18 May 2010

Breaded Pork Tenderloin


Breaded is the loin. The breaded pork tenderloin is one of my favorite sandwiches. The crispy, golden, delicious breading enclosing the moist, tender, delicious pork is a match made in heaven. Put it on a bun with all the fixins and you've got yourself one heck of a tasty sandwich.

As I was looking for a recipe on the internet, I found that the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich (tenderloin) is a Midwestern specialty; and it is especially popular in Indiana. In fact, a search for the sandwich yields no results on foodnetwork.com. So, unbeknownst to me at the time, the tenderloin really is an Indiana tradition. I'm so glad to be a Hoosier!

There were so many tenderloin recipes on other sites like cooks.com and allrecipes.com, it was a little overwhelming. I ended up reading through many recipes and came up with my own variation on how to make it. In my opinion, simple is better, so I just kept it basic, and the results did not disappoint.

When making the sandwich, I start by cutting a pork tenderloin (not pork loin) into four pieces and pounding each piece very thin. Then, I dip the meat in a milk and egg mixture, then in flour, and then in panko breadcrumbs. Preferring pan frying instead of deep frying, I season the breaded meat with salt and pepper, and place it in a cast iron skillet with about ¼ inch of hot oil. Fry on each side until golden brown and delicious, place on a bun with your favorite toppings and consume. It's a nice little taste of Indiana.

2 comments:

  1. This is great to know. I never knew what a tenderloin exactly was. When people here ask me what our regional fare is, I usually draw a blank and think of sweet corn and cantaloupe which don't take much kitchen savoir-faire and in turn make hoosiers out to be rustic bumpkins, which we're anything but. Now I can say we've got the tenderloin and the sugar cream pie to offer, among other delicious delicacies I'm sure I'm missing...Growing up vegetarian and health-foodish kept me in a bubble. Bubble Girl finally knows what Hoosier food is 30 years later.

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  2. Don't be so hard on yourself Bubble Girl. I didn't know sugar cream pie was an Indiana specialty until I went to a pie shop in Louisville a few years ago that didn't sell it. They didn't even know what it was! I was shocked. Plus, I just found out the tenderloin was regional fare about a year ago. Being around them my whole life, I figured they were as well-known around the country as the hamburger.

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