The pincho or Spanish satay is usually served in tapas restaurants. This pinchos morunos recipe is not difficult to prepare and a nice change from a traditional barbecue.
Originally, these pinchos are made from lamb, but you generally see them made with pork tenderloin.
You can change the marinade to your own taste. We often throw in some extra chipotle pepper because we like a bit of spice. Be careful with the lemon juice. If you want the pork tenderloin to marinate for more than 6 hours, or if you’re going to prepare everything a day earlier. Then it is better to leave out the lemon juice. Serve some lemon slices apart.
The acidity of the lemon makes the meat more tender, but if it is left in too long, the structure will be affected too much. That’s not good.
After marinating, you string the meat on skewers. We like to use large metal skewers. These will not burn, and you can just wash them and use them again.
This recipe is also great for a smaller barbecue. Perfect for campsite grilling.
Do you know what the trick for tender pork tenderloin is? Lean pork such as pork tenderloin should not be cooked further than 65 to 70°C (150 to 158F). After that, the meat dries out and becomes less tender.
So do yourself a favor and buy a good digital core thermometer. We use the Thermapen because it is the standard in every professional kitchen.
Ingredients
- 400 grams of pork tenderloin
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp chipotle pepper
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp dry sherry
- salt and pepper for taste
Instructions
- Cut the pork tenderloin into cubes of about 2 to 3 centimeters (1 inch).
- Chop the onion and grate the garlic. Make a marinade with the rest of the ingredients except the salt and pepper.
- Mix the pork tenderloin with the marinade and let it sit in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.
- Thread the diced meat on skewers and sprinkle the skewers all around with salt and pepper.
- Grill the pinchos to a core temperature of 65 to 70°C (150 to 158F).
