Roasted Pork Tenderloin (Yakibuta)

Book Review:  Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America
By Linda Furiya

Several weeks ago I received an e-mail from a publisher, asking if I wanted to review a copy of Bento Box In The Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood In Whitebread America. The book sounded interesting, so I looked forward to receiving it in the mail.  Cautioning myself not to be influenced by the fact that the book was  free, I began reading it, prepared to be honest if I didn't like it.   Well, that attitude quickly fell by the way side as I was immediately drawn into Linda Furiya's experiences of growing up as the only Asian family in a small Indiana town.  Remembering how most children fear being labeled as "different," her experiences are poignant, funny, and profound.  And since this country's history is based on different groups of people struggling to assimilate, but retain their links to the homelands they left behind, this is a very American story, beautifully written.

I enjoyed this book a great deal, and was a bit sad when I finished it.   I had formed an attachment to the Furiya family and wanted to learn more about them.  The stories of what her parents endured were moving, and I was impressed with how they persevered in spite of them.  And I smiled reading how her family was obsessed with obtaining Japanese foods, at a time when it was not easy to do so. Food was the crucial link to her family's identity. They were committed to life as Americans, but Japanese food provided a glue that kept them at one with their identity.  To that end, they would drive hundreds of miles to get fresh fish and Japanese ingredients, to avoid running out of these items.  This was well before the time when foods like wasabi powder, ginger root, and nori were featured in many grocery stores, as they are now.  These foods were nurturing to the author, but they also made her feel apart from her peers. While friends ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, her lunches always included rice balls, which she feared would make her an object of derision.   The book details how she would hide the rice balls from her friends, even though they were one of her favorite foods, and only eat them in the privacy of the school bathroom. 

The book is full of scenes like this that taught the author about family history and how to handle the challenges she often faced. Each chapter ends with a well loved family recipe illustrating, in her words, "the legacy of my parents, their stories, and the shared love of food and cooking."  I recommend this book highly. 

On Saturday I decided to make one of the recipes from the book, Roasted Pork Tenderloin (Yakibuta).   Once look at the ingredients and I knew the dish would be delicious. Ginger root, garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce are favorites of mine. I wasn't disappointed, it was marvelous.  And Bob felt the same way. I saved the leftovers and hope to use them in ramen soup.  I've always wanted to make it from scratch, so maybe that will happen.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin (Yakibuta)

(Linda Furiya, Bento Box In The Heartland)

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon minced ginger root
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup sake
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1-1/2-2 pounds pork tenderloins (1-2 loins)

Mix together the soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar sake, and sesame oil in a glass baking dish or plastic storage container. Put the pork into the dish and turn to coat on al sides. Let marinate for 1 hour or, for best results, cover and refrigerate overnight.  (I strongly suggest you do it for 24 hours.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Take the pork out of the marinade and put tin a roasting pan. Roast, basting about every 15 minutes or so, until the pork reaches an internal temp of 150 on a meat thermometer stuck in the thickest part of the loin.   When done, take it from the oven and let it set to room temperature. 

I heated the marinade and poured it over the loins just before I served it.  I think the slices should be cut thinner than pictured in my photo. Next time I will do that. You can make a dipping sauce by mixing English hot mustard with soy sauce.

Note:  Most meat thermometers show a 170 as the proper temperature to cook pork. That is out of date. Pork is safe to eat with a reading of 155-160. Any higher than that and the pork will be dry.  Take the pork out at 150 degrees internal temperature and it will slowly rise to 155 to 160 as it sits on your table. 

Comments

[Tanna]

Yes, looks like a recipe that would not disappoint. Sounds like an excellent book thanks for the head up.

[gattina]

Sher, I agree with you, esp for loin, I just stop at 160, any longer the meat (for me) will be too dried. The book really looks like a great one!

[Shannon]

Oh, I heard her being interviewed on NPR a few weeks ago and wanted to buy this book, but then totally forgot about it! Thanks for the reminder!!

[Christine]

Sher,
The tenderloin looks perfect! It's next in line (after Kalyn's Chicken with olives and capers) when in three days I'll be cooking like a carnivore again.
I found your review of Bento Box thoughtful and compelling. So much so that I've got to buy the book. Thanks!

[Freya]

The sign of a good book when you feel sad when it ends...the pork looks wonderful!

[Teresa]

Thanks for the tip on the cookbook. I just got "Washoku: Recipes from a Japanese Home Kitchen", but I'd love to add more Japanese cooking to my repertoire.

