A sweet and sour pork tenderloin roast, cooked to rosy pink perfection in less than half an hour, complete with a sauce with huge flavour.

Sweet and Sour Pork Roast.
Growing up sweet and sour pork meant one thing, a really astringent and sweet, lurid sauce with deep fried pork balls.
Now I am not entirely sure that I ever really liked it but I do adore sweet and sour dishes and this recipe is my third take on sweet and sour pork.
Of course I have sweet and sour pork balls, although they contain much more pork than the batter heavy options I remember growing up.
Then I turned my attention to sweet and sour pork chops. Complete with a majestic pineapple ring, don’t look at me like that!
This sideways glance at Chinese sweet and sour pork uses one of my favourite cuts of meat. Pork Tenderloin or fillet and roasts it in the oven with red peppers and onions in a rich a sticky sweet and sour sauce.
All told it will take you around 30 minutes to cook.
It is also arguably the healthiest my sweet and sour pork recipes are gonna get! It is not fried and uses the leanest cut of pork!

Ingredient Advice.
Most of the ingredients here should be easy to source without comment.
However, the centrepiece of this dish is the pork tenderloin. A cut of meat that features in dishes as diverse as my Char Siu Pork through to my roast pork tenderloin with apricots.
A piece of meat that I believe should be served rosy pink because it is very lean and very tender. Overcooking it turns it chewy and hides some of its very gentle pork flavour.
This will typically take between 12 and 15 minutes in a hot oven depending on the size of the loin.
I aim for an internal temperature of 57-58°C, which is around 135°F for those who work that way.
Then leave to rest before slicing into medallions, do not skip the resting it plays a huge part!
After 3-5 minutes of resting the pork will reach and hold a temperature of around 63°C (145°F). This is within the safe temperature zone for pork.
A 350-400g piece of tenderloin is perfect for 2. If you want 4-6-8 it is so simple to add more as you go.
This means you can scale this recipe whilst adding no additional cooking time!

Serving Suggestions.
This sweet and sour pork tenderloin is shown here with a simple egg fried rice.
But it is superb with a host of stir fried vegetables.
My stir-fried broccoli would be great in Autumn and stir-fried asparagus makes an amazing side in spring.
I also confess to being rather partial to serving this recipe with some simple crispy fried potatoes.
It is equally as good with some simple soy sauce noodles!

Sweet and Sour Roast Pork Tenderloin With Egg Fried Rice
This sweet and sour pork tenderloin roast is quick, simple and comes with a deliciously dark, rich and bold, sweet & sour sauce.
Ingredients
- 400 g Pork Tenderloin
- 1 Red Pepper
- 150 g (1 Cup) Baby Onions
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Tsp Chinese 5 Spice
- 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Rice Wine
- 50 ml (3 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Rice Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup
- 1 Tsp Cooking Oil
- 1 Tsp Cornflour
- 1 Tsp Water
- 75 ml Boiling Water
Instructions
- Mix together the brown sugar, soy sauces, rice wine, vinegar, and tomato ketchup and set aside.
- Cut the pepper into 1cm thick strips.
- Top and tail the small onions and cut into quarters.
- Chop the garlic as finely as you can.
- Dust the pork tenderloin with the Chinese 5 spice then place it on a roasting tray.
- Heat a frying pan or wok over a high heat and when hot add the oil.
- Stir fry the onion, garlic, and pepper for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sauce we created and cook for 1 minute.
- Pour this over the pork tenderloin and roll it around to coat it.
- Transfer to the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes at 220°C or 450°F.
- Remove and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing into medallions.
- Mix together the cornflour and water.
- Whilst the pork is resting place the roasting tin on the heat leaving the veggie in the tray.
- When hot add the boiling water and deglaze the pan.
- Pour in the cornflour slurry and stir to thicken for 60 seconds.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 495Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 146mgSodium: 1267mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 2gSugar: 15gProtein: 55g
Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.
Jean
Thursday 14th of June 2018
Using that onion as your sauce holder is clever and looks beautiful.
Brian Jones
Friday 15th of June 2018
Thanks Jean, it just kinda happened by accident but was struck by it too :D
Jeff
Tuesday 23rd of January 2018
Pork loin - it's a beautiful cut of meat. And very easy to cook. And so delicious and versatile. You can do so much with it. I also cook it to about the same temperature you do. Your sweet and sour version looks absolutely delicious.
Brian Jones
Thursday 25th of January 2018
Cheers Jeff, such a great piece of meat for a quick dinner, so simple and easy to cook.
Marcellina
Monday 22nd of January 2018
I love pork tenderloin too and I must admit that if it’s over cooked it can be quite dry. Yours looks fantastic!
Brian Jones
Tuesday 23rd of January 2018
Thank you!
Tiffany
Friday 19th of January 2018
I don't think I've ever cooked with bamboo shoots but now I'm intrigued! This looks amazing!!
Brian Jones
Monday 22nd of January 2018
You should definitely hunt some down :)
Leslie
Friday 19th of January 2018
This is the kind of meal the whole family enjoys! I'm obsessed with pork tenderloin, too.
Brian Jones
Monday 22nd of January 2018
Thanks Leslie.