Maple Miso Pork Skewers
The sweet maple and salty miso glaze marry perfectly on these mini pork skewers.
So hey... Welcome to the new digs! This is officially the first recipe post with with the new design AND the new name. It all would not have been possible without the brilliant work & support of Melissa from Fine Lime Designs and Food Bloggers of Canada. She was so fantastic to work with and just a wealth of knowledge to a non-tech savy person like myself. I started sixtyone45.com over two years ago as just an outlet from the (often) long days of stay-at-home-mama-hood. At the time I had no idea what I would be blogging about, for how long or to whom, but the internet people make you pick a name. I literally looked down at a piece of mail on my desk with my then address on it and decided that would work. My house was my office now so it seemed fitting. We have since moved, the blog has since evolved (my goodness those early posts were cringe worthy) and thankfully, so have I. This is a bit of a soft launch as I am hoping your feedback and comments will uncover any glitches and bugs.
Food Well Said is truly what I hope to deliver to you.
Enough about me though, let's talk about what you will be grilling up this weekend for happy hour! These Miso-maple skewers should be on your menu.
So sometimes I struggle with how to prepare pork. Ribs, bacon & sausage are usually how we consume it. This year we became subscribers of a 'nose to tail' butchery box, aptly named the Beasty Box. Basically, a small group has come together to source locally produced meat from small farms that practice sustainable farming methods. Each week Little and I pick up our box and I excitedly plan how I will use it throughout the week. The portion sizes are small but of such quality and richness, they are more than enough for 3 to 4 meat mains throughout the week. The best part is that often I come across cuts or meat (i.e. lamb, duck) that I am not so familiar with preparing so the experimentation and education piece has been huge. It is one of the first of its kind and it has been a fantastic experience. You can read more about them here. Vegetarianism is likely not in my future, but knowing the history and lifestyle of the meat at my table will always be.
So with a pork loin from the Beasty Box in hand (figuratively), I flipped through the large stack of food mags that had just come in - all seemingly leading me toward the grill. Chatelaine had a recipe for miso maple pork tenderloin and a quick scan of the ingredients made this perfect because everything was already in the fridge. Miso is a great staple to have on hand - keeps forEVER and I use it in my salad vinaigrettes all the time, not to mention on a baked salmon - divine!
Miso maple is my savoury version of salted caramel. I tend to lean toward soy sauce and tamari, sometimes coconut aminos for the salty element of a glaze or marinade. These were so simple to make and I hardly altered the original recipe at all. You can find it here or mine is below. I decided to make them small and more appetizer like but you could also make more of a main dish with larger skewers. The secret really is to not brush the glaze until the end and the BIGGEST piece of advice - DO NOT OVER COOK YOUR PORK. A hint of pink - yes, even for pork - a hint of pink will truly change your thinking of this 'other' white meat.
I hope you enjoy the new layout and design, and as always, would love to hear your thoughts on the site or the recipe.
Enjoy!
Maple Miso Pork Skewers
Author: Food Well Said
The sweet maple and salty miso glaze marry perfectly on these mini pork skewers.
Ingredients
- 20 toothpicks
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon miso paste
- 1 Tablespoon grainy yellow mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 pound pork loin, center or end, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 green onion, green part only, chopped
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Place the toothpicks in a bowl of water and soak for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze by combining syrup, miso, mustard, ginger & vinegar in a small bowl or glass jar with a lid. Whisk or shake until well combined.
- Heat BBQ grill to medium high heat.
- Toss pork in oil and skewer two pieces per toothpick. Grill on direct med-high heat, rotating often, about ten minutes. Do not overcook.
- At about the 7 - 8 minute mark, start brushing on the glaze generously.
- Remove from heat and garnish with green onion & sesame seeds.
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