As some of our more unique bizarre recipes often come about, this one all started with me digging through the very back of the pantry and finding an ingredient we bought a long time ago and never used. In this case, that ingredient is Matcha, which is a Japanese style stone ground green tea powder. Knowing Assuming it would have a green tea flavour, we decided to build around that and began by asking ourselves, “What traditionally do people put in green tea?” Of course, we came up with honey and cream. Then, for our own amusement, we added some fresh Ginger to the mix, and by the end, we had a sauce going! It played very nicely with the subtle sweetness of the Grilled Pork, and we highly suggest giving this one a try if you ever find yourself with an abundance of Matcha.
Since we’d stopped at a farm stand and picked up some exceedingly fresh produce earlier in the day, we served this with Grilled Corn (Version 2, specifically…recipe coming soon) and Grilled Zucchini. However, next time we make this, we will probably serve it over white rice or mashed potatoes so the sauce can soak in and shine even brighter!
Time: 45 Minutes
Ingredients:
- For the Pork
- Pork Tenderloin
- Salt
- Olive Oil
- For the Sauce
- 1/4-1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Matcha Powder
- Freshly Grated Ginger (microplane grater works best) or Ginger Paste
- 1-2 Teaspoons Honey
Method:
- Pat your pork tenderloin dry, and then give it a quick salt sprinkle on all sides. Let sit for about 15-30 minutes.
- Heat your grill. When the grill is nice and hot, give your pork a quick olive oil spray on all sides, and place your tenderloin on the grill.
- Cook for about 5 minutes per side (20 minutes in total), flipping as time expires on each side. When your pork reaches a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F, and you’ve got nice charring all the way around, remove from the grill.
- As your pork cooks, combine all of your sauce ingredients into a saucepan, and let them just sit together and blend flavours while your pork finishes on the grill.
- When your pork is done, remove from the grill, and let sit for 3-5 minutes on a cutting board.
- As your pork sits, bring your sauce to a simmer, and whisk it constantly. The colour change as the Matcha dissolves is quite a sight to behold.
- When your sauce is a vibrant green and has thickened a little, you’re good!
- Slice your pork, plate, drizzle with sauce, devour, and enjoy!
