Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

What to do with a whole pork loin?


Malkavian

Recommended Posts

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like your pork needs a cure...

Make sausage, or back bacon.

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?  :)

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like your pork needs a cure...

Make sausage, or back bacon.

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

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*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Davydd

It is just an Anglicized Welsh spelling for David to celebrate my English/Welsh ancestry. The Welsh have no "v" in their alphabet or it would be spelled Dafydd.

I must warn you. My passion is the Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

Now blogging: Pork Tenderloin Sandwich Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

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)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

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*

My Hubby takes the pictures in this house!

:biggrin:

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

gallery_39581_4082_87272.jpg

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.

gallery_39581_4082_132796.jpg

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

Edited by annecros (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

gallery_39581_4082_87272.jpg

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

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!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 by NoEggs (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...