in hot water

I’m not one for kitchen gadgets. Who needs an Instant Pot when you have a pot? An avocado slicer when you have a knife and spoon.

But I have to say my Anova sous vide is a game changer. Anticipating our move back to urban apartment living I wanted to find a way to cook all our favorite proteins that we would typically grill out west. I am not a fan of smoky frying pans and grease spackled broilers. I lose my appetite when I go to bed and my pillow smells like what I cooked for dinner. This is why I am thrilled with this vacuum-sealed precise-temperature water-bath cooking technique.

When you sous vide, you vacuum seal what you want to cook in a water tight bag, then place the sealed filled bag in water that is kept at the exact temperature you want the final internal temperature of your food to be cooked at (it usually “cooks” in the hot water for an hour or more), then you remove your food from the bag and finish it off in a skillet or broiler for only a minute or two to sear the outside.

It’s a no brainer for steaks and chicken breasts. But my favorite recipe so far is an Asian inspired pork tenderloin, served over some coconut rice and store-bought ready-to-toss Asian coleslaw, it’s a winner.

For sous-vide peanut-ginger pork fill a large pot with water, add the sous-vide machine, and set the temperature to 135 degrees.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: In a small bowl, combine one and a half tablespoons smooth peanut butter, a tablespoon sesame oil, a tablespoon soy sauce, a tablespoon lime juice, half a tablespoon finely grated ginger, a teaspoon brown sugar, a teaspoon Sriracha, a teaspoon fish sauce and two small gloves garlic finely grated.

Whisk together.

Place the one pound trimmed pork in a sous-vide bag (you might need to cut the tenderloins in half to fit into the bag). 

Pour the peanut ginger sauce all over the meat. 

Seal the bag, after removing as much air as possible using the pulse method.

Lower the sealed bag into the heated water, weighing the bag down with a large spoon or ladle if necessary.

Cook for 2 hours.

When the cooking time has 45 minutes left, make some jasmine coconut rice.

A rice cooker is one of the other kitchen gadgets I love.

Bagged Asian coleslaw makes it easy to round out this meal.

Toss before serving.

Right before serving, place an oven rack 4 inches away from the heating element and turn the broiler on high. Remove the pork from the sous-vide bag and transfer the meat to a foil covered rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the pork with olive oil.

Broil until charred in spots, about 2 to 3 minutes. 

Pour the remaining cooking liquid into a small saucepan. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium-high and let cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover to keep warm, and set aside.

Transfer the meat to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice the pork and drizzle with the warm sauce. 

Sprinkle with some chopped peanuts and sesame seeds. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve with jasmine coconut rice and Asian slaw.

This is one bath you are definitely going to want to slip into!