker one piece may go on there

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How does that turn out?

I avoid low-and-slow type cooking when you're talking about a piece of meat as lean as a loin-- my preference would be a brine, dry rub, then quick sear on the grill to leave the middle rare.

[Malkavian]

How does that turn out?

I avoid low-and-slow type cooking when you're talking about a piece of meat as lean as a loin-- my preference would be a brine, dry rub, then quick sear on the grill to leave the middle rare.

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It turned out surprisingly well; I was of the opinion that it would be way too dry, but by some fortune it turned into good pulled pork. It WAS dry, but not excesively so, and being from NC I'm accustomed to 'wet' barbecue anyway, so the sauce mitigated that somewhat. I also believe we didn't smoke all day as one would do a shoulder, so the shorter time probably helped as well (sorry for all the vagueness! I'm verry much a 'wing it' type of barbecue-er)

[annecros]

Perfect, answered all my questions and I do have everything I need already on hand to do something in the neighborhood! Thanks again Sunny, and nice blog.

Will let you know how it comes out.

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I can't wait to see how you work with this idea. (That is, truth be told, one of the most amazing things about this forum... the stunning creativity and originality!) And I'm sure you could take better pictures than I did. *grin*

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My Hubby takes the pictures in this house!

So here it is, a great way to use pork loin, "Sunny Pork"

The only changes I made to your sauce was I had some oranges laying around and juiced them up, and I used red pepper infused vinegar and dried pepper I had in the cabinet. I also subbed honey for molasses.

I ran out of constarch, like a dummy, so used half wondra (instant flour), but can't wait to try with all cornstarch. Next time, I will use fresh pork instead of the leftover smoked pork. Or if I do use leftover smoked pork, I will just stir fry along with the veg. The pork was still nice and light, and surprisingly not overcooked, but lost all the smokiness. We had an 11 pound fresh ham we smoked New Year's, and were getting tired of it, so this was a nice change of pace from all the heavy stuff over the holidays.

It has been hot, too! 83 degrees here today. I bring in the hibiscus blooms at the end of the day when they are especially pretty, because they only last one day anyway and I can enjoy them a little longer. Hubby said that if a hibiscus had a scent, that this bloom would smell like that sauce cooking.

So Sunny, thank you. He ate three plates, I had two.

Edited January 7, 2007 by annecros (log)

[Norman Walsh]

The loin makes great bacon.

I use a bacon cure named Instapic, mixed with demerara sugar and rubbed into the loin. Then into the fridg for 3 days.

Now you have bacon like bacon used to be.

Norman

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

So here it is, a great way to use pork loin, "Sunny Pork"

So Sunny, thank you. He ate three plates, I had two.

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Wow, yours is a lot prettier than mine was! *grin* I'm glad you liked it... as I said, we snarfed the entire half loin at my house in one sitting, too.

Funny about the hibiscus scent comment; my first thought was, "But it *did* smell like hibiscus..." Only I was remembering my house in FL where we had tons of those, along with tons of orange trees, which was probably what I was smelling and remembering!

[andiesenji]

You could also prepare the loin with a jacket

like this, which makes it self-basting.

and you do not end up with a dry chunk of pork.

[menon1971]

How about with jerk paste. You can then grill it, or even easier, roast in the oven at 375F.

Here is my recipie for the paste:

Wet Ingredients

5-6 Scotch Bonnets or 2-3 Habenero, roughly chopped (stem removed with core and most seeds)

10 scallions, roughly chopped

juice of one lemon

4-6 sprigs of fresh thyme (leaves only) - or 1 1/2 Tbs. Dried thyme

2 tsp. olive oil

5 oz. Raisins (3/4 cup) - or other dried fruit like apricot

Dry Ingredients

1 tsp. paprika

½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground ginger (1 tsp. if fresh)

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbs. whole allspice (heated in skillet and then ground in a mortar and pestle, spice grinder or coffee grinder)

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. granulated garlic

2 tsp. dried onion

Just mix it all together and rub it on.

[NoEggs]

Cut it into cubes and use this Souvlaki recipe from AllRecipes.com.

This is one of my favorite recipes! So simple but so good. I don't do the whole skewer thing...I just grill the cubed pork.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Souvlaki/Detail.aspx

Wanted to add I usually double the marinade but not quite double the oil. Trying to save a few calories!

Edited January 8, 2007 by NoEggs (log)