Quick-cooking orange ginger pork tenderloin medallions with a flavourful ginger, garlic and orange marmalade sauce. Serve simply with a green vegetable or add some rice as well, if you like.
Why you’ll love this orange pork!
- The simple 5-ingredient orange sauce delivers a ton of flavour!
- Pork tenderloin medallions cook quickly and are always moist and tender. Together with the easy, stir-together sauce, this orange pork makes a great quick dinner.
- Using orange marmalade for the base of the sauce is a great time saver and it’s always on hand!
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pork Tenderloin – any size of pork tenderloin will work here. Be sure to remove the silver skin along the side and remove any visible fat.
- Orange Marmalade – use your favourite orange marmalade as the basis of this sauce.
- Fish Sauce – the addition of fish sauce adds such a unique flavour. If you don’t have fish sauce (or you aren’t a fan of the flavour), simply substitute soy sauce.
- Fresh Ginger and Garlic – fresh ginger and garlic are recommended, for the best flavour. You could also use ginger paste, if you like. If you happen to have jarred Ginger Garlic Paste, go ahead and use that in place of the separate garlic and ginger, if you like.
- Lime Juice – you’ll need about 1 fresh lime for the sauce. If you don’t have a lime, substitute lemon or orange juice. You could also use a small amount (maybe 1 teaspoon) of white wine vinegar.
Step-by-Step Photos
- Remove the silver skin and any visible fat from the pork tenderloin, then slice into 1-inch-ish pieces.
- Heat oil in the skillet over medium-high heat and brown pork medallions well on both sides.
- Remove pork medallions to a plate.
- Add sauce to the same skillet and simmer, stirring regularly.
- Simmer sauce until thickened and syrupy.
- Return pork to skillet and toss in sauce until re-warmed, then serve.
Ginger Lover? If you’d like more ginger (or just to dress up this dish more), before cooking the pork, heat a shallow layer of oil in a skillet, cut some fresh ginger into inch-long, thin julienne strips and shallow fry until golden. Remove to paper towel to cool. Use as a garnish for the finished dish.
Top Tips!
Browned equals flavour! Take the time to really brown the pork medallions well and be sure you are cooking at medium-high heat. Not only will they look nicer (no one likes pale pork), but the browned bits on the bottom of the pan will bring great flavour to the sauce.
A cast iron or stainless steel skillet is perfect for browning meat, as it takes the higher heat well and leaves a nice coating of browned bits. A non-stick skillet isn’t the best choice for higher-heat browning, as they are not usually recommended for high-heat cooking (plus they don’t make much in the way of those great browned bits).
Finally, the secret to cooking pork medallions so they are tender is simply not to overcook them. The smaller, thinner pieces will take much less time to cook through than a larger chop or tenderloin. That’s why we brown them first, quickly, over higher heat, then remove them from the heat. When they are added back to the pan at the end, they need only a short time to reheat and finish cooking.
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Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch pieces and patted dry
- 1-2 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil, for the pan
- 2/3 cup orange marmalade
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated or ginger paste
- 1 Tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce, or soy sauce
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice, from about 1 lime
Instructions
- Just lightly season the pork with salt and pepper and don't add any additional salt during cooking. The fish sauce will add salt. Taste at the end and add a bit more, if you think it needs it.
- Make the sauce by stirring together the marmalade, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and lime juice. Set aside.
- Prepare the pork tenderloin by removing the silver skin along the side and removing any visible fat. Cut into 1-inch-thick slices, then press down a bit with the palm of you hand to flatten a bit. Pat dry, then season lightly with a bit of salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (*A cast iron or stainless steel skillet is perfect for this. Non-stick skillets aren't generally recommended for higher heat cooking). Place pork medallions in skillet and cook until nicely browned underneath. Flip and broth the other side. *Don't rush this step. Browned pork tenderloins not only look nicer, but the browning will add flavour to the sauce, as well. Remove to a plate.
- Lower heat under skillet to medium. Add the sauce and stir a bit to stir in any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Allow the sauce to simmer vigorously, stirring regularly, until it is thickened and syrupy, 2-3 minutes. Return the pork to the pan and toss in and cook with the sauce, until the pork is well coated and re-warmed.
Notes
Inspired by a Martha Stewart recipe
More Pork Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Very good and the sauce is just perfect and so tasty. A refaire.
So glad you enjoyed it, Estelle :) Thanks so much!
We love this dish, often when I buy pork fillets they are way too big for the two of us, so I cut the fillets to the amount I want, then use the smaller end pieces for this recipe, perfect! Thank you Jennifer for all the wonderful recipes, they are very much appreciated in our house.
I’m so glad you are enjoying it, Ann! Thanks :)
Short on groceries this month but had all the ingredients for this odd dish. We had to use ginger paste but this was amazing!
I’m so glad to hear, Renee! So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much :)
Need to try this great looking recipe! Thoughts on sides that would work well with this? Rice seems like a safe choice.
Hi Kelly and yes, I think a bit of rice is the natural for this one. Enjoy!