Szechuan Pepper Pork with Pickled Cucumber

Recipe 18 of my weekly(ish) series, Eat Right on Monday Night.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 264 not including rice (SERVES 4)

I don’t eat much pork, but when I do, it’s usually pork tenderloin/fillet. It’s a very lean cut and is beautifully tender. You can eat it slightly pink - it still needs to be cooked through, so think medium, not medium rare! I usually roast the fillet whole in the oven (takes about 25 minutes,) but here I’ve sliced it into medallions first before pan-frying to make more surface available for the lovely Szechuan Pepper marinade. If lean protein is your thing, then this is a very tasty way to eat it; one serving contains 33 g of protein.

PREP TIME: 20 mins

COOKING TIME: 10 mins

INGREDIENTS:

• 500g pork fillet/tenderloin

• 1 tbsp neutral oil (I use cold-pressed rapeseed oil)

For the pickled cucumber

• ½ a large cucumber, halved, deseeded and sliced into crescents

• 2 dill fronds, chopped

• 100ml rice vinegar

• 1 tsp runny honey

• A pinch of salt

For the pork marinade

• 1 tbsp sesame oil

• 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry)

• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 1 tsp runny honey

• 2 tsp ground Szechuan pepper (or use 1 tsp ground coriander and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper)

• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

METHOD:

First, prepare the pickled cucumber by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and then transferring it to the fridge to chill.

Slice the pork tenderloin into eight thick medallions.

Then make the marinade by placing all the ingredients in a large bowl and mixing well. Place the pork medallions in the bowl, and stir, ensuring they are well-coated.

Heat a large frying pan and add 1 tbsp neutral oil. Sear the medallions for 3 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and allow to rest for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, add 150ml of water to the marinating bowl and mix with the remaining marinade. Pour the mixture back into the frying pan, reduce the heat, and return the pork and any excess juices to the pan. Cook for an additional 4 minutes, turning once. Slice into one of the pork pieces to check it is cooked before serving - it should be juicy and have a pinkish tinge, but you don’t want it to have any rawness in the middle.

Serve immediately with the juices from the pan poured over and the pickled cucumber on the side.

Serving idea: I served this with some herby rice - mint, coriander, and flat-leaf parsley chopped up and mixed through basmati rice.