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Spice-Crusted Pork Tenderloin Bites
Loosely translated as “Moorish bites impaled on thorns or small pointed sticks,” pinchos morunos is a Basque dish of seared pork rubbed with a blend of spices, garlic, herbs and olive oil. The recipe dates back generations, boasting influences from Spain and North Africa. Classic versions skewer the meat, which is seasoned with ras el hanout, a Moroccan spice blend, among other flavorings. We streamlined, nixing the skewers. And since ras el hanout can be hard to find, we went with a blend of cumin, coriander, smoked paprika and black pepper. We finished with a drizzle of honey, which heightened the flavor of the pork and seasonings.
4
Servings
20 minutes
Ingredients
-
1
tablespoon honey
-
1
tablespoon lemon juice
Pardon the interruption
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November 4, 2022
Pork is never dry!
This is my go-to method for pork tenderloin. I vary the spices depending on what I’m serving it with. I also prefer butter to oil. The pork is always moist. Pairs perfectly with so many veggies. Leftovers are great wrapped in flatbread for sandwiches.
July 13, 2022
Quick & Tasty - What’s Not To Like!
I’ve made this recipe several times. It is very easy and quick to prepare and yet really tasty. Especially good with Yukon’s roasted with olive oil & garlic but also excellent with Milk Street’s Fettucine Alfredo.
March 16, 2024
Tasty and quick
Perfect for dinner after a busy day.
February 2, 2024
Needed a new way to prepare pork tenderloin
Yummy, great way to prepare pork tenderloin when you are bored with whole roasted preparations. Leftovers of this dish were more exciting than our usual tenderloin leftovers.
January 15, 2024
Quick Dinner
Great flavor, served with rice and naan and used 2 tsp of all the spices. Might try on a skewer for more char next time.
Hi Jill -
Since everyone's stovetop heat yields somewhat different results, we chose to focus on the visual clue for the short recipes featured in our Cookish book. In this case, once the oil is heated to just smoking (that may be over high, medium-high, or medium on your stovetop), the oil is hot enough to add and cook the pork.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
In the book and on the tv, they had the meat sit in the bowl at room temperature for an hour. What happened to that step?
Hi Charles-
This version of the recipe is from our recently-published cookbook, Cookish. Cookish is a fresh take on fast food at home. Six ingredients. Minutes, not hours. Fresh, bold flavors for any night of the week. Therefore, the step in which the pork sits for an hour was removed. That's not to say that this version isn't as good it's just not going to have as pronounced a spice flavor as the original. You can find that version here - https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/pinchos-morunos.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Hi David -
We think that this spice crust adds a ton of flavor to the otherwise bland pork tenderloin so we didn't feel like we needed to dry brine here. However, if you decide to do so, pork tenderloin is a pretty small cut so doesn't require a ton of dry brining time. 6 to 24 hours is probably all you need. Maybe even less.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Thank you! I LOVE Cookish and gave it to both my daughters as a holiday gift so I mean no disrespect when I say if people hear have any more time they should search out the ORIGINAL Spanish pork bites recipe which has a couple of extra steps and ingredients. Dry-brining was WORTH it! My pork chunks were 1 to 1/4 inches and in addition to the salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, and smoked paprika, I added a tsp. of Berbere--which ramped up the spiciness and added its own magic. I put it in the fridge for 6 hours. Going by the original recipe again, I mixed the honey & lemon with minced garlic. At the end, I sprinkled it with fresh thyme because I didn't have fresh oregano--which is stronger and probably better but I wanted that herb-iness. This is a great recipe under Cookish conditions but a killer one if you put in a wee bit extra effort and time.
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You have not included which stove setting to use when heating the oil....High? Medium High? Medium??? I have everything to begin cooking and I just discovered....I am guessing medium to medium high....but it would be great to be sure...