[Callipygia]

Sher, the cover of the book alone is beautiful- it is touching to see the lengths that immigrant families go through to retain culture and assimilate. Now these homestyle meals are the rage, no more hiding riceballs.

[Jennifer]

I bet my Nana might like that book, she immigrated with her husband and the elder children to America from the Philippines. I also have an old friend whose grandma immigrated from Japan and actually lived through the internment camps situation. It used to give me chills whenever she talked about it.

The Pork tenderloin looks absolutely wonderful!

Yesterday I wrote about some Filipino dessert I was trying to find and I want to keep that tradition going in my family...it's important to me.

[April]

You gotta love free! Thanks for the tip - I can't wait to read the book!

[Joy T.]

This looks SO good. I often see pork tenderloin in the deli and it looks so good, but I never get one because I don't know what to do with them. Now I know :o) Great book review too, I'll have to look for it. More books should include recipes in them.

[ann]

et voila! it turned out beautiful! There was one asian family in the town I grew up in. They were Korean, and yet owned the area's only Chinese restaurant. I always thought that was odd.

[Butta Buns]

This is a really thought provoking post and hits close to home. Food really is culture if you boil it down.

As an adopted Korean, I didn't get to try Korean food until my 20's. For me, it's definalty more than just the cuisine. I wouldn't say it makes me feel connected to my roots (because I'm still trying to come to terms with my ethnicity) but it's the easiest and most pleasurable way to learn about the culture. I've been meaning to post a Korean recipe and write about what it means to me outside the kitchen....

I haven't read the book but it does make me ache too that the author had to eat her childhood lunches out of non-Asian sight. I can relate too much to that after growing up in an extremely racist environment where the words rice and sushi were used as taunts on a daily basis.

The recipe looks great and the way the pork is arranged on the plate is just lovely!

[sher]

Tanna,

If you enjoyed the Joy Luck Club, you might like this as well. But, this has more emphasis on the importance of food in the author's life.

Gattina,

Yes, it's a shame to take very good pork and render it dry and tasteless by cooking it too much!

Shannon,

Thanks for telling me that. I will go to the NPR site and see if they have that saved. I love NPR.

Christine,

I saw your kitchen. It looks wonderful. I love the colors you chose. It was already a lovely kitchen, but now it will be perfect. And what a nice son you have! :)

Teresa,

I'll have to check out that cookbook that you have. Thanks for mentioning it. Always on the look out for a good cookbook!

Freya,

Yes, I love reading a good book--I can get completely drawn into the characters!

Callipygia,

I agree. Food is so crucial to keeping traditions and family legends alive. And I intend to make some rice balls too. I love rice and it's a good use for leftovers. :)

Jennifer,

I'm looking forward to when you are able to make your family dessert. These traditions are so important. :)

The internment period in this country makes me very sad--and angry. I can't imagine going through that.

April,

I think you will enjoy the book April!

Joy T,

Yes, I love to read a food memoir. Then we get the whole story about how families hold their traditions close.

Ann,

Thank you! I also grew up in a suburban area of Illinois where there was one Korean family. I went to school with their daughter. Sometimes I would hear people make odd comments about her. She always seemed to take it in stride, but reading this book makes me see how unpleasant it had to be putting up with that.

Butta Buns,

I hope you do post some Korean recipes! When I lived in Illinois, we had several friends from Korea and they would take us to some of the very good Korean restaurants in Chicago. I still remember those marvelous dishes.

Yes, people will use anything to taunt people. And if you are in the minority it has to be very stressful. In this book, the author learned to turn the taunts back on the kids who were calling her bad names. She learned to give as good as she got--and the kids stopped taunting her. They were afraid to get her going! :):)

.

[Butta Buns]

I actually beat several kids up and then the teasing let up. Uh, not that I condone violence but it was the only way to get it to stop. Especially since it turns out their parents were egging them on to physically attack me.

[Kristen]

Beautiful photos... that looks like one fantastic pork loin and such a great post.

[Anne]

Just thought I would like to say what a lovely recipe, I'm an old school friend of Christine Cooks and I love your blog too. Mimi's link directed me to you.
Anne

[Zoe]

This was a great recipe. I substituted rice vinegar for the sake, Splenda for the brown sugar, and some ground ginger for the fresh since my fresh root had gone bad.

[Dakica Ashe]

ooh how do you get publishers (or any company, for that matter) to send you free stuff when you start a blog? Please, let me know by email!