Cookbook # 21 - Pig: King of the Southern Table
I suppose it was inevitable that I would eventually attempt to cook something from one of my cookbooks and end up with an inedible mess. I just wasn’t expecting Pig: King of the Southern Table (James Villas, 2010) to be where it happened, since it’s well-reviewed and relatively recent.
I attempted Deep-Fried Marinated Pork Nuggets, partly because I had pork tenderloin already in the freezer from my last Costco run and partly because it was it was more summery than most of the recipes that appealed to me—Baked Pork Chops With Spiced Applesauce Glaze, for example, didn’t really appeal on an 80-degree June day. We do have air conditioning, unlike a lot of Seattle folks, but still.
Anyway, I thought as I was preparing the marinade last night that it was awfully heavy on the soy sauce, but I’m trying to follow the recipes as written, especially with such a well-reviewed and recent cookbook, so I just went for it. And OMG. Complete salt lick. You couldn’t even taste the pork—it was like eating meat-textured salt with a faint hint of soy flavor. So my pork nuggets are in the compost bin, the noodle and vegetable stir fry I was planning to accompany it will find another use in the next few days, and our sandwich order is on the way via DoorDash.
That said, I do like the basic technique. There’s more tenderloin in the freezer, so I might try it with a less salty marinade, like, you know, a basic pork BRINE.
Deep-Fried Marinated Pork Nuggets
1 c. soy sauce
1 c. dry sherry
1 garlic clove, minced
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp dry mustard
1 1 ½ pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 c. all-purpose flour
salt to taste
3 c. peanut oil
In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, sherry, garlic, pepper, and mustard and whisk till well blended. Add the pork, stir well, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Dredge the pork nuggets in the flour, shaking off the excess, and place on a large plate.
In a deep fryer or deep cast-iron skillet, heat oil to 350 F. Deep-fry the nuggets in batches till golden, about 10 minutes, and drain on paper towels.