Roasted Pork Loin with Miso and Asian Pear Glaze

If you haven’t decided what entrée to make for the Holiday Dinner, here’s a simple and scrumptious recipe for you.  Honestly, I’m not a big fan of turkey.  They often turn out to be on the 'dry' side rather than juicy and moist.  With that said, I still have to fine tune a turkey recipe.  But I’ll save that task for next year.  This Christmas, I’m totally all over the Oink! Oh, I mean pork.   



This Roasted Pork Loin with Miso and Asian Pear Glaze recipe is wonderful.  Not only that it’s super easy to make, it’s also very favorful.  The meat will turn out tender, juicy and moist.  Want to join me into the kitchen?  Come check it out.

First, we need to hold the pig hostage!  Tie it up so that it does not run away.  Well, actually, the kitchen twine helps the pork loin to stay in its beautiful shape after roasting.  Whatever the case is, tie it up!



Up next, keep the pig happy!  We will need some flavorful marinate to do that.  The red miso paste in this recipe is one of the star ingredients.  You might notice from my recipe below that I didn’t use a lot of salt in the marinate because both the miso paste and soy sauce will add saltiness to the meat.



Now, give that pig a mask and a massage!  Smear the marinate onto the pork loin and put it into a ziploc bag and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.  Gotta keep the pig cool!



To make this pig even happier, feed it with some Asian pears!  These pears are crisp, sweet and juicy.  Very different than the skinnier, mushy, green and red version you normally see in the markets.  If you haven’t try these Asian pears before, you need to hung them down and give them a try.  They are delicious as is, and really work wonderfully in this recipe by adding some natural sweetness to the glaze. 



When you are ready to roast, tuck the pig in along with the Aisan pears, onions and chicken stocks.  Let the pig get its beauty sleep in the oven.  Well, more like a nap, I should say.  I have a 3 1/2 pound pork loin and took me 60 minutes to cook.  Make sure a meat thermometer reads 145 degree F when inserted at the thickest part of the meat. 



The whole house smells wonderful when it’s roasting.  When it’s ready to get out of the oven, I couldn’t help but inhaled deeply before I take the whole dish out.  It’s amazing how scrumptious it is.  See how beautiful the pig turns out after its beauty nap?



Let the loin rest on the chopping board covered with a foil for at least 3 minutes.  Now, the pig is happy, relax and satisfy.  You can untie it and serve.  It’s not going anywhere except to your tummy.  And you’ll be one happy camper, or kidnapper.



I reduce the sauce a little and add another tablespoon of miso paste to finish off the glaze/gravy.  These pork loin are wonderful over rice, noodle, or mash potatoes, whatever you prefer.  After I finished my plate, I wanted my beauty nap too!



I’m sharing this recipe with Kitchen PLAY this month.  The National Pork Board is also sponsoring a delicious giveaway at Kitchen PLAY.  All qualifying bloggers in each course will be entered to win a National Pork Board prize.  If you’re joining in the fun, please review the complete contest rules before entering.  Good luck!








Roasted Pork Loin with Miso and Asian Pear Glaze
(Printable Recipe)


Ingredients:

3 ½ pound pork loin
1 large Asian Pear (Korean Pear), cored and cut into small chunks
1 small onion, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon red miso paste

Marinate ingredients:

1/4 cup red miso paste
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Shao Hsing Rice Cooking Wine
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and split in half
2-inch fresh ginger root, peeled and cut into small chunks
3 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon white ground pepper

In the bowl of a small food processor, ground all the marinate ingredients until it’s a smooth paste.
Tide the pork with a kitchen twine so the pork remain its shape after baking. Place the pork in a large zip log bag with marinate paste. Squeeze out excess air in the bag and close the zip. Move the pork and marinate around so all surface of the pork is covered with marinates. Place the bag in a container and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven at 350 degree F. Place pork loin along with all marinate onto a large glass baking dish (mine is 8 by 10 by 2-inch). Arrange Asian pear and onion on the sides of the pork. Pour chicken stocks onto the pork. Bake for 60 to 70 minute or until a meat thermometer reads 145 degree F in the thickest part of the loin.

Remove loin onto a cutting board and cover with foil to rest for at least 3 minutes. Meanwhile, transfer sauces, pears and onion from baking dish to a small sauce pan and cook on high heat. Reduce the liquid by 1/2. Stir in a tablespoon of red miso paste, to taste. Then, puree reduced stock, pear and onion until smooth.

Cut pork loin into desired thickness, about 1/2 to 3/4-inch. Drizzle gravy/glaze over pork and serve over rice.


This recipe is shared with:

Foodie Friday
Fresh Bite Friday
Full Plate Thursday

Ohshima—Restaurant Review

[Warning: If you're not comfortable seeing live or whole seafood ingredients: including heads and tails, you might want to click away now.  Otherwise, keep on reading for some good eats.]




