With five-spice powder and a few other complementary ingredients, you can add a world of flavour to a dish.
That’s not surprising, given that this Chinese-style, aromatic mixture blends together five bold spices — star anise, fennel seeds, Szechuan peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon.
In the summertime, I most often use five-spice powder on meats cooked on the barbecue, such as the whole pork tenderloin in today’s first recipe.
To prepare it, I brushed the pork with sesame oil, then rubbed it all over with five-spice powder.
I then set the whole pork tenderloin on my barbecue and grilled and lightly charred it until it was cooked through. To help set its juices, I let the pork rest a short while on a cutting board, before slicing and serving it with a hoisin sesame sauce.
Hoisin is a slightly sweet, mildly spicy, soybean-based mixture that I combined with soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame seeds to create a simple but tasty sauce you can drizzle on slices of the pork on the plate.
In winter months, I might serve this style of pork with piping hot fried rice. But for summer, I decided to serve it with a cool, Asian-style rice-based salad stocked with a mix of colourful vegetables.
You can make the rice salad in advance and keep it refrigerated until ready to serve with the grilled pork tenderloin.
My recipe for the pork serves three to four, depending on how much meat you desire. The rice salad recipe yields four servings. Both recipes could be doubled for a larger group.
You could also enhance the meal by serving the pork and rice salad with another side dish or two, such as Asian-style sweet-and-sour cucumber salad or a rice noodle salad.
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Hoisin Sesame Sauce
Tender pork flavoured with aromatic five-spice powder, grilled, sliced and served with a sweet and tangy sesame-seed-rich, hoisin-based sauce.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 16 to 20 minutes
Makes: three to four servings
1/2 cup hoisin sauce (see Note)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp rice vinegar, or to taste
1 (larger, about 500 gram) whole pork tenderloin, trimmed of any sinew
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp five-spice powder (see Note)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Make hoisin sesame sauce by combining hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame seeds and vinegar in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate sauce until needed for the pork. It can be made many hours before needed.
Brush the pork all over with the sesame oil. Now sprinkle and rub the pork with the five-spice powder, then season with salt and pepper. Let pork sit out at room temperature 20 minutes. While that occurs, take the sauce out of the refrigerator and let it warm, too.
To cook the pork, preheat a barbecue or indoor grill to medium-high. Set the pork on the grill and cook 16 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until just cooked through and the centre of the pork reaches 150 F on an instant-read meat thermometer and has a hint of pink.
Transfer pork to a cutting board, let rest five minutes, then thinly slice and serve with the sauce, for drizzling on the meat on the plate.
Note: I used San-J brand hoisin sauce when testing this recipe. It, and the five-spice powder, is sold at most grocery stores. Other brands of thinner hoisin sauce will also work here.
Eric’s options: If you don’t have a barbecue or indoor grill, you could roast the pork on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet in 425 F oven until just cooked through, about 25 to 30 minutes.
Asian-style Rice and Vegetable Salad
A mix of colourful vegetables dot this Asian-style rice salad flavoured with ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar and honey.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 18 minutes
Makes: four servings
1 cup long grain white rice
1 1/2 cups cold water
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp ground ginger, or 1 to 2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp sriracha or other Asian-style hot chili sauce, or to taste
1/2 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) corn kernels
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup frozen (thawed) shelled edamame, or fresh or frozen (thawed) green peas
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 medium baby bok choy, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper
Place rice and water in a small pot (my pot was six inches wide and four inches tall). Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat to its lowest setting, and cook 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Spoon and spread the rice out on a wide plate and cool to room temperature.
Combine the soy sauce, oil, vinegar, honey, ginger and sriracha in a salad bowl. Add the rice and remaining ingredients and thoroughly mix to combine. Cover and refrigerate the salad until ready to serve. It can be made many hours in advance; mix it again just before serving.
Eric’s options: Instead of regular long-grain white rice, try using a more aromatic type in this recipe, such as a jasmine or basmati. For added texture and richness, add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of unsalted, roasted cashews or peanuts, coarsely chopped.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
