A simple combi steam recipe using tender pork fillet spiked with ginger, maple syrup and soy sauce.
This combi steam maple pork with roasted pears and gorgonzola is hugely adaptable and quick enough to pull off given just 20 minutes in the kitchen, which makes it something I cook pretty regularly.
Today I’ve coated my pork with a combination of dark soy sauce, maple syrup and grated fresh ginger. I roasted it with pear wedges and turned it into an Autumn inspired salad speckled with creamy Gorgonzola. If blue cheese isn’t your thing you could leave it off or use shaved parmesan instead.
In the past I’ve also gone with a more Asian-influenced version of the pork using garlic, soy and sesame oil which is a big crown pleaser served on a bed of rice noodles and shredded vegetables.
Cooking lean meats in your combi steam oven
Because it seems an appropriate addition to today’s post, a very brief lesson for you on lean meats in a steam oven:
Combi steam is an excellent cooking method for small, leaner cuts such as pork or lamb fillets/tenderloins, portioned beef fillet steaks or chicken breasts. The key is hot and quick, no mucking around with mid-range temperatures or long cooking times here, people.
I like to cook small portions of meat somewhere between 200⁰C-230⁰C (392⁰F-446⁰F) on a combination steam setting. You’re looking to cook and possibly brown the outside of the meat while using the benefits of your oven’s steam function to retain its moisture. And because steam will reduce the overall cooking time, be careful not to overcook. A good rule of thumb for cooking times is this:
Combi steam oven lean meat cooking times
Whole pork fillet 220⁰C, 10-15 minutes depending on thickness/size
Whole lamb fillet 230⁰C, 6-9 minutes depending on thickness/size
Portioned beef fillet 230⁰C, 4-8 minutes depending on desired doneness (for a 150g/5oz steak)
Whole chicken breasts 200⁰C, 14-18 minutes (for a 220g single breast. Chicken breasts vary widely in size, especially free range ones, so check your weights!)
You can see here that in the case of our delicious pork fillet, 15 minutes is really the top end for cooking time, anything more than that will render your meat pretty dry and tasteless unless your fillet has come from an enormous pig. The one I cooked was around 300-350g.
Happy steam oven cooking, and happy weekend. See you here again soon.
Maple Pork and Pears with Gorgonzola
Ingredients
- 12 oz pork tenderloin pork fillet, sinews and fat trimmed off
- 1 tbs dark soy sauce
- 1 tbs maple syrup
- 1 piece ginger about 1"/2.5cm, grated
- 3 pears cored and cut into eighths (no need to peel, though you could if you like)
- 4 cups salad greens about 4oz/120g, I use spinach and arugula/rocket
- 3 oz gorgonzola cheese cut or crumbled into small pieces
- 1 tbs olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200⁰C/400⁰F, combination steam setting. If your oven has variable steam settings, use 30% humidity. If not, don't worry! Just set to combi steam at the correct temperature and the oven will figure out the humidity for you.
- Mix the soy, maple and ginger in a small bowl, add the pork and turn to coat.
- Lay the pork flat in a baking dish (I use the 2/3 sized solid stainless steel pan which came with my oven) and put the pears around it in a single layer. If there’s any marinade left in the pork bowl, pour this over the meat.
- Cook until the pork is tender and juicy, approximately 12-15 minutes. If you have an instant-read thermometer, you want the center of the meat to be 145F/63C. Remove from oven.
- Rest the pork for a few minutes while you put the salad together. Put the leaves onto a large platter and arrange the pears on top. Slice the pork into pieces approximately 6mm/¼” thick and lay these over the top. Pour any pan juices over the salad, scatter with the gorgonzola and serve immediately.
Notes
- Serves 2-3, can easily be doubled.
- I love the combination of pork with pears. They’re both relatively gentle in flavour, and their inherent sweetness and earthiness are a great match.
- The pork doesn’t need to be seared prior to cooking because we’re going to ‘cheat’ the browning process by coating it with dark soy sauce, which also adds a welcome salty depth. The soy marinade will serve as a sticky dressing for the final dish, too.
Nutrition
Over to you – if you try this recipe I’d love to know about it! Please share your pictures with me on Facebook or tag them #whatsinthesteamoven on Instagram.
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And if you’re after more delicious combi steam recipes, the Recipe Index has plenty. Try the Maple, Lime and Ginger Chicken if you’d like to stick with the maple syrup theme; Jamie Oliver’s Beef Kofta Curry for a family-pleasing weeknight hit; or Moroccan Couscous with Lamb Fillets for an impressive, easy entertaining dish.
This is such a great recipe. It is great for a weeknight dinner but I’ve also made it for informal autumn dinner with friends. Delicious, looks good, and not too heavy.
Very tasty recipe