I used to live just 15 minutes away from a Japanese community in Los Angeles and pretty much surrounded by authentic Japanese restaurants.  After moving to the Orange county, I haven’t really had Japanese food until my visit to Ohshima.  Ohshima offers a wide variety of Japanese cuisine, both cooked and raw, a full menu from appetizers to desserts.  But if you plan to dine at this place, “Omakase” at the sushi bar is highly recommended.




Omakase (お任せ) is a Japanese phrase that means "I'll leave it to you". The expression is used at sushi restaurants to leave the selection to the chef.  The chef will generally present a series of plates, beginning with the lightest fare and proceeding to heaviest, richest dishes.

As noted on the menu, the nigiri sushi of the Omakase already came seasoned.  You don’t need to dip them in the soy sauce, really!  You can truly taste the natural sweetness of the fish/seafood and all of them were awesome and super fresh.  My husband and I both ordered the 12 pieces Omakase…and we ended up having more than 12!   

We’ve been to Ohshima in two separate occasions.  On our first visit, we enjoyed the Omakase at the sushi bar.   The second time we sat at the table and ordered from their regular a la carte menu and both were excellent.  First, I’ll post the pictures of the Omakase.

Please excuse the quality of these photos.  As they were taken from a cell phone, not my regular camera.

First, we started with a small plate of complimentary pickled veggies. 



A glass of cold sake for each of us.



The chefs working behind the sushi bar, busy preparing our food!  They were very friendly and attentive.



We started off with Diver’s Scallop.  Super fresh and sweet.  The tangy Yuzu is a perfect match for it.



Up next was Sea Bass. Refreshing and sweet.



Spanish Mackerel.  You can really taste the ocean from this Mackerel.



Toro (fatty tuna) charred with blow torch.  Any food involved a blow torch is just delicious.   Charring really added a nice smoky flavor to the fish.  I love the contrast of texture from the charred and raw flash.



Baby Yellowtail. Another "melt in your mouth" goodness.



Cherry Salmon.  Not your usual Salmon.  It's flown in from Japan.



Amberjack.  Sweet, fresh and great texture.  The flash is a bit firmer from the rest.



Sweet Shrimp Inari.  Yes, it was still swimming a minute before it was served.  The flash was still “moving” when it was on our plate.  The Chef was behind the counter holding the tail of the shrimp so we could take a picture.



Sweet Shrimp Inari.  It's about the freshest as it can get.



Deep Fried Sweet Shrimp heads. So crispy and light.  I love it because it’s not greasy at all and you can eat the whole thing including the tentacle.



Bonito Nigiri.  Great flavor.



Albacore with Secret Garlic Sauce and Chips.  So pungent, rich and flavorful.  The crispy garlic chips on top made a nice contrast in the texture and add another level of garlic-ey deliciousness.



Black Cod charred by a blow torch.



Uni (Sea Urchin) was super fresh and melt in your mouth.



Blue Crab Handroll, a nice way to conclude the savory part of our dinner.



Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Smoothie.  The chocolate cake was moist and delicious.  Perfect pairing with these Vanilla Smoothie.



All the seafood were made with quality ingredients and super fresh.  However, it’s a bit on the pricey side.  But you really paid for what you get.  Our bill for two including sake and dessert came a bit under $160 total, including tax. 

Up next, our second visit with a la carte items.

We started off with Home Made Marinated Uni.  Fresh, sweet, rich and delicious.  The seaweed salad on the bottom made a nice contrast on the texture.  The fresh wasabi on top compliment the Uni nicely.




Seaweed Salad.  A very refreshing salad.  I love the crunchy and bouncy texture from different type of seaweeds in this salad.  The amount of dressing was just perfect.



Baked Scallop Crabmeat Wrapped in Salmon.  It’s wonderful and unique.  The Crabmeat and scallop “stuffing” is chopped and wrapped with a piece of salmon fillet and baked to perfection. You can really taste the crabmeat and scallops inside.



Miso Duck and Forbidden Rice.  The duck was beautifully done.  The blackberry sauce was divine and compliment the duck nicely.  The duck was succulent and juicy. The Forbidden Black Rice has a great texture similar to brown rice and a mild nutty flavor, the perfect bed for the duck.



Last but not least, the Amberjack Collar.  I had yellowtail collar many times before so I opted to try the Amberjack Collar this time.  This fatty fish collar was perfectly done.  The collar was boiled to perfection with a minimal of seasoning.  It’s served with grated daikon, along with some light soy sauce and a wedge of lemon.  The portion was generous.  Basically, it was half of the fish head along with the collar instead of just the collar.



We also ordered Udon noodle soup and a Toro cut roll (nothing special on these two).   The total bill was low $70s after tax.  We didn’t order sake nor desserts this time because the kids were rushing us to go home after they were done.

