Carnivore's Delight

Pork is the second-most consumed white meat in our home, after chicken. In the Chinese kitchen, pork is usually stir-fried (in strips), braised or stewed (in cubes), grilled (as in grilled bbq pork, "charsiew" or grilled pork chops) or steamed (minced). I hardly ever attempt roasting a pork loin as the meat may at times end up toughened and chewy.

Having read that brining may be the solution to dry and tough roast pork, I recently carted a slab of pork loin home and prepared a 'brine', which is basically a salt solution in which the lean meat is soaked over an extended period of time (whether for a couple of hours or overnight).

Miraculously, due to some chemistry between the brine and the meat (something to do with osmosis and the absorption of liquid into the meat, and the breaking up of the protein bonds within the meat fibres - that much I absorbed from my limited reading up on this very dry subject), a brined pork loin when roasted retains more moisture and is juicier when cooked. For a proper scientific explanation, I would recommend this article on Why Brining Keeps Meat So Moist written by the famous food scientist and author of Cookwise, Shirley O. Corriher. Bruce Aidells, chef and self-confessed pork-lover, has also put up a piece on 'flavor-brining' to enhance flavors and moisture in lean meat. Trust me, you can handle reading these two short less-than-1-page articles and would not need toothpicks to keep your eyelids open.

The roast Bacon-wrapped Maple Pork Loin recipe was culled from the March 2006 edition of Gourmet, and Epicurious.com has so kindly reproduced the same on their website at this page [sure saved me the trouble of having to type out the entire recipe here]. The only variations I made to the recipe was to skip the fresh sage leaves for the brine (couldn't find them at my nearest supermarket), and in the marinade for rubbing all over the pork loin before roasting. Substituted instead with dried rosemary and some Italian herbs (which was quite nice too).


After soaking in its salt and maple syrup bath in the fridge overnight for at least 20 hours, the pork loin was as ready as it could ever be to spend some time in the oven. You may not be able to see it from the picture but the slices of pork were surprisingly not tough even after more than an hour of roasting. The flavors of the maple syrup, crushed garlic and dried herbs melded very well together, and somehow the pork tasted just a tad ham-like, in that one could distinctly savor a tinge of sweetness from the meat (probably the result of the absorption of flavors from the brine comprising salt, maple syrup, crushed black peppercorns, garlic and bay leaves). The reduced sauce from the pan juices, with that tangy touch of cider vinegar is quite delicious as well.

Suffice to say, I'm a convert of 'brining'. With more practice, maybe, I will be fool-hardy enough to attempt my first brined roast turkey this coming Christmas!