So, while grocery shopping the other day, I came across some pork chops that were on sale. I remembered about the Tea-Rubbed Pork that I wanted to make, and bought some more ingredients to round out my cupboard and be prepared for Cooking With Tea *jazz hands*.
When I showed Hubby the recipe, he looked at me with this face that said, "if you make this, you're crazy and I'm having KD for dinner." After some debate (I may have whined, "But I wanna cook with TEAAAAA"), he suggested marinating it, because apparently marinating meat makes it taste better. So, he went through the DAVIDsTEA recipe box and found a recipe for Tea-Brined Pork Tenderloin. And we combined them for THE EPIC DINNER OF EPICNESS.
Though for reals, it was pretty awesome.
It takes quite a while to prepare, so make sure you have everything 24 hours in advance.
So here are our MASHED UP RECIPES. (Many thanks to DAVIDsTEA and TeaChef for the recipes - I didn't create 'em, I just mashed 'em). Tea food! It's AWESOME!
(Man, I wish I knew how to insert a cut screen here because this is almost TL; DR)
Tea Brined Pork Tenderloin (chops) with Lapsang Souchong Rub
Make this the night before (Or if it's not a work day, at least 4 hours before)
Marinade:
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minute prep time. 2+ hour marinade time
Serving Size: 4-6 (depending on your needs)
- 2-4 pounds of pork tenderloin (⅓ pound per person) (or 4-6 pork chops)
- 5 Perfect Spoons of Orange Pekoe
- 2 cups hot water (98°C/208°F)
- 5 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp salt (though I'd reduce this to 2 Tbsp)
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp garlic puree
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp crushed ginger (I used powdered ginger)
Pour water over tea and steep 7-10 minutes. Strain and chill. (about an hour in the fridge)
Place all ingredients in a 1 gallon zip-lock bag, squeeze out the air and marinate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
Turn the bag over once or twice while meat is marinating to ensure everything is contacting the marinade.
(now, if you're making just this, you need to fire up your grill, put the pork on direct heat for 3 minutes per side, then finish cooking with indirect heat until the internal temperature reaches 65°C/150°F, which is about 6-12 minutes, remove from the grill and tent with foil allowing the meat to rest for 5 minutes, slice and serve. HOWEVER, if you're more adventurous and want to make it EXTRA OM NOM NOM, then proceed:)
Lapsang Souchong Rub:
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 min prep time. 25 min cook time
Serving Size: 4-6, depending on the size of your chops/loin
- 2 T. dried Lapsang Souchong tea leaves
- 1/4 t. Salt
- 1 t. Whole peppercorns
- 1 T. Thyme
- 1/2 t. Cumin
- 4 Boneless pork chops
Place all spices and dried tea leaves in spice grinder (I used my Magic Bullet) till finely ground.
Rub on chops and place in a glass roasting dish in the fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat oven for 350.
Take out chops and bake for 25 min or until done depending on the size of the chops.
Let rest before serving.
This is a rather brilliant mashup. Even the hubby said so - he had seconds!
I added several tablespoons of the marinade to the bottom of my roasting dish, enough to add a little bit of moisture to the baking, and sprinkled a little bit more of the rub in the bottom of the pan and over the chops.
And if I do say so myself, OM NOM.
I was afraid that the Lapsang Souchong would overpower it, especially with TWO TABLESPOONS of loose leaves (that's a lot!). However, combined with the pork and the marinade, it was exactly right. It doesn't end up tasting like tea-tea at all. I'm sure the tea adds a flavour that wouldn't be there without it, but it's not like drinking a cup of tea.
The marinade added a little bit of moisture, and infused the pork chops with a good flavour. The Lapsang Souchong added a little bit of smoky barbecue taste, which is great when it's BLIZZARDING OUTSIDE. No, really. Blizzard. I am SO NOT BARBECUING IN A BLIZZARD, people. Even I am not that hardcore about my tea.
I think my biggest critique of the recipe is that it could do with less salt. I'd suggest cutting down the salt in the marinade by about a Tablespoon, and maybe just adding a dash of salt to the rub, rather than the quarter teaspoon it calls for.
Other than that, it's actually fairly easy, it's just really time-consuming. However, it's perfect for a Saturday - make the tea in the morning (while you're making your morning cup, of course), make the marinade at noon, have it marinate until 4ish, make the rub, pop it in the fridge for an hour or two, then pop it in the oven for 25 minutes, and you have dinner! Or, make the tea after supper, let it chill while you watch your evening programs, make the marinade before bed, pop the pork in the marinade and let them brine overnight, make the rub when you get home from work, rub the pork, watch the news while it sits, or do other things that make you happy. After 40 minutes, put on your rice, make your salad, set your table. 30 minutes before dinnertime, pop in your pork. Then make sure everything is going according to plan, and relax for 25 minutes. Take your pork out, let it sit for a titch, and then call everyone to your spectacular dinner table.
I wonder what would happen if you would use the Lapsang Souchong star as the tea instead of the Orange Pekoe and then just used a basic spice rub (ie, the rub without the tea), or skipped the rub altogether. I also wonder what would happen if you threw the spice rub in with the marinade, and skipped the second step. I can see that I have my work cut out for me. Maybe one day I'll be ambitious and make all six versions of this pork (just marinade as posted, just rub as posted, Lapsang marinade with rub, Lapsang marinade without rub, Pekoe + rub marinade, and marinade + rub as posted) and do a taste test to compare. .... Oh man, that would be the epickest dinner ever. .... Now I want to go cook!
I ended up with a lot more marinade and rub than I could use and felt very wasteful throwing it out. I think more pork chops would suffice for this recipe, but it is definitely a keeper. It requires a lot of forethought with chilling the tea, marinating the pork, then rubbing it and letting it sit, but believe me, it is so worth it.
Verdict: TEA SO WIN!
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