Conclusion: Ohshima is an authentic Japanese restaurant that serves fresh and quality seafood and many unique a la carte dishes.  The dining area is rather small though.  There are only about 12 sushi bar seats and less than 10 tables all together.  You might want to make a reservation before you go or be there early to avoid the line.  Also, there’s no high chair nor booster seat available at the restaurant.  Despite these drawbacks, My husband and I DO plan to go back there again in the future. There were quite a few more other items on the menu we would love to try on our next visit.    

Ohshima

1956 N Tustin St
Orange, CA 92865

(714) 998-0098

*Disclaimer*

The Perfect Shrimp Fried Rice

Ina Garten is one of my favorite Food Network Chefs, besides Giada.  If you follow Ina’s shows, you’ll know that she always prepare a special chicken dish for her husband when he returns home every Friday, from a week-long of work, away from home.  So, I guess her husband really loves chickens and never gets bored of it.   The trick is, Ina always put a new twist onto the same old chicken dish.  So, each dish looks and tastes like a new and exciting one.  My husband had a special dish that I always prepare on Friday too, it’s fried rice.   Oh yes, you can put millions of twists on a basic fried rice and I guaranteed you’ll never get bored of it as well.



There are a few basic ingredients that always appear in the traditional fired rice recipe.  The rest if the ingredient lists are really up to your imaginations.  Plus, you can use up whatever ingredients you have left in your fridge.  That’s what make fried rice so much fun to eat and prepare.  And what a nice way to clean up the fridge, too!  There are a few basic techniques and tricks you need to follow in preparing the fired rice that will yield success on your finished dish every single time. 



First thing first, the basic ingredients.  They are, of course, the rice (I used brown rice here, you can use white, jasmine, or what ever you have on hand), eggs, onions, mix vegetables, meat or seafood (if you’re not vegetarian), and green onions.



Special equipment needed: a wok.  Or, a frying pan that is big enough to hold all the ingredients all at one.  Although you cook each ingredient separately, they all join into the "pool" at the end.  A big enough wok/pan will ensure easy stirring and no spilling.

Another important tips is to have all the ingredients ready and on stand-by before we start heating the wok.  This is a rather fast cooking dish, like most Chinese stir fry.  You won't have much time to chop up ingredients after your wok is heated.

First, cook the scrambled eggs and break them up into bit size pieces.



Next, Kielbasa (polish sausage), hahaha...I know that's not a typical Chinese cuisine ingredient.  But that's what I have in the fridge, and to the wok it goes.  You can definitely use Chinese sausage if you want.  Brown them nicely to develop the flavor is the key.



Up next, the onions.  I prefer the onions to have a little crunch in my rice.  So, I don't cook them until caramelized, just brown enough so the sweet flavor is developed.



Before you put the shrimps in, make sure the wok/pan is hot enough after the onions are removed from it.  If you're not sure, just heat the wok for a minute or two before putting the shrimps in.  Shrimps cook extremely fast and you definitely don't want to overcook them.



Next, the mixed vegetables. You can use fresh, canned or frozen ones.  I usually use the frozen one over the canned one as the canned one tend to be more soggy after reheating.



Last but not least, the rice.  The secret is to use a day old rice when you want a perfect fried rice dish that each grain of rice is separated and not stick together (well, not a secret anymore now).  Same as the theory of using a day old bread to make french toast.  You want less moisture in the fried rice so they won't be soggy or sticky.  Now, here comes the debate of using soy sauce in the rice.  I never put soy sauce in my fried rice.  As the authentic fried rice shouldn't have soy sauce in it.  The best way to season the rice is to use oyster sauce (my top choice), chicken bouillon granulate, or kosher salt.  Maggi sauce would be a wonderful choice too, but you can serve that on the side and add as much or as little to your own taste.



When the rice is heated through, everybody is back to the pool for a final stir.  Then season with white pepper and a dash of sesame oil.  Turn off the heat before you stir in the chopped green onions and you're done.



It's really easy to prepare and versatile.  If you follow these little tips, you'll have perfect fried rice every time.



Thank You all for all those sweet and lovely "Birthday" wishes from the previous post.  I truly appreciate your supports, feedback and suggestions you provided.  Since quite many of you requested to see more Asian, healthy and easy to prepare recipes, this Perfect Shrimp Fried Rice fits into all of those categories.  Yes, it is considered a healthy dish because you can control the amount of oil used to cook this dish, which is much less than those from the take-out places, and no MSG is used!  Who needs take outs when you can make this succulent and healthful fried rice so easily at home?  Not me.

If you haven't enter the Silicone Baking Mat (Silpat) and Vanilla Powder Giveaway yet, here's the link.  Good Luck.

This post is shared with:
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
On Menu Monday
Mingle Monday