Hoisin Pork with Garlic Noodles

I've amassed quite a collection of America's Test Kitchen magazines and have tried out quite a number of their dishes. This hoisin pork with garlic noodles combined one of my favorite proteins, lean pork tenderloin, with one of my favorite Chinese sauces, hoisin sauce. I've supplied the original recipe, but I made some changes. First, I used just 1 pork tenderloin, a bit over a pound, and only 1 package of dried Chinese noodles. I made the same amount of sauce, but brushed it on the pork at the beginning of cooking and throughout the grilling. Finally, I used my new favorite grilling technique, browning the pork on all sides over high direct heat, then turning off the heat directly under the pork, closing the lid, and using indirect heat to finish the cooking. I can't say enough about this method of cooking. It hasn't failed me yet.

Serves 4-6
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbs grated fresh ginger
1 tbs chili-garlic sauce
8 scallions, sliced thin
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbs vegetable oil
2 pork tenderloins (1 1/2 - 2 lbs total)
salt and pepper
2 (9 oz) pkg Chinese noodles

Whisk hoisin, 1 tsp ginger, chili-garlic sauce in small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine scallions, garlic, soy sauce, 1 tbs oil, and remaining ginger.

Pat pork dry with paper towels then rub with remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over hot fire until browned on all sides and pork registers 145 degrees, 12 to 15 minutes. Brush all over with hoisin mixture and cook for 1-3 minutes longer. Transfer to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Add 1 tbs salt and noodles and cook 3 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, drain noodles, then return noddles to pot and stir in scallion mixture, adding reserved cooking water as needed. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice pork 1/4 inch thick and serve with noodles.
********************************
TASTE NOTES
Hoisin sauce, a mix of spicy, sweet, and salty flavors, is a favorite of mine. The addition of the fresh ginger and the chili-garlic sauce was a perfect foil to the hoisin and really made the pork tenderloin sing. I used just 1 package of noodles, so the garlic and ginger was aggressive, but delicious. I served the dish with some stir-fried bok choy and it was all very flavorful and satisfying, but the real goodness came the next night when I repurposed the leftover pork and noodles. I sliced the leftover pork very, very thinly and stir-fried it, along with the leftover noodles and bok choy, in a bit of peanut oil, finishing it with a tablespoon of teriyaki sauce. Alongside some tempura shrimp, it was positively addictive. I will probably make lots more pork and noodles next time just so we can have this wonderful noodle dish again. Next time, I'll add some baby corn and sliced water chestnuts to the noodle dish. I highly recommend both meals. And, both are under 30 minutes, start to finish.